Fiber and yarn

Fiber and Yarn

1. The Process
•Manufacturing Progression
–Fiber to fabric
–Fiber to yarn to fabric, carpeting, trimming
•Fiber, yarn construction, fabric construction
all contribute to the appearance and
performance of a textile.

2. Fibers
The basic raw materials used in textile production are fibers,
either obtained from natural sources (e.g., wool) or produced
from chemical substances (e.g., nylon and polyester).

3. How do you identify fiber or fabric
content?
•Labels
•Hand
•Appearance
•Burn test

5. Lotus Fiber

6. Spider silk

7. Spider Silk Fabric at the Museum
of Natural History

8. Classification of Fibers
•Natural or manufactured
•General chemical type such as protein, etc
•Generic names, such as cotton, used on
product labels
•Trade names, such as antron nylon, marketing
purposes

9. Trade names

10. How we describe fibers
•Fiber length
•Texture
•Hand
•Elasticity
•Luster
•Resiliency
•Strength
•Flammability
•Resistance to sunlight

11. Natural Fibers
Protein
•Silk
•Wool
•Mohair
•Horsehair
Mineral
Asbestos
Glass
Cellulosic
•Cotton
•Flax
•Jute
•Hemp
•Bamboo
•Sisal
•Coir

12. Protein Fibers
•Silk
•Wool
•Mohair
•Horsehair

13. Silk Characteristics
Source
•Obtained from cocoon of the silk worm
Appearance
•Translucent
•Lustrous
•Only natural filament fiber
Physical properties
•Strong, has the tensile strength of steel
Yarn types
•Tram, highest grade and most common. Filaments grouped and twist.
•Dupioni, two cocoons become affixed
•Raw, sericin not removed
•Tussah, from wild uncultivated silk worm
•Tram
•Noil
•Dupioni

14. Silk con’t
Pro
•Luxurious
Con
•Rots when exposed to unfiltered sunlight
•Moths eat
•Flat fabrics that do not hide dirt

15. Silk Cocoons

17. Filament Fiber

18. Reeling

21. Silk Taffeta

24. Raw Silk

26. Tassel Fringe

28. Wool silk

29. Wool

31. Wool Characterics
Source
•Fleece of sheep
Appearance
•Crimp
•Scales
•Low light reflection
Physical properties
•Resiliency
•Resistant to abrasion
•Resistant to soiling
•Inherently flame retardant
Yarn types
•Woolen
•Worsted
Con

32. Wool con’t
Pro
•Inherently flame retardant
•Resistant to wrinkling, abrasion and soiling
Con
•Moth eat
•Rough hand
•Lacks luster

34. Wool velvet

39. Wool rugs

41. Wool and the environment
•Maintain the animal to maintain the
fiber but animal has other uses such as
lanolin and food.
•Renewable resource. Can shear
annually

42. Mohair

43. Mohair Characteristics
Source
•Angora goat
Appearance
•Similar to wool but more lustrous
Pro
•more luxurious than wool
Con
•More expensive than wool

44. Velvet

47. Horsehair

48. Horsehair characteristics
Source
•Horses tails
Appearance
•Individual hairs
•White (can be dyed) or black
Physical properties
•Extremely strong and abrasion resistant
Yarn type
•Individual hairs, cannot be spun into continuous yarn
Pro
•Strong, abrasion resistant and can be washed with soap and water
Con
•Narrow
•Hard hand
•Expensive and requires expert upholstering

52. Sources of Plant Fibers
Seed
–cotton
Stem
–Linen, ramie, jute, hemp
Leaf
–Sisal, coir

53. Cotton Characteristics
Source
•Obtained from cotton boll
Appearance
•½ to 2” long
Physical properties
•Strong
•Lacks resiliency
•Cool hand
•hydrophilic
Yarn types
•Combed
•Carded
•Mercerized (finish)
Con

54. Cotton con’t
Pro
•Plentiful, inexpensive and the most widely used fiber
Con
•Environmental impact through use of pesticides and water. GM crops
might benefit

55. Cotton

60. Bedding and table linens

63. Linen

64. Linen characteristics
Source
•Obtained from the stem of the flax plant
Appearance
•Long
•irregular
•Looks like bamboo when viewed under a microscope
•Lustrous when finished (calendared)
Physical properties
•Strong
•Lacks resiliency
Yarn types
•none

65. Linen con’t
Pro
•Crisp hand
•Texture
•No lint
Con
•Wrinkles
•Breaks like a twig

71. Additional Plant Fibers
Sisal and Jute

72. Green Plant Fibers
Bamboo and Hemp

75. Plant fibers in wall coverings

76. Bast and Leaf Fibers and the
environment
•More environmentally friendly than cotton
–Little or no pesticides and less water
–Bamboo, jute and fast growing and highly-
renewable

