FABRICS AROUND US
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter the learner is able to —
• discuss the diversity in fabrics.
• name and classify the fabrics commonly seen around.
• explain the concept of yarn and fabric making.
• describe the properties of each group of fabrics.
• make informed selection of textile products for specific end use.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Fabrics are all around us. They are an important part in our lives. Fabrics give comfort and warmth, bring colour and decorative style, and add texture. Just think of a day’s activity and recall how fabrics touch you. When you wake up from your bed, the bedsheets and pillow covers are fabrics. As you get ready for school the towel you use after bath is a soft and absorbent fabric, and the school dress you wear is again a fabric of a special type. The school bag in which you carry your books and other items is also a fabric, but again different in texture. It may be slightly stiff and coarse but strong enough to bear the load. If you observe your home you will find fabrics in almost all places, from curtains to kitchen dusters, floor mops and durries. Fabrics are of different kinds, weights and thickness and their choice is related to their end use. If you take a typical fabric in hand, and unravel it, you may be able to pull out the thread like structures from it. These may be interlaced with each other at right angles or interlooped as in your woollen cardigan or T shirts, or knotted as in nets and laces. These are called yarns. If you try to untwist the yarn you will see very tiny and fine hair like structures.
These are called fibres. Thus fibres are the basic building blocks of fabrics. All these materials — fibres, yarns and fabrics are called textile products or simply textiles. After the fabric is ready it may be subjected to further processing which may improve its appearance (cleaning, whitening, colouring) or make it more lustrous or improve its touch and feel qualities or improve its service ability. This is called finishing. A large variety of fabrics are available in the market these days and each one behaves differently when in use. The behaviour of the fabric in use and in care and maintenance depends on various factors such as type of fibre, yarn, fabric and finishing.
5.2 F ibre properties
The properties of fibre contribute to the properties of the final fabric. For a fibre to be really important and useful, it must be available in large quantities and be economical. The most essential property is its spinnability, i.e., a characteristic which is essential for ease of conversion into yarn and later into fabric. It is the sum together of properties such as length, strength, flexibility and surface structure of the fibre. From the point of view of consumer satisfaction, properties such as colour, luster, weight, moisture and dye absorption and elasticity are desired. Factors that affect care and maintenance of the fabric such as abrasion resistance, effect of chemicals, soaps and detergents, effect of heat, and resistance to biological organism are also important to the user.
