textile fiber

Fiber:

Fiber  is defined as one of the delicate, hair portions of the tissues of a plant or animal or other substances that are very small in diameter in relation to there length.

textile fiber :

All fiber are not textile fiber.The term “textile fiber” means 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. 

Many fibrous materials are not suitable to make into fabrics, e.g., corn silk or wood slivers. Textile fibers must have certain properties: flexible, thin (but not too thin), long (enough), cohesive, and strong(enough).Textile fibers must be flexible. Wood fibers (unless processed, as into pulp) do not bend easily—you cannot make fabrics from slivers! Textile fibers are also very thin—long in relation to diameter. To be mechanically spun into yarn—drawn out and twisted—staple fibers must have sufficient length, strength, and cohesiveness (fiber-to-fiber friction).

Textile fibers may be staple or filament. Staple fibers are relatively short, measured in millimeters or inches. Filament fibers are relatively long, measured in meters or yards. Most natural fibers are staple; the only natural filament fiber is reeled or cultivated silk. On the other hand, all Man made fibers can be staple or filament; they begin as filament, and in this form can give silky or (reeled) silk-like fabrics. They can also be cut or broken into staple to give fabrics that look and feel more like wool, cotton, or linen. 

 Types of Textile Fiber:

      Textile fibers are normally broken down into two main classes: 

     1.   Natural Fiber

     2.   Man-made Fiber

Natural Fiber:

All fibers which come from natural sources (animals,mineral,plants, etc.) and do not require fiber formation or reformation are classed as natural fibers. Natural fibers include the protein fibers such as wool and silk, the cellulose fibers such as cotton and linen, and the mineral fiber asbestos.

Man-made Fiber:

Man-made fibers are fibers in which either the basic chemical units have been formed by chemical synthesis followed by fiber formation or the polymers from natural sources have been dissolved and regenerated after passage through a spinneret to form fibers. Those fibers made by chemical synthesis are often called synthetic fibers, while fibers regenerated from natural polymer sources are called regenerated fibers or natural polymer fibers. In other words, all synthetic fibers and regener ated fibers are man-made fibers, since man is involved in the actual fiber formation process.  The synthetic man-made fibers include the polyamides (nylon), polyesters, acrylics, polyolefins, vinyls, and elastomeric fibers, while the regenerated fibers include rayon, the cellulose acetates, the regenerated proteins, glass and rubber fibers.

                             CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL & MAN-MADE FIBRES