CLASSES AND PROPERTIES OF FIBRES

Fibres are classified into two main classes. Namely;

  1. The natural fibres; which are gotten from either plant e.g cotton and linen; or from animals e.g wool and silk.
  2. The man-made fibres; which are gotten from cellulose based fibres e.g viscose rayon and acetate or from non-cellulose based e.g nylon, polyester and acrylics.

PROPERTIES OF FIBRES

  1. COTTON: Cotton is a vegetable fibre. It is made from cotton balls of the cotton plant. The cotton fibres surround the seeds of the cotton plant.

PROPERTIES OF COTTON

  1. It absorbs moisture quickly
  2. It is reasonably strong and durable
  3. It washes well
  4. It can be dyed easily
  5. It is cool and comfortable to wear.

LINEN

This Is a vegetable fibre. It is gotten from the stem of flax plant. The flax plant grows in countries such as France, Russia, it is not produced in Nigeria.

PROPERTIES 

  1. It is stronger than cotton
  2. It is absorbent and cool to wear
  3. It dries slowly
  4. It washes well
  5. It is a good conductor of heat.

WOOL

This is an animal fibre. It is gotten from the hair of fleece f sheep. The hair of camel, Angora, rabbit or angora goat can also be used. It is commonly produced in Britain, Australia e.t.c.

PROPERTIES

  1. A wool fibre has a scaly appearance
  2. It is stronger when dry than when wet.
  3. It gives the smell of burning feather when burnt.
  4. It makes  a very absorbent fabrics
  5. It is readily affected by bleach

SILK

This is an animal fibre. It is produced by silk worm. Silk is produced chiefly in France, Italy, China and Japan.

PROPERTIES

  1. It is a very strong fibre
  2. It is smooth and fine
  3. It is warm to touch
  4. It absorbs moisture easily
  5. It is an expensive fibre

VISCOSE RAYON

This is made by treating wood pulp or cotton linters with certain chemicals

PROPERTIES

  1. It is not very strong especially when wet
  2. 2. it has smooth surface
  3. 3. resemble sink in appearance only

ACETATE

It is made from wood pulp or cotton linters treated with acetic and acid acetic anhydride

PROPERTIES

  1. it dries quickly
  2.  it looses strength when wet

 

NYLON

This is the family name for all synthetic polyamides

PROPERTIES

1.It is very strong

  1. It is light in weight
  2. It requires no ironing
  3. It is durable.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF FIBRES

A COTTON; are processed from bolls by the following steps;

  1. Ginning
  2. Baling
  3. Clearing
  4. Carding
  5. Combing
  6. Drawing
  7. Spinning
  8. Dyeing
  9.  Weaving

LINEN: Is produced from the stem of flax plant by the following steps

  1. Retting
  2. Breaking and scotching
  3. Combing
  4. Spinning

WOOL: wool fibres are produced into two forms

  1. Worsted yarn; this is made from long fibres
  2. Woollen yarn; this is made from short fibres

The major steps for the manufacturing of both forms are;

  1. Clipping
  2. Sorting
  3. Scouring
  4. Carbonizing
  5. Carding
  6. Spinning
  7. Weaving

RAYON

  1. The cellulose (wood pulp or cotton linters) is first purified
  2. The cellulose is then treated with the right chemicals. It is then changed into a thin liquid.
  3. The liquid is then forced through a nozzle containing many fine holes called a spinneret. The rayon filaments or fibres are produced
  4. The filaments are spun into yarns. The yarns are woven into fabric

 

See also

TEXTILES

DECISION MAKING IN THE FAMILY

THE FAMILY NEEDS

PRODUCTION OF CLEANING AGENT

PRODUCTION OF COSMETICS

Assignment

Outline the manufacturing process of the following

  1. Silk
  2. Nylon
  3. Acetate.

 

EXPERIMENT AND TEST ON DIFFERENT FIBRES

FIBRES APPEARANCE TEST MICROSCOPIC TEST BURNING TEST
COTTON It is cool to feel and fairly firm

It has a dull appearance

Fibre is flat

Has a twist characteristics

Resembles a twisted ribbon

Burns in and out of flame

Smells like burning paper

Leaves very little grey or white powdery ash

LINEN It has a cool crisp handle

Dull appearance

fibre is round and smooth with swellings or nodes at interval Similar to cotton
WOOL Has a projecting fibre

Rough and dull appearance

Warm to handle

Wool fibre is covered with scales that overlap and point towards the top of the fibre Does not burn but smoulders(i.e it burns slowly

producing smoke but not flames

Gives smell of burning hair or feathers

SILK Has a smooth and rich lustrous appearance

Soft, smooth and resilient to harm

De-gummed fibre is very fine and has a smooth surface

Raw silk fibres are seen as double filamentss

Similar to wool
VISCOSE RAYON has a smooth  fairly soft handle

A smooth lustrous appearance

It may resemble silk

Fibre is rounded with groves running length-wise

It looks like transparent rods streaked with wavy line

Similar to cotton
ACETATE Is silk-like and it drapes well

Has smooth and soft handle

Maybe dull or lustrous

Fibre is rounded with one or more surface ridges which look like thickened lines Burns like cotton and gives a smell of

acetic acid or vinegar

Smell like boiling celery

NYLON Fabric is very  smooth and slippery Filament looks like a smooth glass rod Shrinks like flame and melts into  hard white or

grey or bead.

 

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