Introduction

From ancient days India has been famous for her beautiful
fabrics. The art of her gold brocades and filmsy muslins
"comely as the curtains of Solomon" is older than the
Puranas. The Puranas tell us that spinning and weaving
were important handicrafts and that Vedic Indians were
fond of Suvasas or beautiful garments. Vedic hymns sang of
Ushas, the daughter of Heaven, "clothed with radiance"....
"Day and night spreading light and darkness over the earth
like two female weavers weaving a garment." From the
Arthashastra we learn that the materials employed for
spinning then were wool (urna), cotton (karpasa), hemp (tula)
and flax (kshauma). The work of weaving in those days
was entrusted only to women, and their wages depended upon
the fineness of the yarn which they spun.
Textile fabrics originally took their names from the place
where they first acquired excellence and retained them long
after the local manufacture had been transferred elsewhere.
Thus we have damask from Damascus, satin from Zaytown in
China, sindon, sandalin from Sindh, calico from Calicut,
worsted from Worsted in England, and muslin from Mosul (in
Asiatic Turkey). Chintz is derived from, chint or chete, which
in Hindi means "spotted", whence cnitta; cramoisy from
kermes, which means "insect".
An infinite variety of fabrics are available today. In order to
understand different materials, one should know something of
their origin, manufacture, and properties, and their reactions to
the different processes.
 TEXTILE FIBRES

The word fiber creates a mental picture of a long, thin, hair-

like object and indeed textile fibres are like that in general
physical shape.

A textile fiber must possess sufficient length, fineness,

strength and flexibility to be suitable for manufacture into
fabrics.

Filament and staple:

These are terms represent the two basic forms of

textile fibres.

Filament is the name given to a fibre of continuous

length, that is to say it is long enough to be used in a
fabric without increasing its length by adding other
fibres on it. An example of a natural filament is silk,
the cocoon of a silk-worm can contain about 3000m
of continuous twin filaments.

Staple is the name given to fibres of limited length.

To make a continuous length of yarn, staple fibres
have to be twisted together. Staple fibres can
range from about 10mm to may centimeters in
length, but in no case do they ever become
long enough to be classed as filament. An example
of a natural staple fibre is cotton. If a yarn
from on ordinary (fibre) is untwisted, it will be seen
to break down into fine fibres about one inch long.

Yarn can consist of either staple fibres, or of filament put

together.
 Textiles

Fibres

Filament Staple

Bonded
Yarn Fabrics Felt Fabrics
Fibre Fabric

Woven Knitted Braided Lace /Net

BASIC FABRICS

Fabric recognition is an important part of textile knowledge.

The main difficulty in conveying information on fabrics
recognition is that there are very few types and
constructions of fabrics which enable a precise description
to be given and the borderlines between similar types of
fabrics are not clear and mostly represent opinion rather
than fact. Appearance, texture and handle are the three
important factors in recognition because these are the
fabrics.
Vegetable Fibres

Cotton
Antiquity
Cotton is the fabric for every home and is the most widely
produced of textile fabrics today. It has now been proved
that India was the first country to manufacture cotton. Among
the recent finds at Mohenjodaro were a few scraps of cotton
sticking to the side of a silver vase. This shows that cotton
must have been produced in India as far back as even the
fourth millennium B.C. Historians speak of the beautiful
painted and printed cloths which were sold in Egypt and
some parts of Europe long before the time of Alexander.
It is not known when Indians first started to trade with
Europe, but the use of the oriental word Carbasina (Sanskrit :
karpasa) for cotton suggests that it must have been in use
before 200 B.C. To the Greeks who came to India with
Alexander the Great in 326 B.C. India was a land of
mystery. They were so surprised to see cotton that they
called it "wool produced in nuts". They wrote: "The wild
trees of that country (India) bear fleeces as their fruit,
surpassing those of sheep in beauty and excellence, and
the Indians use cloth made from this treewool." We also
learn from them that Indians even in those days in contrast
to their simple living loved finery. Many of their garments
were worked in gold and ornamented in precious stones, or
they were made of the finest "flowered muslin".
Even during the time of the Buddha, Banaras and Dacca
were noted for the finest cotton fabrics—"so soft and
smooth was their texture and the bleaching so perfect." It is
said that the mortal remains of the Buddha were covered
with cloth from Banaras. The muslins of Dacca have long
been famous. The name "muslin" is derived from the city of
Mosul in Asiatic Turkey, where the fabric was first made.
Marco Polo, the first Venetian traveller to the East during the
thirteenth century, says. “A11 the clothes of gold and silver
that are called mosolins are made in this country." This
shows us that mosolin or muslin had a very different
meaning from what it has now.
Early records tell us of the rare muslin produced in Dacca,
which when laid wet on the grass became invisible from
the ground, and because it became indistinguishable from
the evening dew it was named Shubnam, i.e., "evening
dew". Another kind was called Abrawan or "running water"',
because it became invisible in -water. Yet another variety
was known by a station at Arikamedu near Pondicherry,
which reveals that large-scale bleaching, starching and
dyeing operations were undertaken in the immediate vicinity.
It is also related that Emperor Aurangzeb one day reproach-
ed his daughter Zebunnisa for lack of modesty in dress
showing her skin through her clothes; whereupon the
princess humbly replied, "Father, I have already entwined
myself eightfold with the Shubnam”.
These muslins were of various qualities and of different
designations. The finest of all Dacca muslins was called
Mulmul Khas or the "king's muslin". It was generally made
in half pieces which measured 10 yds 36 in wide. The weight
was about 30 oz and the yarns about 250's to 300's counts.
The Abrawan or "running water" was considered the second
quality. These measured, usually, 20 yds by 1 yd and
weighed only 7 and a half oz. A story goes that in the time of
Nawab Aliwardhi-khan, a weaver was chastised and turned
out of the city of Dacca for his neglect in not preventing his
cow from eating up a piece of Abrawan which he had spread
and carelessly left on the grass. This shows how fine the
fabric was even at that time.
Another variety was Jamdani or ."figured muslin". These
have been spoken of as the chef-d'oeuvre of the Indian
weaver. They are seen in artistic designs displaying the
superb skill in manipulation of loom embroidery. The
chikkan (needle work) embroidery muslins and printed
muslins are other varieties showing considerable beauty.
A popular method of testing fineness was to ascertain that a
piece of cloth could be passed through a lady's finger ring.
These bright cotton fabrics of India reigned supreme for
hundreds of years. No wonder they excited the spirit of
rivalry among the western countries. As far back as even five
thousand years the Indus Valley sent out its popular cotton
cloth known as Sindhu or Sindon to Baluchistan and
Babylon. Through land and sea routes a brisk trade in
printed cotton fabrics was carried on with Egypt, Arabia,
Turkistan, China, Thailand and Java. Trade was of such
magnitude that new villages sprang up engaged solely in
supplying the demands of foreign markets.
Long years after, when the Arab merchant-boats plied the
Arabian Sea carrying goods to Europe, they took with them
shiploads of the varied printed cottons. According to
Jacquemart, the famous French writer, these Arab traders
got the chipas or printers of the Coromandel coast to print
these fabrics for them on the spot, all for a mere pittance.
These they sold at fabulous prices in the southern
countries of Europe, where many an ignorant buyer was
told the fabrics were from Arabia.
However that may be, the bright cotton fabrics of
Hindusthan remained a source of wealth and prosperity to
the Arab countries for several centuries and were the envy
of the rising nations in Europe.
But cotton manufacture did not obtain a real footing in
Europe until the last century. Long before the dawn of
recorded history, the art was carried from India to Assyria
and Egypt. Thence it passed over to the Italian States in the
thirteenth century and reached England only in the last
century. Soon the English tried ways and means to produce
cotton textiles. During the last hundred years they have
made such rapid progress that they have surpassed the
East in the manufacture of cotton materials. The introduction
of suitable machinery for spinning helped-this progress.

Cotton
The fibre comes from the fruit of the cotton plant which
grows in the tropical regions of the world. It is the downy
"boll" that surrounds the seeds of the plant. The cotton fibre
is also called a "seed hair" because it is the fluffy fibrous ma-
terial which envelopes the seeds of the plant, as distinguished
from stem or bast fibres such as flax or hemp. The principal
cotton producing regions are Egypt, Southern United States,
India, Brazil, the western and southern coasts of Africa and
the East Indies. The U.S.A. produces more than 40 per cent
of the world's cotton. India ranks second to the United States
as a producer and exporter of cotton .
Manufacture of hand-made cotton in India,
The tools and appliances used by cotton weavers consist of
a spinning wheel (charka) and a spindle (takli). The cotton is
first seperated, and carding follows. A bow-shaped beater
known as a dhun is used for the purpose. The string of the
bow is placed on the cotton and is made to vibrate by
means of a wooden hammer. These vibrations disentangle
the fibres and cleanse these of all foreign matter such as
seeds and leaves, and soft fine cotton is left behind. This fine
cotton is next rolled on a stick in the form of a cylinder, about
half a cubit long and half an inch in diameter. This is fastened
to the spindle or takli. The wheel is turned again and again
and the thread is gently and carefully drawn out, until the
thread is about three hundred yards long. It is then taken
out of the wheel and rolled on the charka. When a quantity of
thread has been spun and collected, it is wound on a bamboo
reel.
When this is done the threads about 1000-2400—according to
the stuff required—are worked on the mill. The length of the
warps are generally 50-1000 yards long. It is now set ready for
weaving on the handloom.
On finishing the weaving, the cloth is calandered with a blunt
beater to give it a gloss and to soften it.
It is finally passed to the hand folders to give the cloth the
final fold. The cloth is then stamped, ticketed, and made ready
for sale.

Manufacture by machinery

Preparation.
(1) The fibres are first removed from the
seeds which are used for the production of seed oil,_hydrogenat-
ed fats, soaps and cosmetics. The cotton mass is then compres
sed into bales for shipment to the spinning mills.
Every bit of the fibre is used. The short ends (linters) left on the
seed, after the longer "fabric" fibres have been removed, go to
make rayon, plastics, dynamite and many other by-products.
(2) In the spinning mills the cotton is fed into machines which
remove the dirt and form the mass of fibre into a soft roll or lap.
Several laps may be combined into one.
(3) Carding. The next process is known as carding, in which
the fibres are smoothed and drawn together to form a loose rope
or sliver.
(4) Drawing The sliver is then combed and smoothened
and stretched. The sliver may be drawn three times and reduced
further, in size and given a slight twist by a process called
roving. In this process, the sliver is passed through rollers and
wound on to bobbins set in spindles. This is done in a speed
frame.
(5) Combing. This process is really a continuation and
refinement of the carding process. Cotton yarns for fabrics are
carded but not all are combed. Yarns that are only carded are
not so clean; whereas combed yarns are finer, even and free
from all woody stalk of the plant. These are used for finer quality
fabrics such as voile and organdie.
(6) Weaving and dyeing. The yarn is then knitted or
woven in any one of a variety of weavers and structure of
fabrics. Warp yarns are usually more strongly twisted than
filling yarns, since they must withstand greater strain in
weavingand finishing.
Dyestuffs may be applied to raw cotton, yarn, or piece-
goods
(7) Finishing. The cotton cloth is now ready for finishing
which includes starching, calendering, sanforizing, schreineri-
ing, mercerising, or other finishes as is necessary for the
particular use for which the cloth is intended. . These
finishes may be applied to the yarns, but are usually
applied to the fabric. The fabrics may be given these
special finishes before or after dyeing. Some of these
finishes are durable, others semi-durable. Scientists are
improving on them every day.

COTTON FABRICS
Bedford Cord:

A fabric showing prominent vertical cords which are

produced by a special weave structure. A carded yarn,
wale, or cord material. Two-ply warp yarns and heavier
single or ply yarns used as a backing. These heavy yarns
are caught at intervals in the weaving of the fabric. Single
yarns sometimes used in cheaper versions; the effect of the
cord is obtained in the weaving. Wale runs in warp. Can
be napped in back, bleached, dyed, or printed. Often the
face of the fabric is given a suede finish.

It is a firmly woven hardwearing fabric, very stable, used

originally for riding breeches but also used for ordinary
suiting and costume wear. Conventionally the cords are
regular and of even size but different sizes can be used in
stripe form for dress use. Traditionally wool, cotton or a
mixture of the two was used, but man-made staple fibres
can also be used for dress purposes. cotton Bedford cords
are frequently sold under the name of ‘pique’.The term
‘London cord’ is applied to twill-face cotton Bedford cords.

