Fabrics

Here is a list of textiles commonly used in garment manufacture. The descriptions have been edited and abbreviated from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, for the purposes of general information.

Mama Wear advises users that Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found on it's website, and text on this page should not be used or quoted for scientific, academic or research purposes. (For unedited and most recent entries, search individual fabric names at http://en.wikipedia.org).

Modal

Modal is a bio-based fibre made by spinning reconstituted cellulose from beech trees. It is about 50% more hygroscopic, or water-absorbent, per unit volume than cotton is. It is designed to dye just like cotton, and is color-fast when washed in warm water. Modal is essentially a variety of rayon (see below).

Textiles made from Modal are resistant to shrinkage and fading. They are smooth and soft, more so than even mercerized cotton, to the point where mineral deposits from hard water, such as lime, do not stick to the fabric surface. Like pure cotton, modal should ideally be ironed after washing.

Pure Modal is now being used in household linens such as towels, bathrobes, and bedsheets, as well as lingerie and hosiery. The fabric has experienced increased popularity in recent years.


Rayon

Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulosic fibre. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fibre nor a natural fibre; it is a semi-synthetic fibre. Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry. It usually has a high lustre quality giving it a bright shine. Rayon contains the chemical elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Rayon is a very versatile fibre and has the same comfort properties as natural fibres. It can imitate the feel and texture of silk, wool, cotton and linen. The fibres are easily dyed in a wide range of colors. Rayon fabrics are soft, smooth, cool, comfortable, and highly absorbent, but they do not insulate body heat, making them ideal for use in hot and humid climates.

The durability and appearance retention of regular rayon are low, especially when wet; also, rayon has the lowest elastic recovery of any fibre. However, high-wet-modulus (HWM) rayon is much stronger and exhibits higher durability and appearance retention. Recommended care for regular rayon is dry-cleaning only. HWM rayon can be machine washed.


Viscose

Viscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make rayon and cellophane. Cellulose from wood or cotton fibres is treated with sodium hydroxide, then mixed with carbon disulfide to form cellulose xanthate, which is dissolved in more sodium hydroxide. The resulting viscose is extruded into an acid bath either through a slit to make cellophane, or through a spinneret to make rayon. The acid converts the viscose back into cellulose.

Viscose was created in 1891. By the 1920’s and 1930’s it had almost completely replaced the traditional cotton and wool for women's stockings and underwear. Viscose was also being used for linings and furnishing fabrics; providing the staple for towels and table-cloths and was being made into high tenacity yarn for tires. Yet other uses included the manufacture of sponges and absorbent cloths. Viscose is a soft material, used in mostly tops, coats and jackets.

Viscose is currently becoming less common because of the polluting effects of carbon disulfide and other by-products of the process.

Bamboo

Bamboo textiles are cloth, yarn and clothing made of bamboo fibres. Historically bamboo was used only for structural elements in clothing, such as bustles and the ribs of corsets. In 2003, a way of turning bamboo fibre into yarn was invented.

Selected fibres are heated to 80 – 90 degrees Celsius, then soaked in a mixture of soap and emulsion oil, dried, rehydrated with another mixture of oils, then let to set for five to seven days. The fibres may then be spun by a variety of methods, into high-quality yarn. Bamboo yarn is a natural anti-bacterial, especially if at least 70% of the fibre is bamboo.

Criticism of bamboo yarn includes loss of strength when wet, considerable swelling in water, and the potential for strands to split. Bamboo fabric requires handwashing.


Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fibre that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium sp.), a shrub native to tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fibre is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fibre cloth in clothing today.

Cotton was cultivated by the inhabitants of the Indus Valley civilization by the 5th millennium BCE - 4th millennium BCE. The Indus cotton industry was well developed and some methods used in cotton spinning and fabrication continued to be used till the modern industrialization of India. Well before the Common Era the use of cotton textiles had spread from India to the Mediterranean and beyond.

The earliest cultivation of cotton in the Americas occurred in Mexico, some 5,000 years ago. The indigenous species was Gossypium hirsutum which is today the most widely planted species of cotton in the world, constituting about 90% of all production worldwide.

