Chapter 1

History of the Development of

Textile Fibers

Chapter 2
History of Development of
Textile Machines
Key Terms
 Fibers
 Natural Fibers
 Regenerated Fibers
 Synthetic Fibers
 Fabrics
 Weaving Machines
 Knitting Machines
 Chapter 1
History of the Development of
Textile Fiber
Definition of Fibers…….
 It 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.

 A fiber is characterized by having a length at least 100

times its diameter or width.

 The term refers to units that can be spun into a yarn or

made into a fabric by various methods including weaving
or knitting.
Types of Fibers
Natural
•Originate from natural sources
•Plant (cellulosic) or animal (protein)
•Still new fibers are discovered till today

Manufactured: synthetic or man-made

•Originate from chemical sources
•May also be from regenerated or recycled sources
•Characteristics of Natural Fibers
•Natural fibers are usually:

Absorbent
Comfortable
Cooler to wear
Wrinkle more
Shrink when washed

•Important natural fibers are:

Cotton
Linen
Jute
Wool
Silk
•Natural Fibers
Natural fibers are textile fibers made from plants or animals

•Cellulosic (from plants)

•Cotton
From cotton plants
•Flax (linen)
From flax stems
•Jute (Jute stems)

•Protein (from animals)

•Silk
From cocoons of silkworms
•Wool
From fleece (hair) of sheep or lambs
•Cotton
- Cotton was first cultivated in the Old
World 1500 BC in India. Then cultivated in
Iran, Syria, Palestine and then in Egypt.
Cellulosic fiber
- From “bolls” (seed pods) growing on
bushes
- “Environmentally friendly” cotton can be
grown in a range of colors
- Main textile products of China, India, Iran,
Pakistan and Egypt
- Made into a wide range of wearing
apparel
- Cotton
Advantages: - Disadvantages:
•Comfortable •Shrinks in hot water
•Absorbent •Wrinkles easily
•Good color retention •Weakened by perspiration and
•Dyes & prints well sun
•Washable •Burns easily
•Strong •Affected by mildew
•Drapes well
•Easy to handle and sew
•Inexpensive
- Linen (Flax)
•Flax is the fiber name; linen is
the fabric name.
•World’s oldest textile fiber, dates
back to Stone Age 5,000 years.
•Cellulosic fiber from stem of flax
plant.
•Towels, sheets, and tablecloths
are called “linens”.
- Linen (Flax)
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•Strong •Wrinkles easily
•Comfortable •Can be expensive
•Hand-washable or dry- •Shrinks
cleanable •Burns easily
•Absorbent •Affected by mildew and
•Dyes and prints well perspiration
•Resists dirt and stains •Ravels
•Durable •Difficult to remove creases
•Withstands high heat •Shines if ironed
•Lint-free
Jute
•Jute is a long, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into
coarse, strong threads.
•The fibers are off-white to brown, and 1–4 meters (3–12 feet)
long. Bangladesh is the world’s largest exporter of jute. Jute is
grown in the same land-water area as rice and is a very
difficult crop to grow and harvest.
•Other important jute export countries include India, China,
Burma (Myanmar), Pakistan, Nepal and Thailand.
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•Great antistatic properties •Wrinkles easily
•Low thermal conductivity. •Can be expensive
•Moisture Regain properties is •Shrinks
good enough (about 13.75%). •Burns easily
•100% Biodegradable; so it is •Affected by mildew and perspiration
environment friendly fiber like
•Ravels
Cotton.
•Difficult to remove creases
•Cheap in market.
•Shines if ironed
•Can be widely used in
Agriculture Sector, Textile
Sector, Woven Sector,
Nonwoven Sector.
•Jute Fiber can be blended with
Natural and Synthetic fibers.
- Wool
•Protein fiber from sheep or
lambs
•Worsted wool is higher quality
with long staple fibers (over 2
inches)
•Natural insulator
•The term wool can only apply to
all animal hair fibers, including
the hair of cashmere or angora
goat
•As well as the specialty hair
fibers of camel, alpaca or llama
- Wool
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•Warm •Affected by moths
•Lightweight •Shrinks with heat and moisture
•Wrinkle-resistant •Needs special care, dry cleaning
•Absorbent •Absorbs orders
•Dyes well •Scratchy on skin
•Comfortable •Weakens when wet
•Durable •Harmed by bleach, perspiration
•Creases well
•Easy to tailor
•Recyclable
- Silk
• Discovered in China for more
than 1000 years B.C. “secret
Production”, then moved to
Japan, Italy and France.
•Silkworms spin cocoons in
filaments
•Filament is a very long, fine,
continuous thread
•It can take as many as 500
cocoons to create 1 blouse
- Silk
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•Soft •Expensive
•Drapes well •Needs special care, dry cleaning
•Dyes and prints well •Stains with water
•Very strong •Yellows with age
•Lightweight •Weakened by perspiration, sun,
•Resists soil, mildew, and soap
moths •Attacked by insects, silverfish
•Comfortable
•Absorbent
- Sisal Fibers
•Sisal is a perennial hardy plant,
which unlike the other fibers is
not a seasonal crop.
•It can establish and easily grow
in all states of India covering sub
humid to arid and semiarid
regions, which cover major parts
of India.
- Asbestos Fibers
•Asbestos is the only natural
mineral fibre obtained from
varieties of rocks.
•Italy was the first country to use it
in 1866. The Canadian Asbestos is
considered as the best type and
represents 75% of world
consumption.
- Asbestos Fibers
•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.