Blanket Cloth:

Plain or twill weave, 60 x 80 inches and over. Thick, soft

filling yarns, heavily napped both sides. Often yarn-dyed in
plaids or stripes.

Thick, heavily milled fabrics woven with woolen spun

yarns composed entirely of wool or of wool with an
admixture of cotton. The weft is soft spun, and the quality
of the wool used ranges from strong and coarse fibres to
fine cross-bred and merino. They are made unbordered,
with coloured borders all round, or bordered only at the
ends.
Horse blankets are coarse, heavily felted woolen
textures, and rug blankets (q.v.) are used in some parts of
the world as articles of clothing. Cotton blankets are made
with a flannelette finish, as a single cloth or as a weft
backed reversible texture.Blankets are also made in a
cellular leno construction using woolen, cotton or various
synthetic staple yarns. Acrylic staple and polypropylene
are used in the making of light-weight blankets in plain or in
2-and-2 twill construction.

Brocade:

Basic weave is satin. Elaborate lustrous design woven on

a Jacquard loom. Has a raised appearance, usually on a
filling-faced satin ground but often or twill or rep. The
design is on the surface only. Multicolored yarns used.
Buckram:

A coarse cotton fabric, woven plain, piece-dyed, and

stiffened with resin or size according to the purpose for
which it is intended. Thus, if employed as an under lining,it
is not made so stiff as if used as a foundation for hats,
while for use as hat shapes one class of buckram is
composed of two stiffened fabrics cemented together, one
of which is a rather fine muslin, and the other like cheese
cloth. It is sturdy in feel, stiff and boardy.

Calico:

A plain weave cotton fabric fairly closely woven but varying

in fineness and weight depending on quality. One of the
basic cotton fabrics; widely used for dress and household
purposes in white bleached, plain colors, stripes and
printed styles. It is more closely woven than muslin, but not
as fine as lawn, nor as soft in finish as cambric.
It is also widely used in unbleached form for mattress
covers and cheap covering and lightweight types can be
used as Toile to make up dress patterns for stand
modeling.
It is low in texture, coarse and made of carded yarn, has
small design effects when printed.

Cambric:

A fine lightweight plain weave fabric, usually cotton but can

also be made in linen. The yarns are not set closely
together and the finish is soft and smooth used for dress
purposes, plain or printed and for handkerchiefs. Given
special sizing and calendered finish.

Originally the name of a fine linen cloth made at Cambrai in

Belgium, and is now applied also to a fine bleached cotton
texture which is usually given a rather stiff, bright finish and
used for summer dresses. A class of cambric used for
dress linings is finished soft, and is termed kid-finished
cambric. Used for handkerchief linen, children-dress, slips,
underwear & nightgowns light in weight and well adapted
for sewing work has good body; is well sized & has neat
finish. It launders well.

Casement cloth:

A plain woven cotton fabric, soft and full handling, and

usually finished white or cream, made in different ways, but
generally with the weft predominating on the surface. The
cloth should be woven with a good quality of warp and weft,
and the ends evenly spaced; sometimes mercerized in the
piece. The cloth is also made with luster worsted weft on
the same principle as Bradford lustres , and while this
texture is used for casement curtains, it is also made into
summer dresses.

Cashmere:

A fine botany weft face dress fabric woven in 1-and-2 twill

with a larger number of picks than ends per cm. In the
better qualities the warp also is botany, but for cheaper
cloths cotton warp is used Cobourgs, Henriettas, and
Paramattas (q.v.) are similar in structure to cashmere, and
in the finishing processes the cloths are drawn out in length
and shrunk in width in order to show the weft as much as
possible on the surface.

Chiffon:

A very soft and filmy, plain woven silk texture, consisting of

the finest singles, which are hard-twisted and woven in the
gum condition, the cloth being afterwards degummed. The
term chiffon is also used in conjunction with certain silk
fabrics which are finished with a soft pliable feel - e.g.,
‘chiffon taffeta’, ‘chiffon velour’. A sheer voile with a dull
finish; of fine, hard-twisted yarns. Often dyed or printed.
They are very light-weight fabrics weighing ½ oz or even
less per square yard. They have beautiful handle and
draping properties. It is difficult fabric to make up because
of the looseness of structure the yarns slide very easily.

Chiffon is also made as man-made fibres, usually

monofilament yarns of nylon or terylene. These are stiffer
and less flexible than the true silk chiffon. Hard twist silk
yarns can be used to make crepe chiffon, (which) with a
characteristics crinkled surface appearance.

Chintz:

A printcloth or high-count fine sheeting with bright,

attractive floral or geometric designs, both large and small.
Often given a permanent or semi permanent glaze; then
known as glazed chintz. Used for draperies, slipcovers,
dresses.

Corduroy:

A ribbed pile fabric with a high, soft luster. Made with extra
filling threads or extra warp threads. In weaving, the extra
filling yarns form loops or floats over the ground threads.
After weaving, the loop threads are cut on a special
machine. Threads are then brushed, forming a pile. It was
originally produced as a very hard wearing fabric for
working trousers and breeches but is now produced in
many forms for dress and general use, in a wide variety of
cord styles, and sizes. Dress styles are produced in rayon
as well as cotton and elaborate cord patterns are produced
by fancy cutting methods.

Cotton suitings and trouserings:

Made in imitation of worsted cloths as regards colouring
and weave effects, very good fabrics being produced at a
relatively low price, and although they lack the fullness and
warmth of wool textures, they are suitable for tropical
countries. The colours are mostly subdued with bright
treads introduced in the form of grandrelle twists, while the
weaves are simple twills, hopsacks, ribs, and the warp-face
Venetian. The yarns should be spun from a good quality of
cotton, and the warp doubled with less twist than ordinary,
so that the threads in both directions will be full and soft.
The underside of the cloth is frequently given a flannelette
finish.

Crepe:

Has a pebbly or crinkled surface produced by use of

special crepe yarns, can be either crepe, granite, or plain
weave. Generally, mixed-twist crepe yarns used in both
warp and filling; occasionally crepe yarns used in both warp
and filling; occasionally crepe yarns used only in the warp
or the filling. Mostly woven on a box-loom.

This term relates to the crinkled surface given to

certain types of dress fabrics.

Methods of producing crepe fabrics may be summarized

as:-
1. By the use of very hard twist yarns causing fabric
surface distortion in finishing.
2. By the use of special crepe weaves which break up
the fabric surface into a random series of interlacing
with no visible repeat.
3. By embossing a crinkle pattern by means of an
engraved roller either into a softened thermoplastic
fabric or in combination with resins.
 4. By printing with a chemical paste in a pattern
causing puckering of the treated parts of the fabric.
The crepe technique is widely used as a variation of
ordinary fabric types.

Crepe fabrics are light and soft to the touch, and relatively
fine yarns are used with only sufficient threads per inch in
the loom as will contribute to the proper shrinking of the
cloth. Sometimes a more pronounced crepe effect is
obtained by using weaves, which show small floats on a
plain foundation.

Damask:

Design woven on Jacquard loom, on both sides of the

fabric. Usually given a lustrous, smooth finish when used
for tablecloths and a soft or lustrous finish for draperies or
upholstery.

Originally a silk fabric (made in Damascus) with a weft

sateen figure on a warp satin, or twill, or plain ground. The
cloth is now extensively used for household purposes, and
is made in cotton, rayon and linen yarns with the figure and
ground in opposite sateen weaves; the figure usually being
in weft sateen and the ground in warp satin. The weaves
generally used are the 5- and 8- thread sateens, and the
terms single and double damask are sometimes used in
order to distinguish linen fabrics made in the respective
weaves. The best linen damasks are woven with about 50
per cent more picks than ends per inch, and properly the
term double damask should only be used for 8 – thread
sateen cloths which contain such an excess of picks over
ends.
Denim:

A hard-wearing twill fabric, traditionally made from cotton

but now also made in special high tenacity rayon types.
The weave is usually 3 x 1 twill and a steep twill is
produced by setting the warp yarns closer together than the
weft. It was originally a protective clothing fabric but has
now become accepted for leisure wear.
It is a strong warp face cotton cloth used for overalls, jeans,
skirts, etc., The cloth is sometimes piece-dyed, but
generally the warp is yarn-dyed brown or blue and crossed
with white weft. The colours should be fast to washing

Dhoties:

Soft, light, cotton fabrics used in India for turbans, lion

cloths, etc., and made traditionally in lengths of 2/5 yards,
2/6 yards, or 2/10 yards, etc., the two meaning that the
cloth will be cut through the centre so as to form two
garments. The body of the cloth is plain grey, and the
ornamentation consists of heading and fancy borders, and
in some cases of one or three prominent strips away from
the borders. In grey dhotis the border pattern is made
simply by cramming grey or bleached ends in the reed
(double ends in place of single ends may be employed), or
by using thicker two – fold ends. Coloured dhotis are
sometimes woven entirely plain with coloured ends forming
border stripes, but frequently more or less elaborate figured
stripes (termed flush borders) are made by means of extra
threads. The borders are formed by the figure stripe which
may also be introduced once at a third of the width from
one side, or three times across the width at an equal
distance apart .

Doria stripes:
Light, plain woven cotton cloths in which stripe patterns are
formed by varying the denting of the ends, as, for example,
6 ends in six splits, 8 ends in four splits. A convenient
method of making the style consists of placing the crowded
ends 2 per mail and denting the mails regularly, and the
above example might be woven 6 single ends in six splits,
4 double ends in four splits, 26 splits and 22 picks per cm,
10 tex cotton warp and 8 tex cotton weft.

Drills:

Warp-face fabrics largely made in cotton yarns, and woven

in 3, 4 and 5- thread warp faced twills and 5-thread satin,
with the twill lines running opposite to the direction of the
twist of the warp yarn, in order that a prominent twill effect
will be formed. It may be bleached or piece-dyed, or woven
with coloured stripes in the warp with either white or dyed
weft. The fineness of the yarns and the setting vary
according to the weave and the weight required, satin drills
being mostly made in fine yarns and setting, while a 3-and-
1 twill fabric, termed Florentine, is woven with thicker yarns.
The term ‘pepperall drill’ is applied to a very high quality of
the cloth, and ‘drillette’ to a light make.

Dobby:

Woven on a dobby loom. All material with small figures,

such as dots and geometric designs; floral patterns woven
in the fabric, such as certain shirtings, huck towels, diaper
cloth, certain dress goods, drapery and upholstery fabrics.
Can be dyed, bleached, or yarn-dyed in many colors.

Gabardine:

A distinctive steep-diagonal warp-face twill of carded or

combed yarns. Twill is to the left if made with all single
yarns, and to the right when ply warp and single filling are
used. Thread counts range from 110 x 76 to 130 x 80.

Gauze or Leno or Cheesecloth:

Usually bleached; often specially treated, as when used for

bandages. Better cheese cloths are also used for less
expensive infants’ items under various trademarks .Here
certain ends cross from side to side of adjacent ends.

Gingham:

Plain-weave, medium-weight, or light-weight fabrics. Can

be either combed or carded yarns. Usually woven on a
box-loom. Colored and white yarns or multicolored yarns
form the pattern. Same number and variation of yarns in
the warp as in the filling, forming squares, plaids, and
similar patterns. Strange to say, a solid-color gingham is
called a novelty gingham. Endless variations in color and
design. Tissue ginghams are sheet ginghams made with
lighter-weight yarns.
It is a firm, plain woven, cotton fabric usually coloured in the
warp, and frequently made in check form, Coarser qualities
are used for aprons, etc., and finer cloths for blouses and
shirtings.

Glass cloth:

A good quality of linen, cotton, or linen and cotton cloth,

woven grey and in stripe and check colourings, and used
for drying and polishing glassware and china. 50 tex cotton
or linen warp and weft, 18 ends and picks per cm.

Grey cloth:

A piece of cloth in the condition in which it leaves the loom.

Huck or Huckaback cloth :

Small-figured dobby weave used for towels. Has a rough

surface. Comes bleached or with yarn-dyed striped
border.It is an absorbent fabric, used for towels and glass
cloths, mostly made in cotton yarns (see Figure 5.11) – 74
tex warp and weft, 16 ends and 38 picks per cm.

Italian cloth:

A lining cloth which was originally made with a dyed cotton

warp and grey botany weft, wool-dyed in the piece, and
given a lustrous surface appearance in the finishing
process. The brilliant luster which can now be obtained in
cotton fabrics by the operations of mercerizing and
schreinering has led to the substitution of cotton weft for the
botany weft, and the cloths are now extensively made
entirely of cotton, and woven grey and piece-dyed. A good
warp and soft spun even weft are required, with many more
picks than ends per inch, and the weave is 5-thread weft
sateen arranged to twill in the same direction as the twist of
the weft, in order that maximum smoothness of surface will
be obtained.

