TEXTILE FIBRE

A unit of matter which is capable of being spun into a yarn or made into a fabric by bonding or by interlacing in a variety of methods including weaving, knitting, braiding, felting, twisting, or webbing, and which is the basic structural element of textile products.

It is a smallest textile component which is microscopic hair like substance that may be man made or natural.

 They have length at least hundred times to that of their diameter or width.

HISTORY OF FIBRE

The history of fibers is as old as human civilization. Traces of natural fibers have been located to ancient civilizations all over the gob. For many thousand years, the usage of fiber was limited by natural fibers such as flax, cotton, silk, wool and plant fibers for different applications. Fibers can be divided into natural fibers and man-made or chemical fibers. Flax is considered to be the oldest and the most used natural fiber since ancient times.

 

CLASSIFICATION OF fibers

1. Natural Fibers
2. Vegetable fibers
3. Animal fibers
4. Mineral fibers
5. Man Made fibers
6. Regenerated fibers
7. Synthetic fibers
8. Inorganic fibers

 

NATURAL Fibers

 

Any hair like raw material directly obtainable from an Animal, Vegetable or Mineral source that can be convertible after spinning into yarns and then into fabric. Under them there are various categories:

(1) Plant

(2) Animal

(3) Minerals

 

Vegetable fibers

.

They can be further on classified as:

(a) fibre occurring on the seed (raw cotton , java cotton)

(b) phloem fiber (flax, ramie ,hemp, jute)

(c) tendon fibre from stem or leaves (manila hemp, sisal,hemp etc)

(d) fibre occurring around the trunk (hemp palm)

(e) fibre of fruit/ nut shells(coconut fibre – Coir) cotton and linen are the most important among them.

 

Best fibers

• ·         Low Lignin content – Linen or Flax (raw and bleached) and Ramie

  ·         High Lignin content – Jute, Hemp

 

Cotton

The cotton fiber grows in the seedpod, or boIl, of the cotton plant. Each fiber is a single elongated cell that is flat, twisted, and ribbon like with a wide inner hollow (lumen). It is composed of about 90 percent cellulose and about 6 percent moisture; the remainder consists of natural impurities. The outer surface of the fiber is covered with a protective wax like coating, which gives the fiber a somewhat adhesive quality.

These characteristics combined with its natural twist contribute to making cotton an excellent fiber for spinning into yarn. Cotton yarn is used to make fabrics that are universally used for all types of ap­parel, home furnishings, and industrial applications.

 Linen

The linen fiber is obtained from the stalk of the flax plant. The hair like fibers, which are held together by a gummy substance called pectin, comprise the core of the flax stalk. It, too, has a lumen and is composed of about 70 per­cent cellulose and 30 percent pectin, ash, woody tissue, and moisture.

Linen fiber is relatively smooth, straight, and lustrous. Linen fiber is more brittle and less flexible than cotton. It is more difficult to prepare and spin into yarn. Linen yarn can be very strong and lustrous, and is used for apparel, home furnishings, and upholstery.

MAN MADE FIBERS

The fibers whose chemical composition, structure, and properties are significantly modified during the manufacturing process, The chemical compounds from which man-made fibers are produced are known as polymer, a class of compounds characterized by long, chain like molecules of great size and molecular weight.

METHODS OF SPINNING

·         Dry Spinning

·         Melt Spinning

·         Wet Spinning