Clothing and Textiles - An Introduction to Natural Fiber

Extension, USU

English

DigitalCommons@USU

FIBER & FABRICBASICSUtah State is an affirmative action / equal opportunity institution.An Introduction to Natural Fibers The natural living world provides food, fiber, timber, and absorbs waste contribut-ing to the wel-being of humanity and sus-tainability of our future.  Today, consumers are provided with a variety of choices when it comes to the fibers they choose to buy and use.  Since the 1960’s man-made fibers have revolutionized the industry, but provided competition to the natural fibers that are produced from various plant and animal sources.  According to the Food and Agri-culture Organization (FAO, 2009), synthetic fibers such as acrylic, nylon, polyester, and polypropylene have replaced natural fibers traditionaly used in clothing and home furnishings.  Over 30 milion tons of natural fibers are produced annualy (FAO, 2009). With the high volume of production, the natural fiber industry provides income and food security to milions of people around the world who produce, process, and transport the raw materials that are woven into fabrics for clothing and house-hold items (FAO, 2009).  Further, in many developing countries, crops such as cotton, jute, and sisal are of major eco-nomic importance.  Beyond the economic importance evi-dent in the production, processing, and export of natural fibers, there are other benefits to the utilization of these fibers. For individuals and families, natural fibers can be utilized as a healthy, responsible, sus-tainable, and fashionable choice for clothing and home furnishings (FAO, 2009). Fibers that make up fabrics used in every-day life can be best understood as the building blocks of textile and clothing goods. The durability and success of fabrics used in clothing and home furnishings depend on the fiber used.  Fibers resemble a fine, hair-like structure that is able to with-stand the rigorous manufacturing required from design to distribution (Cohen & John-son, 2010).  For thousands of years individu-als and families have been using natural fibers for clothing, cording, home furnish-ings, and much more.  The sources of natural fibers can be orga-nized into two basic categories:  celulosic and protein (Neilson, p. 38). Celulosic fibers are plant based and include cotton, linen, henequen, jute, and sisal.  Protein fibers come from animals and include silk, wool, and leather.  Cotton, flax, wool, and silk fibers are the most commonly used natural fibers found in the apparel and home textile markets (Cohen & Johnson, 2010, p. 36). Cotton Considered the world’s most popular fiber, cotton has been around since 5,000 B.C. originating from Mexico. Because of its du-rability and softness, cotton is used in al types of clothing and household items. Found in the tropical regions of Africa, the Americas, and Asia, cotton grows on the seed of a variety of plants found in the genus Gossypium (FAO, 2009). Attached to the seed of the cotton plant, cotton is a seed fiber (Cohen & Johnson, 2010, p. 36). Natural Fibers, continued Cotton is favorable for use in clothing and home furnishings due to the strength and abrasion resistance of the fiber. As a hydro-philic fiber, it absorbs moisture quickly and dries quickly cooling the wearer in hot cli-mates.  Because of its strength and hydro-philic properties it is considered a wash and wear fabric.  Cotton’s hydrophilic proper-ties make it easy to clean because it ab-sorbs water and detergent during washing. Cotton is also a popular choice throughout the world because it is relatively inexpen-sive. It has a soft hand and does not create static. Cotton does have some qualities that are unfavorable. It has low resiliency and does not quickly spring back into shape if it is dis-torted, which causes stretching or wrinkling (Cohen & Johnson, p. 27).  Cotton is often found blended with fibers of high resilience, such as polyester, for this reason.  Cotton can also shrink when laundered and its hy-drophilic qualities make it susceptible to mildew. Cotton fabric creates a high level of lint because the short fibers pul out of the fabric easily.Flax Flax fibers are bast fibers and come from the stem of the flax plant. The fiber is caled linen after it is processed into fabric (Cohen & Johnson, p. 37). Flax is the oldest domes-ticaly produced fiber and was used in the great civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Egypt (Neilson, p. 40).  Linen has many favorable qualities, in-cluding strength, crisp appearance, a luster that increases with use, a natural hand, and it is hydrophilic but dries quickly. Linen is often used for warm weather cloth-ing because of its breathability and its quick drying nature. Table linens and wal-paper are also common end uses of linen (Cohen & Johnson, p. 38).  