Jeans:

Three-harness warp-face twills of light-weight sheeting

yarns. One warp thread goes over two or more filling
threads, then under, moving one pick higher for each return
filling thread. Sometimes made in chevron or herring bone
versions.

A cotton fabric similar to denim, but usually lighter and

finer, woven in 2/1 twill with a warp face and showing a
fairly steep twill, the warp being more closely set than the
weft. Originally made for protective clothing and lining use
but now widely adapted for leisure wear in a wide range of
colors.

Khaki:

Tan or dusty colored warp face twill; softer and finer than
drill. Name derived from East India word meaning earth
color. A Persian term meaning like the earth. A yellowish-
brown fabric produced from a mixture of differently dyed
fibres, and largely used for military purposes on account of
the difficulty of distinguishing it from natural objects. The
mixture of wool fibres to produce the khaki shade has been
standardized as follows: 80 per cent olive brown, 5 per cent
indigo, 15 per cent white.

Lawn:

Sheer and medium-sheer plain-weave fabrics made with

lightweight yarns and medium to high count. Can be
bleached, dyed, or printed. Also known as batiste or
organdy, depending on the finish.

Plain woven, bleached cotton cloth, very light, fine, and

smooth, used for underwear and dresses. May have a soft
pure finish, or be given a rather firm feel .Victoria lawn is a
closely woven fabric with a somewhat stiff finish, Persian
lawn is a soft finished cloth, while Bishop’s lawn is
bleached and given a bluish-white tint. Linen lawn is made
of fine linen yarns.

A very fine plain weave fabric originally made from linen but
more commonly made from cotton and now also featured in
man-made fibres particularly synthetic fibres. Lawn and
Cambric have similarities because both are fine fabrics but
lawn is usually more closely woven to be ‘sheer’ but lawns
made from synthetic man-made fibres have a tendency to
be sheer.
Longcloth:

Also known as fine plain. A plain-weave, closely woven,

high-count fabric. The weight is between a printcloth and
lawn. Generally combed finer yarns, and with more threads
to the square inch than percales. A few are made of
printcloth yarns.India longcloth is a finer and softer fabric,
more like cambric – 12 to 9 tex warp and weft, 36 to 40
ends and 38 to 54 picks per cm.

Mercerised cloth:

The process of mercerizing cotton cloth is similar to that of

mercerizing cotton yarn, and consists of imparting a fine
silky luster to a fabric by subjecting it to tension while
impregnated with a cold strong solution of caustic soda.
Mercerized material (yarn or cloth) has a much greater
affinity for dyestuffs than unmercerised cotton.

Muslin:

Coarse type of cotton fabric made of carded yarns; of

various thread counts up to 140. Gray printcloth and
lightweight sheetings known as unbleached muslins.
A generic term applied to soft, fine, open, plain woven
fabrics made of silk, worsted, or cotton yarns. The most
common are cotton muslins, which are woven entirely plain
or are ornamented with cords and crammed stripes, and
spots and figures in extra weft or warp. Plain muslin and
fabrics with simple ornamentation are used for summer
dresses, aprons, etc. In Swiss muslins spotted effects are
produced by embroidering the cloth after it is woven, and
imitations of the fabrics are made on the clip-spot principle
,termed Anglo-Swiss muslin.
Thread harness muslin: A fine, extra-weft, figured muslin
fabric, woven in an ordinary jacquard which controls every
warp thread. The loose floats of weft, extending between
the figures, are cut away so as to leave a light, open
ground.

Nainsook:

A fine, light, bleached, plain woven cotton cloth, with a soft

finish, and used for underwear. Made in many different
qualities, and sometimes woven with cord stripes and used
for dresses – 8 tex warp and weft, 36 ends and 34 picks
per cm, to 6 tex warp and weft, 44 ends and 56 picks per
cm.
Diaphalene is a nainsook type of fabric, which is
mercerized and dyed in delicate colours for use as
underwear.

Organdy:

Plain weave. A sheer, transparent lawn of lightweight

yarns. Slightly lower construction than ordinary lawns. The
filling is slightly finer than the warp yarns. Fewer filling than
warp threads. Comes in many variations, such as
permanent crinkles, leno effects, embroidery, plain or
crinkled mixtures, clip spots. Bleached, dyed, or printed.
Stiff finish, either starched or permanent stiff starchless
finish.
A thin open translucent fabric with a stiff handle, made from
cotton, woven in plain weave and given a special acid
finishing treatment which creates the stiff translucent effect
by partially ‘gelatinising’ the surface of the fabric. The finish
is permanent but the fabric creases easily and the same
type of effect can be obtained more effectively, but not as
cheaply, by the use of monofilament synthetic yarns.
Organdie is used for dresses, blouses, decoration, for
frilling and stiffening.
Oxford:

A plain weave of medium or heavy weight. Made with a

variety of yarns. The majority of oxfords are of combed
yarns, with heavier filling than warp yarns. Cheaper grades
are mixed carded and combed yarns, and sometimes all
carded yarns. Two warp yarns, placed flat next to each
other, are woven over and under one heavier filling thread.
Usually mercerized. A number of variations of this weave
are on the market. For shirtings, dresses, and similar
purposes.

Pajama Check:

A lightweight or medium-weight plain weave fabric with

small-sized or medium-sized cord checks. Usually carded
yarns. One of the dimity family.

Poplin:

Has a heavier rib effect than broadcloth. Heavier filling

than warp yarns, and more threads in the warp than filling.
Printcloth yarns mostly Combed yarns in the better cloths.
Many mixtures made. Poplin comes in many variations,
such as slubs, nubs, and yarn-dyed checks and stripes.
Mainly dyed solid colors or printed. Often given special
finishes, such as water-repellent, fire-retardant, mildew-
proof.The rib effect is developed by a deliberate
unbalancing of the fabric structure. The warp yarns are
very closely set and the weft yarns are correspondingly
opened out so that in a good quality poplin there will be
twice as many warp yarns per inch there are weft yarns.
This means that the warp yarns bend round the weft yarns
and the latter remain virtually straight. The warp yarn
interlacing close-up and almost hide the weft and straight
lines of weft produce the characteristics ribs. In a good
quality poplin warp and weft are of the same thickness and
the rib is produced entirely by the imbalance of structure.
Cheaper types produce the effect by using a thicker weft
and a less closely set warp. This can make the fabric liable
to crack by the sliding of warp yarns sideways over the
straight weft.

Sateen:

This is a weft-faced fabric. It is not a straight forward

reversing of a satin weave because the fabric construction
differs in that the weft yarns are more numerous and more
closely set than the warp yarns in order to give the
necessary compactness of surface. These fabrics are most
commonly used for linings, the standard curtain lining fabric
is a good example of this type of fabric, made from cotton
and given a schreiner finish to produce luster.

Seersucker:

A plain weave. Usually a medium-weight or medium-

heavyweight fabric with a woven crinkled stripe, check, or
plaid. Yarn – dyed or bleached, occasionally overprinted.
The woven crinkle is made by alternating slack tension in
warp yarns. Not to be confused with plisse.It is a woven
fabric which incorporates modification of tension control. In
the production of seer sucker, some of the warp yarns are
held under controlled tension at all times during the
wearing, while the other warp yarns are in a relaxed state
and tend to pucker when the filling yarns are placed. The
result produces a puckered stripe effect in the fabric. Seer
sucker is traditionally made into summer sportswear such
as shirts, trousers, and informed suits.

Shantung:
Plain weave. Has a rib effect formed by slub yarns.
Certain parts of the yarn are not given the usual number of
twists. These places form the slub in the rib.

Sheetings:

Plain weave. Mostly carded but occasionally combed yarns

in all weights: light, medium, and heavy. Generally about
the same number of yarns in warp as in filling, but often
warp yarns are heavier than filling. Sheetings come in both
wide and narrow widths. Yarn sizes range from 10s to 29s.

Sueade Cloth:

Sheeting napped on one side to resemble leather sueade.

Tapestry:

A closely woven yarn-dyed figured material with two or

more sets of warp and filling, often plied. Woven on a
Jacquard loom. Comes in both fine and coarse versions.
The reverse side is smooth.

Voile:

A soft yet firm, sheer fabric of plain weave. Generally

made of combed hard-twisted single yarns, although ply
yarns are also used. About the same number of yarns in
warp as in filling. Occasionally dots are woven in, and a
crisp finish given the fabric; then it is sold as dotted swiss.A
fabric originally made from hard twisted combed cotton
yarns in plain weave which gave a crisp handle to the
fabric. Can be produced on plain, striped or printed styles,
used for blouses and dresses. Can also be made in man-
made fibres.
Made in both worsted and cotton yarns which vary
extremely in thickness in different makes. A worsted voile
– 110/3 tex warp and weft, 9 ends and picks per cm. A
cotton voile – 34/2 tex warp and weft, 14 ends, and 15
picks per cm; or, 12/2 tex warp and weft, 23 ends, and 22
picks per cm. For cotton fabrics combed and gassed, hard
twisted, single yarn of 12 to 10 tex has been substituted to
some extent for two-fold yarn. On account of the openness
of the fabric good selvedges are required, and these are
frequently made 1.25 cm or more in width, an ordinary yarn
being used which is crammed in the reed so as to give the
necessary density. The voile ends are woven one per split,
and the cloths are ornamented by means of crammed
stripes, extra warp and weft figures, etc., in mercerized
cotton, silk, and rayon yarns.
LINEN

Antiquity
The art of making linen from flax is an ancient industry. The
history of linen has been closely identified with the annals of
Egypt. According to Egyptian mythology, flax was the first
thing created for themselves by the gods before appearing
on earth. A series of graphic pictures depicting the entire
process of flax culture were discovered in 1881 in one of
the tombs of the Pharaohs, dating about 2,500 years before
Christ. This is proof of the early linen weaving in the Nile
valley. Even if Egypt was not the birthplace of linen, it was,
at least its cradle, as it was in this country that linen reached
a perfection seldom equalled and never surpassed
elsewhere in either the ancient or the modern world.
Earlier than these evidences of antiquity, it has been estab-
lished that Swiss Lake-dwellers as far back as the Stone
Age used the fibres of a wild flax for fish lines and nets.
Linen was an everyday word to the writers of the Bible. It
was an emblem of peace. The biblical description of the
Tabernacle, which formed the central point of worship for
the tribes of Israel, tells us that the curtains were of fine
linen, and when Aaron the high priest entered the holy
place, he put on a holy linen coat and girdle, and upon his
head was a linen mitre. This shows the unique place held
by linen in the history of ancient times. Warden writes, "The
very finest cambric or linen of the present days looks
coarse besides these specimens of Egyptian looms in the
days of the Pharaohs."
As civilisation spread, linen manufacture sprang up in
other countries. The Phoenicians with their merchant fleet
opened up new channels of commerce to the peoples of
the Mediterranean, and introduced flax growing and linen
manufacture into Ireland before the birth of Christ.
However, internal dissensions prevented the growth of the
industry, and it was not until the twelfth century that flax
production was organised into an industry. By 1685, Ireland
became the centre for the manufacture of linen. The word
"linen" comes from the Celtic word, Ilin. The flax industry in
the U.S.A. dates from the early 1800's when many Irish
linen weavers emigrated to that country.
In India, linen was commonly used during the time of Manu.
The Arthasastra mentions materials made of flax or
kshauma. Linen was also a popular fabric during the days of
Lord Buddha. It was particularly selected and used for the
robes of the Buddhist monks Bhikshus.

Origin

The linen fibre is obtained from the stem of the flax plant,
which grows throughout the temperate climate where there
is sufficient moisture. The Russian Baltic States, Germany,
France, Holland, Northern Ireland, Central Asia and some
parts of America .are the countries where flax is grown
extensively
The Plant. The botanical name for common flax is Linum
usitatissium. There are two types of flax grown, fibre flax and
seed flax. The former is grown mainly for fibre purposes,
with the seed crop secondary; the other is grown for its
seed, and the fibre qualities are secondary. The plant is
an annual growing to a maximum height of about 40 inches.
The stem is slender and straight; the flowers are of a pale
blue colour.
The fibres for the linen yarns grow in the bast or woody part
of the stem of the flax plant. Thus they are called “bast
fibres”.