Cotton is used to make many textile products. These include terrycloth, used to make highly absorbent bath towels and robes; denim, used to make jeans; chambray, popularly used in the manufacture of blue work shirts (from which we get the term blue-collar); and corduroy, seersucker, and cotton twill. Cotton is often used to make socks, underwear, and T-shirts. Bed sheets are often made from cotton or high cotton content fabric. Cotton is also used to make yarn used in crochet and knitting. Fabric can also be made from recycled or recovered cotton that otherwise would be thrown away during the spinning, weaving, or cutting process. While many fabrics are made completely of cotton, sometimes cotton is blended with other fibres, including rayon and synthetic fibres such as polyester. These combined fibres can then be used in knitted or woven fabrics, and can be blended with elastane to make thread with even greater stretch qualities for knitted and stretch woven fabrics.

Wool

Wool is the fibre derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals such as goats, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool. Wool has several qualities that distinguish it from hair or fur: it is crimped; it has a different texture or handle; it is elastic; and it grows in staples (clusters).

Because of the crimp, wool fabrics have a greater bulk than other textiles and retain air, which causes the product to insulate by retaining or keeping out heat.

Wool possesses much greater ability to return to its natural length after being stretched than any artificial fibre. In water or steam, wool can stretch to about twice its length without breaking. Because of elasticity, woollen garments may be stretched or crushed without losing their shape. Also, this fibre felts readily, by heat, moisture, and pressure being applied during the manufacturing processes.

Wool has the power to readily absorb and give off moisture. It can absorb moisture up to one-third of its own weight. Synthetic fibres can only absorb 2-3 percent of moisture before they begin to feel wet. Additionally, wool absorbs sound and reduces noise level considerably like many other fabrics.

Wool is harder to ignite than most synthetic and cotton fibres used in equivalent products (higher ignition temperature); it has lower rate of flame spread, low heat release, and low heat of combustion; doesn't melt or drip; forms a char which is insulating and self-extinguishes; and contributes less to toxic gases and smoke than other flooring products when used in carpets. Wool is usually specified for garments for fire-fighters, soldiers, and others in occupations where they are exposed to the likelihood of fire.

Wool is static resistant as the retention of moisture within the fabric prevents a build up of static electricity. Wool garments are much less likely to spark or cling to the body. The use of wool car seat covers or carpets reduces the risk of a shock when a person touches a grounded object.

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance for which silk is prized comes from the fibres' triangular prism-like structure which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles.

Wild silks are produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm and can be artificially cultivated. A variety of wild silks have been known and used in China, South Asia, and Europe since early times, but the scale of production was always far smaller than that of cultivated silks. They differ from the domesticated varieties in color and texture, and cocoons gathered in the wild usually have been damaged by the emerging moth before the cocoons are gathered, so the silk thread that makes up the cocoon has been torn into shorter lengths. Commercially reared silkworm pupae are killed by dipping them in boiling water before the adult moths emerge, or by piercing them with a needle, allowing the whole cocoon to be unraveled as one continuous thread. This permits a much stronger cloth to be woven from the silk. Wild silks also tend to be more difficult to dye than silk from the cultivated silkworm.

Silks are produced by several other insects, but only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacture.

Synthetic textiles

Polyester fibre is used in all types of clothing, either alone or blended with fibres such as cotton.

Aramid fibre (e.g. Twaron) is used for flame-retardant clothing, cut-protection, and armor.

Acrylic is a fibre used to imitate wools, including cashmere, and is often used in replacement of them.

Nylon is a fibre used to imitate silk; it is used in the production of pantyhose. Thicker nylon fibres are used in rope and outdoor clothing.

Spandex (trade name Lycra) is a polyurethane fibre that stretches easily and can be made tight-fitting without impeding movement. It is used to make activewear, bras, and swimsuits.

Olefin fibre is a fibre used in activewear, linings, and warm clothing. Olefins are hydrophobic, allowing them to dry quickly. A sintered felt of olefin fibres is sold under the trade name Tyvek.

Ingeo is a polylactide fibre blended with other fibres such as cotton and used in clothing. It is more hydrophilic than most other synthetics, allowing it to wick away perspiration.

Lurex is a metallic fibre used in clothing embellishment.