Because flax fibers are the length of a flax plant stem, the fibers are long and do not pul out of fabric easily and cause lint (Neilson, p. 41). There are several qualities that make linen less than favorable for some applications. It is highly susceptible to mildew and silverfish and can decompose when exposed to pro-longed sunlight.  It also has a rough hand, which some find unappealing.  Linen also wrinkles easily and the creases are dificult to remove.   Linen also stretches when it is wet and has poor recovery (Neilson, p. 42).Wool Wool is made from the hair fibers of sheep. Wool is an animal fiber and is mainly com-posed of protein. It is a medium weight fiber and is found in cream, brown, and black colors.  Wool has been a major economic component of past civilizations. Mesopota-mia was a huge producer of wool.  In the Mediteranean, wool was a common good used for trading and it was used for both common items and luxury goods. Since the industrial revolution and the advent of man-ufactured fibers, the use of wool has been in decline (Neilson, p. 45). Wool is favorable because it accepts dye wel and it has good drape.  It also resists flame, odors, wrinkles, soils, water, and grease stains.  Wool also is hydrophobic, which makes it an excelent insulator. Wool is a “warm” fabric because the fibers are naturaly crinkled and create air pockets when it is woven together. (Cohen & John-son, p. 40). Wool is dimensionaly stable and it blends wel with other fibers. Wool is unfavorable because it is often ex-pensive.  It also may iritate skin, and can shrink. Wool can pil and shed as it is usedNatural Fibers, continuedand can smel unpleasant when it is wet (Neilson, p. 47). Wool is also susceptible to moths and loses strength when wet. When wool is exposed to friction and moisture, it can begin to felt. Felting occurs when wool fibers interlock and they cannot return to their original positions. It is typicaly undesir-able except in certain applications (Cohen & Johnson, p. 40). Silk Silk is rumored to be discovered by a Chi-nese princess in 2640 B.C.  Silk filaments come from the cocoon of a silk worm and can be as long as 1,600 yards.  The two basic types of silk are cultivated silk and wild silk.  Cultivated silk comes from silk-worms that are raised in a controled environment and eat a diet of only mulbery leaves (Cohen & Johnson, p. 38). Wild silk, or tussah silk, is produced by silkworms which exist in the wild and eat oak leaves. Wild silk is darker in color and coarser in tex-ture than cultivated silk.  Before silk is spun into fabric, it typicaly goes through a process caled “degumming” where a sticky substance caled sericin is removed from the silk. If the silk has not been degummed it is known as raw silk (Neilson, p. 44). Positive characteristics of silk include its dry, cool hand, excelent drapability, and versatility. It also is dimensionaly stable, ac-cepts dyes wel, and is the thinnest natural fiber (Neilson, p. 44). Silk has high luster and a luxurious hand (Cohen & Johnson, p. 38).  Negative properties of silk are its poor abrasion resistance, inability to resist wrin-kles, and expensive price range.  Silk also tends to yelow as it ages and can be dam-aged by prolonged exposure to the sun. Silk is dificult to preserve, even in climate controled environments (Cohen & Johnson, p. 39).Written by Jen Giddens, USU Interior Design Student & Lindsey Shirley, PhD, Clothing & Textiles Extension SpecialistSourcesNeilson, K. (2007). Interior textiles: fabrics, appli- Johnson, I., & Cohen, A. (2010). J.J. Pizzuto's         www.fao.org fabric science. New York, NY: Fairchild Books.         cation & historic style. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  Utah State University is committed to providing an environment free from harassment and other forms of illegal discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 and older), disability, and veteran’s status. USU’s policy also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and academic related practices and decisions.   Utah State University employees and students cannot, because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or veteran’s status, refuse to hire; discharge; promote; demote; terminate; discriminate in compensation; or discriminate regarding terms, privileges, or conditions of employment, against any person otherwise qualified. Employees and students also cannot discriminate in the classroom, residence halls, or in on/off campus, USU-sponsored events and activities. This publication is issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Noelle E. Cockett, Vice President for Extension and Agriculture, Utah State University. (FC/Clothing&Textiles/2010-03pr)  

An Introduction to Natural Fibers

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An Introduction to Natural Fibers

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