Manufacture

1. The flax plants are grown closely to prevent the stems

from branching, for once a branch breaks from the parent
stem the fibre above that point is of little value. The plants
are pulled by hand or machine, and care is taken that the
entire fibre from its top to root is intact.
2.After pulling, the seeds are removed and used for the
production of linseed oil.
3. Retting. This is followed by retting or steeping in which
the fleshy part of the stem is rotted by contact with water.
This process is carried out by exposing it to the action of
running or stagnant water, or to the action of dew or sun.
Retting is a ferment process where the pectin ovurum (pectin
eater) bacteria,the spores of which exist in the plant, come
to life and eat the gum (pectin) which binds the fibre to the
stem.
Retting is now done in large retting tanks where the com-
position and temperature of the water and the bacterial
count can be carefully controlled. Retting requires about a
week and is an important step in flax preparation, since it
determines the looseness. Stem is finally removed by
pressing the stems between fleeted rollers and beating them
with revolving blades the colour and quantity of the
finished fibre. The bundles are then dried in the fields.

4. Scrutching. By this process the softened woody

outer portions are broken up and removed. An early
method of scrutching was to place a bunch of the fibre in a
cleft of a post called a scrutching post and strike it with a
flat beater. Scrutching machines are now used, which
operate on the same general principle.
5. Hackling or Combing. The inner part that is left
forms the linen fibres. These vary in length from ten
inches to several feet. They are separated into the
short and long linen fibres. The long fibres called
line are passed through a series of combs until
they emerge smooth, fine and glossy, ready for
spinning. The shorter fibres known as tow are also
used in the manufacture of inferior linen The fibres
are then ready for spinning into yarn.
6. Spinning. The long glossy yarn is either spun wet to give
very fine yarns or dry to form coarser yarns. After the fabric
has been woven it may be bleached. Dressing is also added
to the cheaper varieties of fabric, but the effect is lost after
washing.
The natural colour of linen varies from a dark grey to a
yellowish grey. Linen is sold in different degrees of bleach,
"full", "half bleach" and natural. This bleaching is done by
chemical methods by spreading the cloth on the grass in
the sunshine. The more the cloth is bleached the more it is
weakened so that a piece of full-bleached linen is weaker
than one only half-bleached. Long flax fibres are used for
better quality linen fabrics. Long "line" fibres give the lustre
and body so typical of linen. Short "tow" are used for less
expensive linen.
Linen fibres are naturally stiff, and fabrics made from them
usually have more body than fabrics made from softer fibres.
Because of the natural stiffness of the fabric, linens wrinkle
readily and have to be pressed with each wearing. This
objection is overcome to some extent by special finishes given
to linen.

Disadvantages
The material can crease easily if the fibre is not mixed
with oilier fibres to prevent this or if the material is not
treated to shed creases. It can also be subject to mildew. It
discolours if stored in a cupboard with hot water pipes
running through it or in wood-lined drawers or chests. The
material regains its whiteness easily, however. To remove
discolouration wash in the normal way and dry in the sun to
bleach.

Uses
Table and bed linen, drying cloths in kitchen and bathroom,
Interlining and clothing including protective clothing against
radioactivity, handkerchiefs, mail bags, hosepipe covers and
 insulation in telephones and telephone switchboards, para-
chute harnesses, lightweight suitcases for air travel and
fishing
lines.
The thread is used for stitching aircraft and railway
carriage upholstery, carpets, suitcases, life-belts,
tarpaulins, footballs and cricket-balls
The fibre is made tip into many types of material such as
juckaback, canvas, double and single damask and slubbed
dress linen. There arc textured suitweights where different
effects are given in the weaving to stimulate tweed, hopsack
or herringbone, and there are also twill weaves and hound
tooth checks.

LINEN FABRICS

Art Linen:

Closely woven round-thread linen, used chiefly for

embroidery, generally in the plain weave. Bleached,
unbleached, and colors. Also used for dresses and table
linens.

Bisso Linen:

Fine, sheer linen; sometimes called altar linen. Made of

wiry yarns. Has a crisp feel. Used for altar cloths.

Cambric:

Fine, closely woven fabric with a high thread count. Plain

weave; white and colors. Used chiefly for handkerchiefs.

Canvas:
Many fabrics come under this heading. Two principal
types:
(1) Open-mesh canvas used for embroidery; made of
hard-twisted yarns; very durable. Most popularly known in
this group is Java canvas.
(2) Close-woven canvas made from coarse hard-twisted
yarns in the plain weave; in various weights. Finishes
range from heavily sized to soft.

Crash:

A relatively coarse fabric made of uneven slack-twisted

yarns. Made in various qualities; plain weave. Used for
towels, suitings, dresses, depending on the weight.

A linen fabric with an irregular appearance due to the use

of thick, uneven yarns, particularly in the weft, woven plain
or in fancy crepe weaves, largely used for towels. For the
warp brown mercerized cotton is sometimes used in place
of linen. Cotton crash toweling is made with waste cotton
weft in weaves of an oatmeal crepe character (see Oatmeal
cloth).

Damasks:

In satin weave as well as the Jacquard pattern. Two types:

single damask and double damask. Single damask has a
five-shaft satin construction; thread count ranges from 100
to 200 to the squares inch; if given a high thread count, is
more durable than double damask. Double damask is
more lustrous because of the longer float of the eight-shaft
construction; reversible because the design is made on
both sides; thread count ranges from 165 to 400 to the
square inch.

Handkerchief Linen:
Same as linen cambric. Sometimes called linen lawn or
linen batiste. Plain weave, often corded.

Huckaback:

Coarse fabric, having rough surface. Variations in weave;

may have small figures. Color range from semi-bleached
to white.

Sheeting:

Firmly constructed plain-weave cloth. Used industrially.

Closer construction used for bed linens. May be
unbleached or white.

Woven in linen and cotton yarns, the latter being generally

known as Bolton sheeting. Made in comparatively thick
yarns, in 2-and-2 twill or plain weave, from 140 to 300 cm
wide, and sold grey or bleached – 2-and-2 twill cotton
sheeting – 49 to 42 tex warp, 60 to 49 tex weft, 18 to 20
ends, and 25 to 28 picks per cm. Plain sheeting – 33 tex
warp, 38 tex weft, 18 ends and 18 to 24 picks per cm.
Coarser cotton sheetings are woven with thick condenser
weft (see Condenser cotton yarns), while flannelette
sheetings are usually made of this weft in plain weave.
Fine sheetings are also woven with cotton polyester
blended yarns.

Terry or Turkish Toweling:

General name that covers all types of linen woven in

special widths for towels. Some are terry, huckaback,
crash, bird’s-eye, glass.
A looped warp pile fabric, made in linen and cotton yarns,
and used for towels, bath mats, bed covers, dressing
gowns, etc.
 MINOR VEGETABLE FIBRES
JUTE
Jute is the second most widely used vegetable fibre,
exceeded only by cotton. The name of this plant is derived
from the Indian word that which means "to be entangled",
probably referring to the irregular fibres which readily mesh
together.
The fibre has been used in India as handicraft material
since very ancient times. The early Sanskrit writings
speak of pat or jute as a useful household plant,
serviceable both as a pot herb and as a fibre.

Origin
AJute is often called "Calcutta Hemp", but it only receives
the name- from the fact that most of this fibre enters into
commerce through that port. Jute is obtained from a plant
Corchorus, capsularis.
Practically all of the jute fibre is produced in India, and 85
per cent of the total world production is in Bengal. Today,
the cultivation of jute has spread to other sections of India,
as the chief producing centre has gone to Pakistan after
the partition of India. Brazil is also making a successful
attempt to grow jute.

The plant
Jute is an annual plant growing from 5 to 10 feet high. It
has a cylindrical stalk as thick as a man's finger. There are
no branches except near the top. The plants are grown
not only for the fibre, but also for the leaves, which, as
staled before, are used as a pot herb.
The crop is ready for cutting when the flowers begin to
fade. If gathered earlier, the fibre is weak; if left until the
seed is ripe, the fibre, although stronger, is coarser and
lacks the characteristic lustre. The best fibre is secured by
hand-stripping, when each stalk is peeled separately.
 The fibre
The fibre consists of bundles of cells with sharply defined
polygonal outlines. The individual bast cells of the jute
are very fine and much shorter than flax fibres. The best
quality of jute fibre is a clear yellowish colour with a fine silky
lustre. It is soft and smooth to the touch.
The jute fibre is decidedly less strong than flax or hemp.
It is highly hygroscopic. In a dry atmosphere it may have
no more than 6 per cent'of moisture, but in damp
conditions the moisture may be as high as 23 per cent.

Manufacture
1.
he plants grow to a height of ten feet, and are
gathered just as the flowers.
2. Retting. The cheapest method of removing the fibres
from the jute plant is to steep the stems in streams or
pools until bacterial action destroys the tissues in which the
fibres are embedded. Great care has to be taken. If over-
retted, the fibres are injured, if insufficiently retted, the fibres
cannot be handled by the spinner.
3. Softening. Jute is naturally very harsh owing to a low
wax content and also' to its lignified nature. For this reason it
must be softened to permit the division of the fibre and also
lubricated. Water and oil are added to the fibres, and they
are passed through a series of rollers until the desired
change is obtained.
4. Preparing the yarn The fibres are sent to the
carding_machine and made into long round slivers. These
slivers are drawn out by combining a number of slivers into
one. It is then delivered to the roving frame, where it is drawn
out to about eight times its length and is given a slight twist
and wound on bobbins. It is now ready for weaving.
The finished material is lustrous and can be bleached to a
cream shade or dyed. Jute is used mostly for making hessian,
sacking, dhurries and cheap pile fabrics. Bleached jute is also
used as filling weft to cotton warp in the so-called linen-
towelling. Of late years, a variety of novelty fabrics for dress
goods have also been made from jute, used in conjunction
with woollen or cotton yarns. It is also used largely in the
manufacture of twine, rope and carpet making.
Jute is susceptible to microbiological decay, especially under
conditions of high temperature and high relative humidity. Rot-
proofing is accomplished by the use of insoluble antiseptics
which are fixed on or within the fabric. Mineral salts, organic
metallic compounds and phenolic derivates are among the
substances used for this purpose. Today, jute is made water-
resistant and fireproof.

HEMP
Origin
Hemp was very much in vogue among the ancient Asiatics
long before the birth of Christ. It was used for carpets, tapes-
try, ropes, soles of shoes and even trying their letters which
were carved on wood, for paper was not known there. Some of
these antiquities were brought to India by Sir Auriel Stein
during his expedition to the heart of Asia and are now exhibi-
ted in the Archaelogical Museum in Delhi.
Hemp is grown chiefly in the Philippine Islands, China,
Mexico, Russia, the West Indies and India. The Manila
variety is white.
In India, Deccan hemp is grown both as a crop and as a
hedge plant. It is cultivated largely in Maharashtra—
Deccan and Carnatic—and Madras. It grows best in the
alluvial soils of North Gujarat and in medium black soils.
Fibre
The fibre is lustrous and has the microscopic nodes and
joints of linen, but the central canal is wider; the cell are
blunt ended.
Manufacture is the same as for flax

Uses
Being stronger than linen or jute, it is ideal for making twine,
ropes, cables, carpets, canvas, ship cordage and sailcloth,
as it is not weakened or rotted by water. Today, even fine
fabric are made from hemp.

RAMIE
Ramie is another vegetable fibre from nettles grown chiefly
in India, China and our other neighbouring countries. The
Chinese variety is often known as "China grass" or Rhea.
The finished fibre is fine, silky and strong. This makes it
suitable for weaving into fine table-linen, like tray-cloths,
table cloths, napkins, etc. Ramie has many properties similar
to those of linen. A slight amount of gum in the fabric makes
starching unnecessary as the material will stiffen sufficiently if
ironed damp.
Another quality of ramie that makes it unique among fibres
is its behavior when in contact with water. Ramie is more
absorbent than cotton, holding-water to the extent of 28 percent
of its dry weight, whereas cotton holds water' to the extent
26percent. Moreover, instead of losing strength when wet, as
do many fibres, ramie is 30 to 60 per cent stronger when wet
than when dry. It dries more rapidly than does flax or cotton.
That has the additional advantages of being unshrinkable
and of being highly resistant to mildew as well as to the attack
of micro-organisms that cause rot.

SUNN
This plant is a native of southern Asia, chiefly India.
There are two varieties—Bhadoi San and Rabi San. The
former
is planted in May and June and harvested in October and
 November, and the latter, which is the better variety is
planted
in October and November and harvested in February and
March..
In order to secure the best grade of fibres, the plants are
cut when they are in flower. They are exposed for 36 hours,
and then retted in water for three to four days and fibres are
immediately stripped off owing to their tendency to rot. They
are then dried and sorted.
Sunn is better in quality than jute, being lighter in colour
and having greater tensile strength. It contains 80 per
cent cellulose as against 64 per cent cellulose in jute.
Sunn is used for fishnets, twines, rug yarns, sacking fabrics
and in papermaking.