Used in:
Firefighter garments, insulating boilers, Curtain for cinema and
theaters, automotive brakes and Filters.
Regenerated Cellulosic Fibers
Manufactured Fibers
•Manufactured fibers are fibers created by a manufacturing
process of any substance that is not a fiber.
•Cellulosic- from generated fibrous substance in plants.
•Non-cellulosic or synthetic- made from petrochemical
products.

•Process
- Raw materials melted or dissolved to form thick syrup
- Liquid extruded through spinneret
- Extruded filaments stretched and hardened into fibers
- Rayon
•1st manufactured in 1894 by the
American Viscose Company
•Used during WW 1 for industrial
products
•Derived from wood pulp, cotton
linters, or vegetable matter
•Rayon used to produce crepe,
velvet, and satin fabrics
- Rayon
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•Soft and comfortable •Wrinkles easily unless treated
•Drapes well •Low resiliency
•Durable •Heat sensitive
•Highly absorbent •Susceptible to mildew
•Dyes and prints well •Stretches
•No static or pilling •Weakens when wet
problems •Fabric shrinks if washed
•Inexpensive •May need dry cleaning
•Colorfast
•May be washable
•Acetate Rayon
•Developed in early 20th century
•Produced in 1924 by the Celanese
Corporation
•Used to line coats and fabrics

