CLASSIFICATION OF FIBRES

 Natural Fibers
 Vegetable Fibers
 Animal Fibers
 Mineral fibers
 Man Made fibers
 Regenerated fibers
 Synthetic fibers
 Inorganic fibers
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.

 Bast fibres
Low Lignin content – Linen or Flax (raw and
bleached) and Ramie
High Lignin content – Jute, Hemp

Cotton
 Cotton is a soft fibre that grows around the seeds of the
cotton plant .cotton fibre grows in the seed pod or boll of the
cotton plant . each fibre is a single elongated cell that is flat
twisted and ribbon like with a wide inner hollow (lumen).
  Composition
 90% cellulose,6% moisture and the remainder fats and
impurities.
 the outer surface is covered with a protective wax like
coating which gives fibre an adhesive quality.

KAPOK FIBRE
 Kapok fiber is a silky cotton-like substance that surrounds the
seeds in the pods of the ceiba tree.
 Properties
 It can support as much as 30 times its own weight in water
and loses only 10 percent of buoyancy over a 30-day period.
 It is eight times lighter than cotton
 it is extremely used as a thermal-insulator.
 it is also lightweight, non-allergic, non-toxic, resistant to rot
and odorless.
 since it is inelastic and too fragile, it can't be spun.
 it has outstanding characteristics of lightness,
impermeability, thermal-isolation and eco- naturality.

BAST FIBRE
 Bast fibre (fiber) or skin fibre is fibre collected from the
Phloem (the "inner bark" or the skin) or bast surrounding the
stem of a certain mainly dicotyledonic plant
 Properties
 The bast fibres have often higher tensile strength than other
kinds, and are therefore used for textiles , ropes, yarn, paper,
composites and burlap.
 A special property of bast fibers are that the fiber at that
point represents a weak point.
 They are obtained by the process called retting
JUTE FIBRE
Jute is one of the cheapest natural fibres and is second only to
cotton in amount produced and variety of uses. Jute fibres are
composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose and lignin .
Properties
 Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into
coarse, strong threads.
 It is thus a ligno -cellulosic fibre that is partially a textile
fibre and partially wood.
 The plant grows up to a height of 2.5m and its fibre length is
about 2m.
 it is generally used in geo textiles.
 it has a good resistance to micro organisms and insects.
 it has low wet strength, low elongation and inexpensive to
produce
RAMIE FIBRE
Ramie is one of the oldest fibre crops, having been used for at least
six thousand years. It is also known as china grass.

Properties
 Ramie requires chemical processing to de-gum the fibre.
 it is fine absorbent ,quick drying fibre, is slightly stiff and
possesses high natural lustre.
 its plant height is 2.5m and its strength is eight times more
than cotton.

HEMP FIBRE
Depending on the processing used to remove the fiber from the
stem, the hemp naturally may be creamy white, brown, gray,
black or green.
 Properties
 it is yellowish brown fibre
 Hemp fibers can be 3 to 15 feet long, running the length of
the plant.
 Characteristics of hemp fibre are its superior strength and
durability, resistance to ultraviolet light and mold, comfort
and good absorbancy

COIR FIBRE
 Fibre mechanically extracted from dry mature coconut husk
after soaking.

 It is long, hard and strong fibre but with lower softness, lower
water absorption capacity, and shorter life than long retted
fibre.
SILK FIBRE
 silk is a natural fiber that can be woven into textiles. It is
obtained from the cocoon of the silkworm larva, in the
process known as sericulture
 properties
 it’s a fine continuous strand unwound from the cocoon of a
moth caterpillar known as the silkworm.
 it is the longest and thinnest natural filament fibre with the
longest filament around 3000yards.
 it is relatively lustrous ,smooth, light weight, strong and
elastic.
 it is essentially composed of protein fibre and is naturally a
white coloured fiber.

WOOL
  Wool is the fiber derived from the fur of animals principally
sheep.
 properties
 it has the highest moisture regain i.e., 14%.
 it exhibits felting property and is easy to spin
 due to crimp present in it, it has heat in stored within
 the length of the fibre is around 3-15 inches.