CABACA OR MANILA
This plant is a native of the Philippine Islands. It is
cultivated in the Philippine Islands on a large scale. It is
also grown in Sumatra and Borneo. It is planted clear of
other trees and ten feet apart each way. It is perennial
and grows to a height of 9 to 10 feet. A single plant
yields about 1 Ib. of fibre. The fibre is white and lustrous
in appearance, light and hard, and easily separable. It
has good tensile strength and great durability. The
cellulose content is 64 to 65 per cent. It is used in the
manufacture of rope and heavy cordage.

SISAL
Sisal is grown on large plantations in East and West
Africa, the East India, Java and Mexico. The plant is
triennial. The leaves grow from the base of the plant, and
each leaf is cut by hand close to the ground. The leaves
are beaten by hand and fibres removed. The fibres are
washed simultaneously with scraping. It contains 72
percent cellulose and 14 to 15 percent lignin. It rots readily
in salt water. Its principal use is in the manufacture of
 commercial tying twines, ropes and cords. It can be
admixed with cotton to alter the quality and price of the
rope.

COIR
Coir is obtained from the shell of the cocoanut.The fibres are
about 10 inches long. Kerala and Ceylon are the home and
centres of coir fibres. The cocoanut husks are softened by
steeping them in sea-water and the wood is separated from
the fibres by pounding with a stone, hackled with a steel
comb and then dried. Fibres are changed into yarns from
which cordage and coarse cloths are prepared, and from the
fibres bristles for brushes are made.
Coir fibre has a natural affinity towards dyestuffs. Coir
being a vegetable fibre, shows more sensitiveness towards
basic colours; and good, brilliant colours are obtained when
the fibre is dyed with such dyestuffs. Basic colours are not
stable to sunlight. Even then they can be safely applied to
coir fibre because the use of dyed coir mats will always be
confined to indoor purposes of houses and bungalows.

Rayon
One could not imagine a modern world without
synthetic textile “Man-made” or synthetic fibres, as they are
more loosely known, were born in this country. The
commercial production of rayon stretches back no further
than about forty-eight years. It blends well with all other
fibres. Rayons are classed as regenerated cellulose fibres.
Yet within this short time, rayon— or "artificial silk", as it was
originally known—has become an intrinsic part of everyday
life. It has brought to the many a standard of luxury, once
enjoyed only by the few.
The main object in manufacturing rayon was to provide a
cheap substitute for silk. Softness, coolness, lightness in
weight and attractive appearance, all count for the
popularity of rayon. So cleverly is the "limitation" done that
many an Indian housewife is not able to distinguish silk from
rayon unless she has a knowledge of the latter.
India's first rayon factory was started in 1946 in Kerala.
Since then several factories have been started in India.
Origin
All the varieties of rayon are of vegetable origin and are
derived from a cellulose base. There are four main
procedures by which cellulose is transformed into rayon.
These are :
(a) the nitro-cellulose method,
(b) the cuprammonium method,
(c) the viscose method,
(d) the cellulose acetate method.
The general principles of rayon yarn production involve
making a treacly liquid and then forcing it through the fine
holes of a jet. There are, however, certain differences and
these give each type of yarn properties distinct from the
others.

How differences arise in rayons

All processes for producing rayons have this in common
that they copy the technique of the silkworm of forcing a
sticky fluid through a small hole and then hardening the
thread to obtain filaments. We may say, therefore; that
some of the important differences in rayons can be
accounted for by the method of treating the cellulose raw
material. The viscose method converts the cellulose by the
addition of carbon bi-sulphate, whereas it is copper
sulphate and ammonia that are the chemical agents used
in the cuprammonium method. In the acetate method the
purified cellulose is treated with a mixture of acetic acid and
the acetic anhydride.
The nitrocellulose method was the first to be used for the
production of rayon fabrics. This was started by Count
Hiliare Chardonnet in 1884 in France. The fibre is produced
from cotton linters (short stapled cotton), which treated with
a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids, produce nitre-
cellulose. The inflammable material then produced is
dissolved in spirits, and the solution is forced through tiny
holes into the air. The solvent evaporates leaving fine
thread. In this form the fibre is highly inflammable, so it is
denitrated and rendered non-inflammable. This method is
little used today owing to the expense.
The cuprammonium process : This was first made in
Germany in 1897. Cotton linters or wood pulp are treated
with caustic soda solution and steeped in cold saturated
copper sulphate solution. It is squeezed and then dissolved
in strong aqueous ammonia to give cuprammonium
solution. The solution is forced through fine jets into dilute
acid to give threads which may be stretched into fine fibres.
This rayon closely resembles silk. The American Bemberg
Corporation is a specialist in the production of these rayons,

Manufacture of Bemberg yarn

The accompanying drawing depicts the most important
steps in the manufacture of cuprammonium cellulose yarns
by the "Bemberg" stretch-spinning process.
1. Raw material used for the production of yarn may be
cotton linters or wood pulp Cotton linters formerly supplied
the chief source of cellulose used in the production of
cuprammonium cellulose yarns by the 'Bemberg' stretch-
spinning process. Cotton linters are the fine, soft fibres
adhering to the cotton seed after the long fibres have been
removed during ginning. These fibres are separated from
the cotton seed, cleaned and bleached before use for
conversion into rayon yarns. Now highly refined wood
pulps serve also as a raw material in this process.
2. Cellulose is bleached to a pure white in a washing
machine. The only bleaching required for this type of rayon
yarn is accomplished at this point.
3. Cuprammonium cellulose spinning solution is next
prepared in a solution mixer by dissolving the cellulose at a
low temperature in acqueous ammonia containing basic
copper sulphate.
4. The impurities are then filtered out in a solution filter. The
pure, clean spinning solution is of a dark blue colour and
the consistency of honey.
5. The spinning solution is allowed to mature or age in a
storage tank.
6. The solution then passes through a spinning bath-supply
of purified, slightly alkaline water which causes coagulation
of the filaments as they leave the spinneret.
7. This step depicts the stretch-spinning apparatus where
the spinning solution is forced through the comparatively
large holes of the spinneret, which is flitted into the top of
a glass cylinder containing a long, tapering glass funnel.
The water from the spinning bath supply is admitted at the
bottom of the cylinder, flows up and descends through the
funnel. The action of the water coagulates the spinning
solution coming through the spinneret and at the same time
stretches the filaments thus formed. (Final coagulation and
stretching of the combined filament is" accomplished by
passing the filament bundle through a dilute sulphuric acid
bath to a driven collecting reel.) The size of "Bemberg"
rayon filaments is not limited by the size of the spinneret
holes but achieves unsurpassed fineness as a result of the
unique stretch-spinning device.
8. Finished yarn is wound on reels in skein form. As it is
removed, it is tied with coloured thread to indicate denier
and type. The skeins are then completely decoppered,
washed, soaped and dried. The yarn may be twisted into
skeins or wound on bobbins or cones for use by
manufacturers. Due to the great demand for filament yarn
made by this process, only a small percentage of American
Bemberg Corporation's product is made into staple fibre.

All Bemberg rayon fabrics

Fabrics woven and knitted entirely of 'Bemberg' rayon yarn
are used for a wide range of apparel types. Formal fabrics
include velvet, satin, brocades, taffeta, chiffon, voileten.
Among daytime-fabrics are sheers; reverse crepe, shirting
and jersey. For lingerie there are crepe and satin and a
variety of knitted lingerie fabrics. 'Bemberg' is also used
extensively for gloves, scarves, and for undergarments.
In the interior decoration field, ninon, drapery satin and
taffeta, brocades, jacquards and table damask are woven of
"All Bemberg" rayon yarns.

Combination fabrics
The unusual texture, rich appearance or durability of
certain fabrics is the result of combining yarns of different
fibers. This may be done by blending different kinds of rayon
staple fibres together or with natural fibres, by twisting
rayon
filament or spun yarns together or with natural fibre yarns,
and
by combining yarns of different fibres in the weaving.
In upholstery fabrics, "Bemberg" rayon yarn is used largely on
the surface to add richness to cotton, wool, or other types of
rayon fabrics, and to increase resistance to sunlight and light
deterioration.
Apparel fabrics such as bengaline, poplin fabrics, crepes,
many sportswear fabrics, and novelties receive their charac-
teristic textures through the combination of "Bemberg" with
natural or other man-made yarns.
The Viscose method: Viscose was first manufactured in
England in 1892 by three British chemists, Sevan, Cross and
Beadle. The largest proportion of rayons today is
manufactured by this process, as the cost of production is not
only comparatively low but also excellent fibres are produced.
In India the raw material used for viscose rayon is bamboo.
(i) The lofty spruce trees on mountain slopes are felled,
(ii) Spruce logs are reduced to wood pulp and purified for
cellulose base.
(iii) This wood pulp is treated with caustic soda to form alkali
cellulose.
(iv) This is mixed with carbon bisulphide to form cellulose
zanthate, which is dissolved in weak caustic soda solution.
A reddish or orange liquid is formed, which after filtering and
ageing thickens and is known as Viscose.
(v) This is forced through nozzles into a coagulating
liquid consisting of sulphuric acid and sodium-sulphate.
(vi) Many of the fine filaments are drawn together to form the
rayon threads or yarn for textile mills.

The Cellulose Acetate Process : This process has been

commercially developed since 1918 although it was first dis-
covered about half a century earlier.
The acetate silks differ from other three mentioned above,
since the substance forming the filament is not a
regenerated form of cellulose, but is compound of cellulose
and acetic acid— cellulose acetate.
(1)
ood pulp or cotton linters when treated with
acetic anhydride under suitable conditions is
converted into cellulose acetate. This is
washed and dried and then dissolved in ace-
tone. It is forced through fine orifices and
 solidified by evaporation in a warm chamber
or a coagulation bath.

The fibre:
Untwisted from the yarn, the rayon fibre appears
heavier, stiffer and less elastic than silks and breaks
more easily.
When ignited, rayon burns quickly with with a flare like
cotton, melts and runs into a black horny bead. It gives
out an odour like that of burnt string or paper and leaves
a little grey ash.

ANIMAL FIBRES
WOOL— THE WONDER FIBRES
Antiquity
In cold countries wool probably was the first textile fibre to be
made into materials. It was first worn in the form of a skin or
pelt, later the fabrics were matted or felted.
An interesting story is sometimes told of the shepherd lad who
twisted together a strand of wool fibres to bind around his
bundle of fagots. This is said to be the beginning of the for-
mation of short fibres into yarns from which cloth could be
woven.
English historians tell us that the early Romans encouraged
sheep farming in England and in A.D. 80 introduced wool
weaving in England. Soon the British woolen cloths gained
reputation far and wide. The cloth sent to the Roman Empe-
rors was said to be "so fine that it was comparable to a
spider's web".
Woollen Kashmir shawls seem to be as old as the Epics of
India. Tradition has it that when Krishna went to the Kurus as
a delegate from the Pandavas, the presents of Dhritarashtra to
him included ten thousand shawls of Kashmir. Martin, des-
cribing India's greatness, writes, "The gossamer muslin of
Dacca and beautiful shawls of Kashmir......adorned the
proudest beauties at the courts of Caesar."
In ancient India, cotton was not known to Vedic people, but
wool was an important material. Fine wool was obtained from
the ewes of Ghandhara and the region in which the river Ravi
(the tributary of the River Indus) flowed. From this wool
blankets (kambala), Dhussa (dursa, a variety of woollen cloth
and bleached wooJen stuff—Sundhyavah) were
manufactured. It is said in the Mahabharata that the
Kambojas (the people of Dakshan and Pamir) presented
Yudhisthira at the time of Raja-Bhoj with woollen cloth
(aurna) embroidered with gold ( Jata-rupaparishkritan); the
Abhiras brought woollen cloth of various designs (kambalan
vividhan) manufactured from soft wool of the sheep
(avikam) and the shaggy goat (ajinam) and hair of the
deed (rankavah). These were manufactured in Cina and
Valhika ,Valhika was the province between the Sindh and
Sutlej.
The people of the Indus Valley during the third millenium
B.C. used wool for their warmer textiles and cotton for
their lighter ones. No textiles of this age have been
preserved for us, because of the saline nature of the soil
of the Valley. However, the statues found in the site give
sufficient proof that hand-spun and hand-woven shawls
were in fashion then. There is a statue drapped with a
light shawl decorated all over with a design of trefoils
in reliefs interspersed occasionally with small circles, the
interiors of which are filled with red pigment.
The Moghul kings, renowned in
Indian history as lovers and patrons of
art, encouraged the industry of Kashmir
and gave it a great stimulus. During
Akbar's time "shawls were being
sent as valuable gifts to kings of every
 time." By the end of the eighteenth
century, the Kashmir shawls had a vast
market in India, Persia. Afghanistan,
Russia, and Europe. So popular was
the shawl in Europe that England
sought to shift the shawl industry from
Kashmir to Paisley. This struck a
severe blow to the industry and by the
end of the ninteenth century, Kashmir
shawls (in Europe) became a memory
of the past.
Today, fortunately, the woollen
industry in Kashmir is slowly coming
into its own. Among the popular
woollen goods are the Pashmina
shawls both embroidered and woven
(pashm is den of a man draped with
the under fleece of the cashmere
goat), a trefoil patterned shawl the
sha tus, the gabha (a kind of
embroidered carpet nig), the
woollen chadder and loins and the
namdhas (embroidered felt flow
rugs). Thousands of namdhas from
Kashmir and druggets from Mysore
are exported to the U.S.A.,
earning
valuable foreign exchange.
At present the chief wool
manufacturing countries are
Australia, New Zealand, the British
Isles, South America and
South Africa. Not only wool but
also hair from the camel
goat, and rabbit is used for making
woollen fabrics. Some breeds
of sheep provide wool that is short
and curly while others give
long-staple wool that has a smooth,
silky, appearance.

