1. NATURAL FIBERS

2. NATURAL FIBERS come from plant or animal sources Plant: cotton, flax, ramie cellulose – fiber substance in the plant Animal: wool, silk, cashmere, angora protein All (except silk) are STAPLE fibers (short – inch or cm Silk is FILAMENT fiber (long – yards or meters)

3. COTTON Advantages: strong, absorbent, comfortable, doesn’t cling or pill, can wash at high temps, accepts dye easily Disadvantages: wrinkles easily, shrinks, mildews, flammable, not resilient Special finishes give wrinkle resistance, shrinkage control Most widely used fiber Often combined with other fibers From cotton boll, seed pod of cotton plant

4. COTTON Under microscope looks like a twisted ribbon

5. FLAX From inside stem of flax plant Used for linen fabric One of oldest fibers- “Shroud of Turin” is linen Advantages: stronger than cotton, very absorbent Disadvantages: not resilient, wrinkles easily Under microscope looks like bamboo pole

6. WOOL From fleece of sheep Quality of wool depends on breed of sheep & climate where raised Advantages: comfortable, durable, traps air so warm, resilient (wrinkles hang out easily), flame resistant Under microscope has covering of scales, wavy, crimped Disadvantages: “felts” when heat applied – scales spread & soften, then interlock so mats & shrinks WATCH WOOL BEING PROCESSED!

8. SILK Advantages: soft & smooth, strong, elastic, resists wrinkles, drapes, easily dried Disadvantages: not washable, expensive Under microscope smooth rod Formed when silkworm spins cocoon, continuous filament (can be mile long if harvested before moth breaks cocoon

9. OTHERS: SPECIALTY ANIMAL – alpaca, camel, cashmere, llama, mohair Expensive RAMIE – from stem of china grass Advantages – one of strongest fibers known Disadvantages – stiff, brittle, not elastic Usually combine with cotton or flax