TABLE OF CONTENTS Textiles are fabrics (cloth) and other materials made principally from combinations of fibers. These fibers may be woven, knitted, braided, tufted, or made, by mechanical or chemical bonding, into non-woven fabrics. Yarns, sheets, films, foam materials, furs and leather may also be used in textile products. Garments, sheets, blankets, rugs and carpets, upholstery, drapes and curtains, nets, and various industrial components are important applications of textiles.
Fibers are long, hair-like, wire-like or thread-like materials whose lengths are 0.2 in (0.5 cm) or more and are greater than 100 times their diameters2. They come from plant, animal or mineral sources, or can be synthetic materials. Textile fibers are those that can be made into fabrics by the operations described below. Fibers occur or are made into different forms: staple fibers are relatively short fibers, normally under 6 in (15 cm) long, filaments are long or continuous fibers, monofilament is a continuous or long single fiber, usually a thick fiber, tow is a bundle of untwisted continuous fibers, yarn is a bundle of twisted fibers.5
Are those derived from plant, animal and mineral sources. The major ones are cotton, linen, wool and silk. Wool from sheep is the principal fiber produced from animal hair, but camel, llama, alpaca, guanaco, vicuna, rabbit, reindeer and goat (angora and cashmere) hair are also used.5 Horse and cow hair are sometimes made into felt. Wool is sorted, graded, and scoured before it is...