HAND PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE OF WOOL

IN INDIA
1. Grading and sorting
To begin with wool is graded and sorted. Sorting is the
process of breaking up the fleece into distinct qualities. This
very important work is done by machines in the western coun-
tries. In the Indian cottage industries the fleeces are opened
out on sorting tables by hand and separated in accordance
with the purpose for which they are to be used—viz.. for
carpets. kumbles or blankets and good woollen cloth.
2. Blending and carding
Wool is next blended and carded.
Carding is done with a bow made of
bamboo or cane, the ends of which
are connected with string. The
professional carders are called
Pinjaris

3. Drawing
The lakli and charka are used for the work of drawing
and twisting the loose-wool sliver.
4. Spinning and weaving
To prepare the warp yarn a board with a series of upright
pegs arranged in a U-shape is frequently used. The yarn is
wound on to selected pegs, according to the length required
and this is repeated until the desired number of warp ends is
obtained. In the case of blankets or kumbles, there are
usually 10 to 12 to an inch. When the yarn is removed from
the peg, the threads are arranged to give the required width
and are then placed on a trestle. After they have been
stretched tight, they are brushed with size made from crushed
tamarind seed boiled in water.
Once it is dry the yarn is ready for the handloom. This is
frequently a throw-shuttle, a type of "pit" loom, which has the
advantage of being both simple and cheap. The weaver uses
a hollow cane or bamboo in which is placed the filling yarn, the
shuttle is thrown backwards and forwards, the shed being
opened as required .

Manufacture of wool by machinery

The sheep are washed in early summer, shearing being done a
few weeks later. The wool is packed into bales and sent 10
the factory.
1. Sorting and Cleaning
This wool is first of all sorted according to quality, and the dirt
is removed by a machine known as a duster.
2. Washing and Scouring
The wool is then moved and washed in a series of four
connecting tanks, each containing warm soapy water and
weak alkali. Thus wool grease and perspiration are removed.
The fibres are washed in the first tank and rinsed in the
others. The wool as it comes from the last tank is soft and
while. If the wool is to be fibre-dyed it is sent to the drying
machine. If not it is dried by forcing hot air through the
fibres. Usually about 16 per cent of moisture is left in the
wool.
Valuable by-products are obtained from the spent liquors in
the scouring of wool. The most important of these is lanolin
which is largely used in the manufacture of cosmetics,
adhesive plasters, disinfectants, ointments and a host of
other preparations.
3. Carbonising
Although scouring removes all grease and dirt some vegetable
matter, such as seeds and burrs, may still remain in the
wool. These impurities must be removed. The process used
for this purpose is called carbonising. In it the wool is
immersed in dilute sulphuric acid, the excess acid squeezed
out and the wool dried under conditions of carefully controlled
temperature. The cellulose of the burr is converted into a
brittle state and is crushed dust by rollers and shaken out.
4. Drying and Oiling
Wool is next rinsed in clear warm water and spread out on
racks until it is as dry as the air around it. The wool is kept
soft and elastic by oiling it. This also minimises the chances of
fibres breaking in the more violent process of carding, which
follows.
5. Carding
The clean wool is by no means in a fit state for spinning. Its
fibres will be lying in all directions. It is, therefore, blended,
opened out and converted into a soft, thin, gauze-like band.
This preparation of wool is called carding.
The carding process introduces the classifications of woolen
yarns and worsted yarns. Manufacturing processes from this
point differ, depending on whether the wool fibre is to be
made into a woollen or a worsted product.
In the manufacture of woollen yarns, the essential purpose of
carding is to disentangle the fibres by passing the wool fibres
between rollers covered with thousands of fine wire teeth. Inci-
dentally, this action also removes some dirt and foreign matter
from the fibres; as the wool fibres are brushed and disentangled
by these wires, they tend to lie parallel, which would make
woollen yarns too smooth. Since woollen yarns should be some-
what rough or fuzzy, it is not desirable to have the fibres entirely
parallel. By the use of an oscillating device, one thin film or
sliver of wool is placed diagonally and overlapping another
entangled and somewhat parallel and at the same time
provides a fuzzy surface to the yarn. After this carding
process, the woollen slivers go directly to the spinning
operation.
In the manufacture of worsted yarns, the essential purpose of
carding is also to disentangle the fibres by passing the wool
fibres between rollers covered with fine wire teeth. Since
worsted yarns, however, should be smooth, the fibres are
made to lie as parallel as this process will permit. Following
this operation, the wool goes to the gilling and combing
processes.
6. Gil/ing and Combing
The carded wool, which is to be made into worsted yarn, is
put through gilling and combing operations. The gilling
process is continued in the combing operation, which
removes the shorter fibres of 1 to 4 inches in length, called
combing noils, places the longer fibres called tops, as parallel
as possible, and further cleans the fibres by removing any
remaining loose impurities.
The short-staple noils are not necessarily of poor quality.
Combing noils may well be of good quality, depending on the
original source of the wool. They may be used as fillers for
other types of wool fabrics; however, such fibres must be
classified as reprocessed wool.
The long-staple tops which are over 4 inches in length excel
in colour, feel, and strength. They are used in the production
of such worsted fabrics as serge, whipcord, gabardine, and
covert.
7. Spinning and Weaving
Wool fibres are then drawn out and twisted into yarn.
Loosely twisted fluffy yarn is made into soft woollen material.
The smoother tight and evenly twisted yarn is used for
weaving worsted.
8. Dyeing and Bleaching
Dyeing and bleaching, may be done next. These processes
may take place at any stage after scouring. In some cases,
yarn-dyeing is done, as for plaids. Bleaching is usually
necessary for undyed woollens owing to the yellow colour
produced by the scouring process.
Acid colours are extensively used in wool dyeing. They are
direct dyes for wool requiring no mordant.
9. Finishing
The beauty of woollen goods, depends largely on the finish of
the cloth; and of worsted goods, in the weave. Worsted suit-
ings, when taken from the loom, look much as they will in the
finished state, but woollen fabrics are far from attractive,
being coarse and rough and needing many processes to
develop their beauty. The wool fabric is dried and stretched
during drying to retain the even width. The surface is
brushed to raise the hairs, which are then cut into even
lengths. The material is then pressed and folded ready for
sale.
Drawing. Drawing is an advanced combing operation, which
doubles and redoubles slivers of wool fibres. The process
draws, drafts, twists, and winds the stock, making the
slivers more compact and thinning them into slubbers.
Drawing is done only to worsted yarns.
Roving. This is the final state before spinning. Roving is
actually a light twisting operation to hold the thin slubbers
intact.
Spinning. In the spinning operation, the wool roving is drawn
out and twisted into yarn. Woollen yarns are chiefly spun on
the mule spinning machine. Worsted yarns are spun'' on
any-kind of spinning machine—mule, ring, cap, or flyer.
There are two different systems of spinning worsted yarns.

Typical woollens are made from short-stapled fibres, and

have a fluffy appearance. Examples: Suede cloth, tweeds,
flannel broadcloth and wool crepe.

Worsteds are made from long fibres, which are laid almost
parallel before being highly twisted. They have a distinctly
visible weave, wiry feel, and are somewhat harsh. They are
finely woven and free from nap and are smooth in
appearance. Worsteds give very good service. Examples :
Men's suitings, gabardine, crepes, and Bedford cord.
Special finishes. Modern scientific research has enabled
manufacturers to make wool proof against shrinkage, water
and moths.

Unshrinkable wool. Processes to make wool unshrinkable

generally aim at removing or modifying the scales on the
fibre and so preventing the tendency to creep. For this
purpose chlorine is often used to attack the surface of the
fibre. In another process the surface of wool is partly
digested by an enzyme called papain from the paw-paw
tree, which grows in India, Ceylon and Africa. The action of
papain renders the scaly surface of the wool fibre soluble,
smoothens it and thus renders it shrink-proof and glossy.
The fibre
Untwisted from the yarn it has a kinky appearance. Its
length varies between 1 and a half inch and 18", the long
fibres being generally coarser than the short ones. The
fibres used for worsteds are usually 3 to 8 inches in length,
whereas those used for woollens are from 1 to 2 inches.
If ignited the fibre burns or smoulders with a smell, like
burning hair of feathers, leaving behind a black bead.

The qualities of wool

(1) Crimp. The wool fibre grows in a more or less wavy

form with a certain amount of twist. This waviness is
called crimp. The finer the wool the more crimps there
are. In fine merino Wool there may be as many as 30
crimps per inch and in coarse wools as few as two or
one. Crimp is a most important quality, since it is
responsible for some of the elasticity which is so
characteristic of wool garments.

(2) Resiliency : Wool is resilient. In other words, it is able

to spring back to its original form like a rubber band after
being wrinkled or creased. It is a virtue which most
 fibres lack. If wool is slowly elongated, a definite
extension will result. When this tension is released, the
fibre makes a partial recovery, and slowly loses its
temporary "set" if allowed enough time. Scientists tell us
that it may be extended 10, 20, 30—and if the fabric is
wet—40 OT 50 per cent without breaking, and when you
let it go back, it returns to its original length undamaged.
This is a very important property for the fibres used, say,
at the knee or the elbow of a suit. This is the one reason
why good wool fabrics do not usually become
permanently wrinkled or shapeless. This resiliency or
elasticity not only enables wool fabrics to hold their
shape better but also helps them to withstand wear.

(3) Warmth : Wool keeps one warm. This is because the

serrations or scale-like projections of the fibre entangle air,
which is a bad conductor of heat, around and in between
the fibres. The more loosely a fabric is woven or knitted,
the greater is the air entangled. Hosiery fibres have about
80 per cent air to 20 per cent fibres. Even tightly made
worsted suiting has about 70 per cent air to 30 per cent
fibre.

(4) Affinity for moisture : Wool is the most hygroscopic of

all fibres. It can
absorb moisture from the surrounding air. Upto 50 per cent
of its weight and can carry up to one-fifth its weight in
moisture. without feeling damp. It dries slowly, thus
preventing a chilling of the body through too rapid
evoporation. Wool absorbs perspiration after violent
exercise, acting as a thermostat which guards the body against
quick changes in temperature. Experience has taught the
Indian Army to equip its men on duty in the far northern
mountain borders with uniforms in several layers of wool in
order to keep the "frost" line as far away from the body as
possible.
Insulation
Wool is the ideal protective fibre. It protects with comfort,
because it insulates. Millions of tiny cells of air are trapped
by the wool fibres and form an insulating layer between
wearer and weather. For this reason, wool is the best
protection against both cold and heat.
(5) Strength : Wool loses 25 per cent of its strength when
wet. In general the longer the wool fibre the greater the yarn
strength.
(6) Felting : Wool fibres interlock and contract when exposed
to heat, moisture and pressure. The scale-like exterior of
the fibre is one contributing factor to felting. Normally wool
fibres repel one another. The fibers become softened in
warm alkaline solutions, the scales expand at their
unattached edges, and with friction and pressure they lock
and interlock and ultimately felt.
This very useful property of wool finds application in the
manufacture of felts for hats, shoes, floor coverings and
sound insulating purposes.
Although felt is valuable, shrinkage of wool during washing
is not desirable. To avoid shrinkage as much as possible in
washing woollens, moderate temperature, low alkalinity,
and little handling must be observed. Processes for making
wool unshrinkable generally aim at removing or modifying
the scales on the fibre and so preventing the tendency to
creep. For this purpose chlorine is often used to attack
the surface of the fibre. In another process the surface of
the wool is partly digested by an enzyme called papain
(from the paw-paw tree which has the effect of making
soluble in scale-surface of the wool fibre). In yet another
very special double process, chformation is followed by
the enzyme action—all trace of scales is removed and a
smooth fibre results. This "glossy wool" is completely
shrink-resistant.
WOOL AND HAIR FABRICS
Afghalaine:

A wool dress fabric made in plain weave using firmly

twisted yams in alternate ‘s’ and ‘z’ twist in both warp and
weft. The use of firmly twisted yarns gives a fairly crisp
handle and the use of opposing twists gives a faintly
crinkled appearance to the surface of the fabric. The
surface of the fabric should be fairly clear of fibres.