77. Manufactured Fibers
Rayon and acetate
•developed to replace parachute silk for WWI
•Natural substance (cellulose) in a manufactured
process
Synthetics
Poly, nylon, acrylic, olefin
•Not possible until scientist could look into a fiber
with a microscope to mimic the molecular structure.
•Plastics invented from sludge, a byproduct of oil
refinery

78. Extruding manufactured yarn

79. Rayon yarn

80. Rayon or Viscose Characteristics
Source
•Chemically altered wood pulp
Appearance
•Translucent
•Lustrous
Physical properties
•Strong
•Lacks resiliency
Yarn types
•Filament
•Spun
Pro
•Flexible
•Soft hand
•Luster
Con
•Weaker when wet

81. Synthetics
Pros
Durable
Resistant to moths
Resistant to mildew
Hydrophobic
Flexibility
Less expensive
Cons
Plastic hand
Static electricity
Pilling
Hydrophobic

82. Acrylic

83. Acrylic Characteristics
Source
•Chemical
Appearance
•Soft
•Light weight
Physical properties
•Not as strong as nylon or poly
Yarn types
•spun
Pro
•Mimics spun natural fiber yarns
•Outdoor fabrics, solution dyed acrylic (Sunbrella is trade name)
Con
•Plastic hand
•Not as resistant to abrasion as polyester and nylon

84. Nylon Characteristics
Source
•Chemical
Appearance
•flexible , engineered into different shapes and can be de-lustered
Physical properties
•Strong
•Resistant to abrasion
•Resilient
Yarn types
•Spun
•Filament
Pro
•Resilience which makes it ideal for floor covering
•Resists mildew and insects
Con
•Pills more than polyester
•Static electricity

86. Olefin Characteristics
Source
•Chemical
Appearance
•flexible , engineered into different shapes
Physical properties
•Strong
•Resilient
Yarn types
•Spun
Pro
•inexpensive
•Bulky, light weight
Con
•Scratchy
•Plastic hand
•Not resistant to sunlight
•Static electricity

87. Polyester

88. Polyester characteristics
Source
•Chemical
Appearance
•flexible , engineered into different shapes and can be de-lustered
Physical properties
•Strong
•Resistant to abrasion
•Resists pilling more than nylon
•Highly resistant to sunlight
Yarn types
•Spun
•Filament
Pro
•Resists mildew and insects
•Trevira, trade name for flame retardant poly
Con
•Hydrophobic so difficult to clean
•Static electricity

89. •Most widely used manufactured fiber
•Residential fabrics to save costs, commercial for performance
•Non-yellowing window treatments such as sheers
•Excellent resistance to sunlight
•Green, Can be made from recycled plastic bottle
Polyester

90. Healthcare

91. Yarn

92. Yarn Defined
Any form of spun, twisted or extruded fibers, natural or
manufactured, that can be used in weaving, knitting, or
knotting.

93. Two main types
spun filament

94. Hand spinning

99. Plied Yarn

100. Two color plied yarn

101. Characteristic of yarn
•Fineness of yarn numerical identification.
Different systems for different fibers.
Synthetics denier.
•Degree of twist per inch contributes to the
strength and the hand.
•Texture
•Different spinning systems such as
woolen/worsted, carded/combed

102. Novelty yarns
•Slub yarn
•Boucle
•Chenille
•dupioni

103. Slub Yarn

105. Boucle

106. Boucle yarn in a fabric

109. Chenille yarn

110. Fabric with chenille

111. Metallic Yarn

112. Lycra/Stretch Fabric

113. Discuss
•Manufacturing progression
•How can you identify fibers in a fabric?
•How important is the “hand” of a textile product?
What effects the hand?
•What do cotton and rayon have in common and how
do they differ?
•What qualities do all synthetic fibers have in
common?

114. Discuss
•What are the challenges faced by the design
profession in selecting and specifying interior textile
products?
•What are some of the fabric performance predictors
that we have learned so far?

115. Review General Textiles

•Definition textiles, they are made from fibers that
are processed into yarn, then woven, knit, or
nonwoven fabrics.
•Three aspects that contribute to a textiles
appearance and performance are fiber, yarn
construction, fabric construction

116. Review Fiber
•The basic raw materials used in textile production are fibers,
either obtained from natural sources (e.g., wool) or produced
from chemical substances (e.g., nylon and polyester).
•Two main categories of fibers, natural and manufactured.
•How can you identify fibers in a fabric?
•Four classifications of fiber
–Natural and manufactured
–Chemical name
–Generic name
–Trade name
•Characteristics of all of the fibers in the power point.

117. Review yarn
•Yarn
Any form of spun, twisted or extruded fibers, natural or
manufactured, that can be used in weaving, knitting, or
knotting.
•The difference in spun and filament yarns. Spun yarns have
short fibers that have been twisted together into one
continuous strand. Filament is extruded into one continuous
strand.
•A plied yarns are yarns made from twisting together two or
more singles yarns. This is done to make a stronger more
uniformed yarn.
•The higher the twists per inch the stronger the yarn and the
harder the hand.