MINERAL FIBRE
 Asbestos is the only natural mineral fibre obtained from
varieties of rocks.
 properties
 It is fibrous form of silicate of magnesium and calcium
containing iron and aluminium and other minerals.
 It is acid proof, flame proof and rust proof.
 Its particles are carcinogenic and hence its use is restricted.
Cellulosic fibres
 Cellulose is one of many polymers found in nature.
 Wood, paper, and cotton all contain cellulose. Cellulose is an
excellent fiber.
 Cellulose is made of repeat units of the monomer glucose.
 The three types of regenerated cellulosic fibres are rayon,
acetate and triacetate which are derived from the cell walls of
short cotton fibres called linters.
 Paper for instance is almost pure cellulose

Non Cellulosic Man made fibres:

Protein:
Azlon Fibre from Soya and Corn
Casein of Milk
Ground nut
From other Sources:
Mineral: Glass, Ceramic and Graphite
Metallic Fibres: By mining and refining of metals like
silver, gold, aluminum and steel.
Rubber Fibres: Sap tapped from the rubber tree.
( Fibre forming polymer is
either natural or synthetic)

RAYON
 Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulosic fiber.
 it is the first man made fibre .
 it has a serrated round shape with smooth surface.
 it loses 30-50% of its strength when it is wet.
 Rayon is produced from naturally occurring polymers and
therefore it is not a synthetic fiber, but a manufactured
regenerated cellulosic fiber.
 The fiber is sold as artificial silk
 there are two principal varieties of rayon namely viscose and
cupra ammonium rayon.

ACETATE
 A manufactured fiber in which the fiber forming substance
is cellulose acetate.
 Acetate is derived from cellulose by reacting purified
cellulose from wood pulp with acetic acid and acetic
anhydride in the presence of sulfuric acid.

The Acetate Fiber Characteristics

 Luxurious feel and appearance
 Wide range of colors and lusters
 Excellent drapability and softness
 Relatively fast drying
 Shrink, moth and mildew resistant
  Special dyes have been developed for acetate since it does
not accept dyes ordinarily used for cotton and rayon.
Man made Synthetic Fibres

 Polyamides-Nylon 66, Nylon 610, Nylon 6 etc

 Polyester-Terylene, Terene, Dacron etc.
 Polyvinyl derivatives
 Polyvinylchloride
 Polyvinylchloride acetate
 Polyvinylchloride –Acrylonitrile
 Polyacrilonitrile
 Polyvinyl alcohol
 Polystyrene and Copolymers
 Polyvinylide Chloride and Copolymers
 Polyolefins
 Polyethylene
 Polypropylene

Minor fibre

Minor fibre made of a jelly like

calcium alginate derived from
certain forms of sea weed used as
scaffolding in such fabrics as
surgical dressings which can be
dissolved away

POLYESTER
  Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester
functional group in their main chain.
 The term "polyester" is most commonly used to refer to
polyethylene terephthalate .
 it has a high melting temperature
 it can be dyed with only disperse dyes
 they are thermoplastic, have good strength and are
hydrophobic
 the fibre has a rod like shape with a smooth surface.
 it is lustrous and its hand is crisp.
 it has excellent resiliency and is the best wash and wear
fabric.
 there are problems of static and pilling in it

NYLON
 Nylon is one of the most common polymers used as a fiber.
 There are several forms of nylon depending upon chemical
synthesis such as nylon 4, 6, 6.6, 6.10, 6.12,
8,10 and 11.
 Nylon is found in clothing all the time, but also in other
places, in the form of a thermoplastic material.

RUBBER FIBRE
 Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer that naturally
occurs as a milky colloidal suspension, or latex, in the sap of
some plants.
 The manufacturing process consists of extruding the natural
rubber latex into a coagulating bath to form filament.the
material is cross linked to obtain fibres which exhibit high
stretch
 It can be synthesized
GLASS FIBRE

 It is also known as Fiberglass that is a material made from

extremely fine fibers of glass. Glass fiber is formed when
thin strands of silica-based or other formulation glass is
extruded into many fibers with small diameters suitable for
textile processing

METALLIC FIBRES

 Metallic fibers are manufactured fibers composed of

metal, plastic-coated metal, metal-coated plastic, or a core
completely covered by metal. Gold and silver have been used
since ancient times as yarns for fabric decoration. More
recently, aluminum yarns, aluminized plastic yarns, and
aluminized nylon yarns have replaced gold and silver.
 They are made through laminating process.
 Coated metallic filaments help to minimize tarnishing.