Barathea:

A wool suiting or costume fabric. The best types are fine

Botany worsted fabrics, firm and compact in structure with
a clean finish.
The weave is special forms of twilled rib weave which in
combination with the fine setting produces a finely indented
fabric surface with faint regular twill lines running in
opposite directions. The weave shown is the simplest form
of barathea.

Bedford Cord:

Vertically ribbed fabric of substantial construction used for

severe wear. Rib is pronounced and runs in same direction
as warp. Originally an all wool fabric, now also made of
other fibers. Term describes weave rather than material.

Cavaly Twill:

A firmly woven fabric with a steep prominent double twill

effect, produced by a special twill weave and finely set
warp. Traditionally a fine wool worsted fabric, or
combination of worsted warp and woolen weft used for
riding breeches. Also used for suiting and costume wear.
Manmade staple fibres can be used for cheaper versions,
because the traditional form of this fabric is expensive.
Crepe (Wool):

Wool crepe is a lightweight worsted fabric with a more or

less crinkly appearance, obtained by using warp yarns that
are tightly twisted in alternate directions. The term is often
applied to lightweight worsted fabrics for women’s wear that
have little or no crepe surface.

Felt:

The distinguishing feature of true felt is that it contains no

threads, but is purely a fibrous structure. The wool fibres
from a woolen carding machine are arranged layer upon
layer until the desired thickness is built up the width of the
card, and at the same time, by a continuous forward
movement, the required length of material is obtained. This
is submitted to a process of milling, while the fibres are
moistened, as in the felting of woolen cloth (see Felted
cloth). The fibres become interlocked and matted, and a
compact texture is produced, which is used for felt hats,
glove linings, table covers, floor coverings, etc., the quality
and thickness varying according to its use.
Woven felt Fibrous faced woolen cloths which have been
felted to such a degree that the fibres and compactly
matted together so that the thread structure does not show
and the texture has the appearance of felt. The
construction of a woven felt may shrink 50 per cent in width
and length, and the resultant structure is stronger, firmer,
and more elastic than a similar carded felt.

Flannel:

A fulled and napped woven fabric, made generally of

woolen yarn but sometimes with worsted yarn used in the
warp or filling. Usually woven with a twill weave, which
may be obscured by the nap. Counts range from 56 x 30 to
86 x 52; distinguished for its softness. Used for bathrobes,
skirts, men’s suits and trousers. Cotton flannel or
dannelette is not dissimilar in appearance.
It has a very soft handle, which makes it particularly
suitable for being worn next to the skin. The yarns are
mostly woolen spun and medium English wools and
Colonial cross-breds are used for ordinary qualities and
merino for fine textures. The cloths are milled and raised
and are usually finished with a fibrous face, but sometimes
the surface is more or less clear

Gabardine:

A firm, hard-finished worsted fabric in the twill weave with a

fine diagonal wale.
Traditionally a fine quality wool (worsted) fabric showing a
clear prominent steep twill on the face and a flat back. The
steep twill was obtained by setting the warp yarns closely
together, and opening the weft yarn spacing. The face
twills were made prominent by arranging the loom so that
warp yarns on the back of the cloth were pulled tighter than
those on the face. The 2/2 twill is the standard weave, but
the 2/1 twill is also used. Union gabardines are made using
a worsted wool warp and a cotton weft. The special
construction hides the weft almost completely. Very fine
constructions can be used in all cotton gabardines and
fabrics of staple fibre rayon are also made.

Homespun:

A coarse and loosely woven woolen material made to

simulate homemade cloth-in effect, a coarse, rough tweed.
Yarn is usually heavy and contains coarse wool fiber
unevenly spun.
Term applied to woolen cloths composed of yarns
hand spun from local wools and woven on hand looms.
The weave is usually plain or 2-and-2 twill, and the yarns
are coarse and uneven, and frequently consist of a mixture
of fibres in the natural colours, or dyed with natural dyes
obtained from local sources. The cloth is usually a rough
fibrous tweed in various ‘heather mixture’ shades, with the
weave effect showing quire clearly.

Jersey:

Elastic knitted fabric made from either woolen or worsted

yarns. The rib is clearly discernible on one side of the
fabric.

This term has not, as yet, been precisely defined and can
quite, literally be applied to almost and knitted fabric.
Single jersey refers to a knitted fabric (usually weft knitted)
made in a machine having one set of needles. In
consequence the fabric is simple in structure and therefore
not very stable being simple in structure single jersey is
cheaply and quickly made. Double jersey is taken to mean
a fabric knitted on a machine with two sets of needles and
the fabric can be knitted on the interlock principle and
patterns can be formed by interchanging yarns between
face and back needles. These fabrics are more stable than
single jersey because yarns not required to show on the
face are knitted into the back thus avoiding long floats and
loose structure. They are slower to make and more
expensive than single jersey fabrics.

Mackinaw:

A heavy woolen fabric, heavily fulled or felted, sometimes

napped, with the result that no weave is apparent on the
surface. In general construction, the same as melton
except that the latter is usually made in plain colors,
whereas mackinaw cloth is commonly woven with large
distinctive plaids or color effects. Usually made of the
coarser wools.

Nun’s Veiling:

A fine, lightweight plain-weave woolen fabric, very soft and

thin, originally for veils but now used for women’s and
children’s dresses. Plain colors.
A very light and flimy veiling texture made of silk, worsted,
or cotton, sometimes with a border on one side, and used
for mourning. A heavier, plain woven fabric, made of rather
hard-twisted worsted yarns, and dyed in various colours, is
used for blouses and dresses – 24 tex worsted warp and
weft, 22 ends and picks per cm.

Pile fabrics:

Cloths in which a proportion of either the weft or the warp

threads is made to project from the foundation in such a
manner as to form a pile or nap on the surface.

Poplin:

Originally a fabric having silk warp and a filling that

consisted of a wool yarn heavier than the silk, thus
producing a ribbed surface.
A plain woven warp rib fabric with fine warp and thick weft .
Originally made with silk in both warp and weft, but poplin is
now applied to fine warp rib cloths whether made of silk,
wool, cotton, or a combination of the yarns. Irish poplin is
made with organzise silk warp and hard twisted and
napped worsted weft. Cotton poplin is now mostly
mercerized, and this class of fabric is frequently given a
moiré finish.

Sueade:
A fine soft fabric with closely clipped nap made to imitate
sueade leather.

SILK
Antiquity
Silk is considered the "Queen of Fabrics" even to-day. Its
strength, lustre, softness and the graceful line in which it
hangs makes it the most attractive of all textiles. This fibre
is known to have been used in China more than 2500 years
ago. A legend tells us that a beautiful Chinese princess,
while in her garden one day, dropped a cocoon into a cup
of lea. Taking it out she discovered that she could unwind
the strong continuous fibre from the softened exterior.
Whether or not this is true, it is recorded that about 2640
B.C., Si-Ling-Chi the young wife of the third Emperor of
China, discovered how to reel silk from cocoons, which she
later wove into a robe for the Emperor. This was the
beginning of a great industry the Orient has known —
an industry which furnished a livelihood for millions of
workers. For nearly 2,000 years the Chinese jealously
guarded the secret of manufacturing silk. Throughout
these centuries this fabric of exotic beauty went round
the world in camel caravans. Imperial _ Rome received
them in quantities. Cleopatra took pride in
possessing a silk robe woven in China, dyed in Asia Minor,
and embroidered in Egypt. In the meantime many attempts
were made by other countries to learn the art of making
silk. Slowly the knowledge of sericulture began to
trickle out of China in about A.D. 300. Caravans
traveling from China to Persia and thence west carried silk
cloth. Silk became the noble fabric of the Roman
Empire. Pompey (106-48 B.C.) during his conquests
returned form China, wearing a beautiful robe woven in silk.
About A.d. 550 two Nestorian monks, who had long resided
in China, learning the art of silkworm culture, were
fortunate in being able to smuggle a few silk worms out of
China to Constantinople by carrying them concealed inside
their hollow canes. These few worms were probably the
beginning of the varieties that supplied the Western world
for more than 1,200 years. Byzantine silks became famous;
the Saracens mastered the industry; Venice. Florence and
Milan became known as silk centres.
In India, silk is referred to in the Epics. Valmiki in his
Ramayan says that Sita was clad in silk when she
accompanied Ram to the forest. In the days of old it was
called by the name of "ketaja". Country-made silks were
called by such names as "palta" or "kauseya" and "Chira-
Shuko" or "Chinapatta" for silk from China.
Even long before the days of King Harsha, A.D. 606-648,
every young bride in Gujarat longed to have a patolu..
The patolu is a rich and colourful member of the family of
silk saris. This lovely fabric resembles printed cloth, but
unlike the cloth it has no reverse side, and is woven in such
a way that it has similarity of design on both sides. Its
warp and weft are both dyed in a rich variegated range of
shades the length of each thread by the technique of tie-
dyeing or bandana work. This cottage craft appears to have
been thriving in Gujarat for nearly two thousand years, well
appreciated at home and patronised abroad for its colour
scheme and rich configuration. But on account of the long
time taken in weaving, its high price, and the substitution
of cheaper woven fabrics, the patolu very nearly
disappeared from the Indian market of yesterday.
Fortunately, with the revival of the ancient art very recently,
the patolu is not such a rare sari as it was yesterday, and
one sees the patolu technique extended on other fabrics,
such as curtains, table covers, blouse-pieces, cushion
covers and other house-hold textiles. They are chiefly
woven in Benaras, Gujarat, Hyderabad (Deccan),
Sambalpur (Orissa) and some towns in Madras State.
Pitamber is another very superior class of dhoti of historical
interest. Tasar (Kosa or Kaushik Vastra) is indigenously
known throughout India. It is perhaps one of the oldest
natural gifts of occupation to a number of people. Kosa
cloth still serves the purpose of silk cloths for their use as
pattavastra. Their subdued lustre and rich colour schemes
combined with gold embellishments make them ideally
suited for ceremonial occasions. Saris woven with
excellent designs such as lotus, elephants, swans,
rudpaksha, deer and other designs are in vogue today.
Patronised, in the main, by the Royal courts, Indian seri-
culture has had a long and chequered career. History tells
us that Muhammad Tughlak ( A . D . 1325-1350) was a great
patron of the industry Abul Abbas Ahmad, a Damascus
traveller, who came to India from Egypt during this time
records as follows :
"The Sultan has a manufactory, in which 400 silk weavers
are employed, and where they make silken stuffs of all
kinds for robes of honour. Every year the Sultan distributes
200,000 complete dresses, 100,000 in spring and 100,000
in autumn. The spring dresses are made of goods
imported from Alexandria whilst those of autumn are made
of silk manufactured in Delhi. The Sultan keeps in his
service 500 manufacturers of golden tissues, who weave
gold brocades worn by the wives of the Sultan or for
presents to be given to the Amirs and their wives."
Countries producing silk
Today, silk is largely produced in China, India. Japan and
the South of France.
India is the fourth largest producer of raw silk in the world.
The main silk-producing states are Mysore, Jammu and
Kashmir. Besides producing mulberry silk, India also
produces all the three types of non-mulberry silk in
substantial quantities, a feature which is not associated
with any other sericulture country.
Origin
Silk is the secretion of the silkworm and is the fibre used
by the larva to make the pupal case.