Advantages: Disadvantages:
•Luxurious appearance •Requires dry cleaning
•Crisp (texture) soft hand •Weak
•Wide range of colors; dyes and prints •Heat sensitive
well •Poor abrasion resistance
•Drapes well •Dissolved by nail polish
•Resists shrinkage, moths, and mildew remover (acetone)
•Low moisture absorbency, relatively
fast drying
•No pilling, little static
Lyocell
•Lyocell is the newest of the cellulosic manufactured fibers
•Trade name is Tencel®
Advantages:
•Absorbent
•Biodegradable
•Strong
•Resists sunlight, aging, and abrasion
Disadvantages
•Susceptible to mildew
Used to Make:
•Reusable woven materials
•Fashion fabrics
•Soft denims
•Shirts
Bamboo Fibers
•It is a regenerated cellulose
fiber.
•Bamboo fiber is 100% made
from bamboo through a high-tech
process.
•Fastest growing plant and takes
only 3-4 years to reach maturity
- Bamboo Fibers
Advantage:
•Health care
•Anti- bacteria
•Moisture management and
•Soft hand feel
•Anti-static
•Perfect for Sensitive Skin
Disadvantage:
• Low strength
•Poor spinability
•High cost (30 to 40 % higher
than cotton)
Synthetic Fibers
- Nylon Fibers
•Invented in 1938 by DuPont
•1st synthetic fiber
•Made completely from petrochemicals in an experimental laboratory
Advantage: Disadvantages:
•Lightweight •Static and pilling
•Abrasion resistant Exceptional strength •Poor resistance to sunlight
•Easy to wash •Low absorbency
•Resists shrinkage and wrinkles •Picks up oils and dyes in
•Resilient wash
•Fast drying, low moisture absorbency •Heat sensitive
•Can be pre-colored or dyed in a wide range of colors
•Resists damage from oil and many chemicals
•Insulating properties
- Polyester Fibers
Synthetic fiber developed in the 1950’s by DuPont
Advantage:
•Strong
•Crisp, but soft hand
•Resists stretching and shrinkage
•Washable or dry-cleanable
•Quick drying
•Resilient, resists wrinkles
•Abrasion resistant
•Resistant to most chemicals
•Colorfast
•Strong, durable
•Dyes well
Disadvantage:
•Low absorbency
•Static and pilling problems
- Acrylic Fibers
•Manufactured in the 1950’s by DuPont.
•Originally used for blankets and sweaters because it resembled wool.
•Fiber composed of linear macromolecules having in the chain at least
85% by mass of acrylonitrile repeating units
Advantage:
•Lightweight, soft, warm, wool-like hand
•Dyes to bright colors
•Machine washable, quick drying
•Resilient, retains shape, resists shrinkage and wrinkles
•Wool-like, cotton-like, or blended appearance
•Excellent pleat retention
•Resists moths, oil, chemicals
Disadvantage:
•Low absorbency •Heat sensitive
•Develops static •Weak
•Pilling •Dissolved by nail polish remover (acetone)
- Spandex Fibers
•Developed in 1959 by DuPont
•Stretches over 500% without breaking
Advantage:
•Lightweight
•Retains original shape
•Abrasion Resistant
•Stronger than rubber
•Soft, smooth, supple
•Resists body oils, perspiration, lotions, detergents
•No static or pilling
Disadvantage:
•Whites yellow with age
•Heat sensitive
•Harmed by chlorine bleach
•nonabsorbent
- MicroFibers
•Newest trend in fashion
•1st developed in 1989 by DuPont
•Ultra-fine fiber
•Denier is a unit of measurement used to
identify the thickness of diameter of a fiber
Advantage:
•Extremely drapeable
•Very soft, luxurious hand
•Washable or dry cleanable
•Shrink-resistant
•Strong
•Insulates against wind, rain, and cold
Disadvantage:
•Heat sensitive
In 1970, Kevlar, carbon, ceramic and glass fibers have been
invented. The advantages of these materials are their light
weight and their enduring for high temperature.

These new fibers have been used in different applications, as

examples some parts of airplanes, rockets, airspace and in
manufacturing tires.
 Kevlar

Carbon Fibers

Nylon
Glass Fibers

Polyester

St.
Comparing Tensile strength of different materials against Steel
- Kevlar Fibers
Advantage:
•Exceptional strength
•Exceptional heat and flame resistance
•Resistant to stretch and abrasion
Disadvantage:
•Not absorbent
Kevlar
•Bullet Proof Vests
•Cut/Heat and Chemical
resistant Gloves
Where are composites
used??????

CFRP – carbon
fiber reinforced
composite.

GFRP –
glass fiber
reinforced
composite
 Some parts of submarine using
Kevlar “Aramid ” fibers

High pressure pipes

for transferring fluids

Car Tires Some pipes and hoses

for cars

Gas bottles for

balloon

Different uses of new materials

of synthetic fibers
 Some parts of the structure of the
Columbia space ship

Some parts of
airplane boeing 737

Bullet proof
garments

Different uses of new materials of

synthetic fibers
Global consumption of various textile fibers “in
Million Ton”

Wool
Man made fibers
Cotton

Global Consumption of Various Textile Fibers

The proportion of consumption of textile raw
materials

The proportion of the world's

consumption of cotton
The proportion of the world's
consumption of man made fibers

The proportion of the world's

consumption of wool

Global Consumption of Various Textile Fibers

The proportion of consumption of textile raw
materials

Eastern Europe and the Soviet

Union countries

Areas of developing countries

Areas of industrialized nations

The proportion of consumption of textile raw materials in

the regions of the third world
Average consumption
Areas of developing countries
per person (kg/person)

Eastern Europe and the Soviet

Union countries

Areas of industrialized nations

Overall average per person in

the world

Year
Average consumption per person for textile
material in the third world