Fornmtion of the cocoon

The eggs of the silk worm are placed in well-lighted and
ventilated chambers to hatch. At the end of about twelve
days the silk worm appears. These are fed on mulberry
leaves. When the caterpillar is about eight weeks old, it
secretes a viscous fluid from two glands in is head. This
substance, called fibroin is forced through two-minute
channels into a single exit near its mouth. At the same
time two other glands secrete a gummy liquid called
sericin which passes through the same exit. The fibroin, as
it emerges from the head of the silk worm, sets or
coagulates forming a filament coated with sericin. With this
thread the caterpillar wraps itself round to form a cocoon.
The cocoon contains 2,000 to 4,000 yards of silk, but hardly
one quarter of this can be reeled.
The cocoons are white, yellow or sometimes green in
colour, the colour being due to the pigment that occurs
almost entirely in the gum layer. The greater part of
Japanese and Chinese silks and white, and Italian silks
yellow.

TYPES OF SILK
Silks may be classified under two main types :
(!) Mulberry or cultivated silk. (2)
Non-mulberry or wild silk.
(1) Mulberry silk is made by the silkworm of the Bomby-
cidae varietv.
Among the Bombycidae variety there are two types : one is
known as Univoltine and the other Multivoltine. The former,
which gives only one crop of silk during the year, is the
ordinary European silk worm (Bombyx mori). The latter,
which gives more than eight crops passing through a
succession of generations during the year, is the Bengal
Silk worm. Every generation or cycle of the Multivoltine is
not utilised for a silk crop.
The cocoons of the Uuivoltine silk worms are of a firm and
close consistency, so that the silk can be readily reeled of
them, and the eggs require a certain degree of cold to
hatch out regularly and healthily. The eggs of Multivoltines
hatch out healthily without exposure to cold, and their
cocoons contain a small amount of silk. The conditions for
Univoltines and fulfilled in Kashmir, whereas those for
Multivoltines prevail in Bengal.
(2) The wild silk or non-mulberry silk: The non-mulberry
feeding variety insects are classed as the Saturniidae. The
most important species of silk are :
(a) Tassar Silk: (also written as tussur and
tussore) obtained from an oak-feeding type of
moth, native of India and China. Unlike the
mulberry cocoons, the tassar cocoons possess a
peduncle attached to the mouth of cocoons which
support the cocoons on the twigs of the trees.
(b) Muga Silk : The mooga moth is a species that
is to some extent domesticated in India. The Muga
silk is superior to the tassar in point of view of gloss
and other qualities. It is commonly employed for
the manufacture of mixed fabrics and for some
kinds of embroidery.
(c) Eri Silk : The eri or arrindi moth of Bengal and
Assam is fairly widely distributed in the East. The
eriworm, feeding on castor leaf is reared indoors in
Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.
The cocoons are remarkably soft, white or yellowish, and
the filament so exceedingly delicate makes it impracticable
to wind off the silk. It is spun like cotton.
Manufacture
The silk industry consists of two main divisions, namely,
the production of material made from (a) continuous
filament or nett silk, and (b) residual or waste or spun silk
that cannot be economically reeled into continuous filament
thread or yarns.
In the production of nett silk, the cocoons are collected and
those unsuitable for reeling or those intended for supplying
the next crop of eggs are removed.
(1)
he cocoons are stifled by steam or hot air in order
to kill the chrysalis within it.
(2)
hese cocoons are then sorted for the filatures or
establishments consisting of a large number of
reeling basins. Here they are treated with hot water
and mechanically brushed and thus the outer
layers are removed and the worker is able to find
the single end of the cocoon thread.
(3)
hree to eight of these cocoon filaments are reeled
together the compound thread passing up, down
and then up again, so that the thread ascending for
the second time twists round the ascending thread
from the basin this arrangement does not produce
any actual twisting of the thread itself, but serves to
smooth, compress and cement the filaments. A
fresh end is added to the composite thread
immediately one breaks or runs out from the
cocoon.
(4)
he thread now passes to a swift and is wound in
the form of a hank. During its passage to the swift,
 the thread is dried either naturally or by artificial
means. The yarns made of reeled silk threads
twisted together are called thrown silk these yarns
are wound on spools or skiens for the weavers.
(5)
Bleaching. The silk is treated with hydrogen-per-
oxide or sulphur-dioxide. It is more difficult to
remove all the gum from the wild silk, hence the
finished fibre has slightly different properties from
cultivated silk owing to the fact that gum is still
present.
(6) Dyeing. Like wool, silk has an excellent affinity for dyes,
specially acid dyes, which produce brilliant shades on silk.
As a group, these dyes have a good fastness to washing and
Sight.
(7) Printing. Silk fabrics may be left plain or may be printed
by any method—roller, screen or block. Silks are usually
dyed and then printed.
(8) Finishing. With its natural lustre, its soft drapability, most
silk fabrics require very few finishes unlike other fabrics.
Spunsilk. This silk is commonly known as '"waste" silk. It
consists of silk that cannot be unwound from the cocoons
and reeled into skeins, or it may be got from the damaged
or unreelable cocoons such as those from which the moth
has emerged.
Spun silk yarn requires more twists than reeled silk, to
hold in all the short fibres. Twisting decreases lustre, so
that spun silk appears less lustrous than reeled silk. It also
has less tensile strength, less elasticity, and a rather
cottony feeling.
The silk to be used for this purpose is scoured, the gum is
boiled off and the fibres are dried. They are then combed
so as to separate and straighten them and made parallel.
The filament ends of fibres are then drawn out between
rollers, several times. A slight twist called roving is put in. A
spinning frame, which winds and rewinds the yarn on
spindles, puts in the twists. Spun silk requires a tighter
twist than thrown silk.
Spun silk is less expensive than reeled silk, and is often
used for the weft or filling threads in a cloth. These threads
do not have to be so strong as warp yarns. Plush, velvet,
satin, and lace may have spun silk yarns. Sarees, knitted
ties, sweaters, scarves, hosiery and upholstery materials
use mixture of spun silk and other fibres.

How to identify spun silk and reeled silk

If the yarns are unravelled and each one is carefully
examined, it will be seen that some yarns are composed
of several fibres that lie parallel and are slightly twisted
together. The yarns are lustrous and the fibres shred
apart. These are reeled silk yarns. If the yarns appear
dull and cottony in texture and their fibres are short and of
uneven length, the yarns are spun silk.
However, delustred fabrics today are popular. It must be
noted that many georgettes and crepes look dull, but
that does not mean that the yarns are of spun silk. The
'crepy' effect of fabrics is secured by the tightness of the
twist of the yarn. This decreases the lustre.
Weighting of silk
Weighting of silk is a common practice. When yarns are
prepared for weaving, the yarn is boiled in soap solution
to remove the natural silk gum or sericin. The silk nay
thus lose from 20% to 30% of its original weight. As sill:
has a great affinity for metallic salts, such as those of tin
and iron, the loss of weight is replaced through the
absorption of these metals. Thus, a heavier fabric can be
made at a lower price than that of pure silk. Weighted silk
does not wear as long as pure unweighted silk, because
sunlight and perspiration weaken the fibres. Heavy
weighting causes the silk to crack—a process often seen
in taffetta and other flat crepes.
The fibre

The silk fibre is in every respect one of the most perfect

natural substances known for yarn-making. Silk is smooth
and semi-transparent. It is the longest of all natural fibres
ranging from 800 to 1200 yards.

SILK FABRICS

Brocade:

Most figured silk fabrics in a Jacquard weave are known as

brocades. The pattern is raised above the general surface
of the fabric. Used mainly for elaborate evening wear.
It was originaly a heavy, rich, silk fabric ornamented with
raised figures formed by extra threads or by embroidery,
but now applied to any ordinary jacquard figured cloth
which shown variety of effect.

Canton Crepe:

Characterized by a heavy filling and a finer warp. Heavier

than crepe de chine, having pronounced crinkle and greater
durability. Used chiefly for dresses.

Chiffon:

A transparent sheer fabric in a plain weave. Extremely light

in weight but very strong. It usually has a soft finish. Used
for evening dresses, lingerie, blouses, and scarves.

China Silk:

A very soft, extremely lightweight silk made in plain weave,

used chiefly for linings. Irregularities of threads, caused by
the extreme lightness and softness of China silk, are
characteristic of the fabric.

Crepe:

Fabric with a crinkled effect, produced either by the use of

tightly twisted yarns or by the method of weaving.

Crepe-back Satin or Satin Crepe:

Satin weave with a crepe-twist filling. As the fabric is

reversible, interesting effects can be obtained by
contrasting the surfaces. Used for dresses, blouses,
linings.

Damask:

Reversible figured silk fabrics woven on the Jacquard loom.

Pattern flatter than in brocade. Used for upholstery and
draperies; the lighter weights, for dresses and lingerie.

Georgette:

Highly creped sheer silk fabric, chiefly for dresses and

blouses.It is made by using highly twisted ‘S’ and ‘Z’ yarns
in both warp and weft and woven in a special crepe weave.
This combination gives a strong crepe effect and a crisp
handle and a rather springy fabric which is difficult to make
up, but drapes well.This type of fabric is made in silk, wool
and rayon and is used for dress wear. It can be bonded to
acetate locknit and this improves the stability and makes
the fabric easier to use.

Organza:
A light-weight, plain weave, sheer fabric made originally
from fine silk yarns but now also made in man-made
synthetic fiber yarns. It has a crisp handle and drapes well.
Made in plain colors and in printed style, for dress use.

Satin:

Silk fabric with a highly lustrous surface and usually a dull

back. Made in different weights according to its uses,
which vary from lingerie and dress goods to drapery and
upholstery fabrics. May be made with a cotton back.
Sometimes double-faced for use as ribbon.
A fine fabric with a smooth lustrous face. It originated as a
woven silk fabric and its effect depends on a special
construction. A special satin weave is used which has long
‘floats’ of warp over weft. The warp is very closely set and
there are usually at lest twice as many warp yarns per inch
than weft. This gives a close compact face predominantly
warp. The interlacings of warp with weft should be
completely hidden giving the fabric an apparently smooth
featureless surface. The back of the fabric is comparatively
dull in contrast, because non-lustrous yarn can be used.

Used for ribbons, trimmings, dresses, linings, etc.,

and originally was an all silk fabric with a fine rich glossy
surface formed in a warp satin weave (see Duchessee).
The warp is much finer and more closely set than the weft,
and the latter, which only shows on the under side, is
frequently composed of cotton. Double faced satins are
made on the reversible warp backed principle, with one
side differently coloured from the other. The term satin is
also applied to fine cotton warp satins used for shirtings
and linings (see Cotton Venetians).

Shantung:
Low in luster, heavier and rougher than pongee. A plain
weave in which irregular (slub) filling yarns are used.
Sometimes used to describe a heavy grade of pongee
made in China.

Taffeta:

A smooth, closely woven fabric in a plain weave. Often

weighted to produce its characteristic crispness.
Sometimes has a moiré pattern. Used for dresses, suits,
coats, and lingerie.
Originally a plain, closely woven, silk fabric used for dress
fabrics and linings, and frequently the cloth is made with
thicker weft than warp, and is set so as to produce a fine
warp rib structure. The term taffeta is also used in
conjunction with certain effects, thus taffeta glace indicates
a ‘shot’ silk taffeta.

Tussore:

Originally a light brown, fawn, or natural coloured plain

woven silk fabric; also made in cotton yarns and
mercerized and dyed to imitate the colour of the silk cloth.
The structure is that of a plain woven warp rib (q.v.), and in
some cases a few darker threads are introduced at a place
so as to form stripes – 30 tex cotton warp, 50 tex cotton
weft, 36 ends, and 14 picks per cm.

Velvet:

Silk velvet has a silk pile and a silk back. Some velvets are
made with a silk pile and a rayon or cotton back.
Transparent velvet is a sheer velvet having a rayon pile and
a silk back. Panne velvet has a special luster that is
produced by pressing the pile in one direction.
A warp pile fabric, i.e. a woven fabric made with two warps,
a ground warp and a pile warp. A special weave
construction causes loops to be formed in the pile warp
which stand upright and which can then be cut. The cut
ends of the pile yarn form the fabric surface; the backing
fabric, formed by the ground warp and the weft, holds the
loops in place. Velvet can be woven perfectly plain or a
figured design can be produced by forming pile patterns on
a flat ground, or by a contrast of cut and uncut loops, or
different heights of pile.
A cut warp pile fabric with a short, soft, dense pile.

Duopione: An irregular, slub silk reeled from

double cocoons or silk worms which have spun their
cocoons side by side causing an interlock, making it
necessary to reel them together. Antique taffetas and
sheers are woven with doupione weft yarn, as are many
damasks.