Resident Curtain Maker

19/05/2021

Blends - are made of two or more fibers. Most often, a synthetic & a natural fiber are combined to gain some of the advantages of each. As a rule, the care for blended fabrics is the same as the care for whatever fiber is used most in the blend.

18/05/2021

THERMOPLASTIC OR HEAT-SENSITIVE - (MAN-MADE FIBERS)

CELLULOSIC

Acetate
Celanese
Estron
Celaperm
Chromspun

Triacetate
Arnel

SYNTHETIC

Acrylic
Acrelan
Creslan
Orlon
Zefran
Anidex
Anim/8
Aramid
Nomex
Modacrylic
Dynel
Verel
Nylon
Antron
Cadon
Caprolan
Qiana
Olefin
Marvess
Herculan
Vectra

Polyester
Dacron
Fortrel
Kodel
Vycron
Terylene
Trevera

Spandex
Lycra
Vyrene
Spandelle

Acrylic Fiber- are made from acrylonitrile, a chemical substance. Much like other man-made fibers, the semi-liquid chemical mixture is forced through a spinneret & hardened into filaments. Most acrylic fibers are cut into short staple lengths for sweaters or carpets, but some are used in long filament form for (curtain) fabrics with the appearance of silk. Acrylic provide greater bulk with less weight than similar thermoplastic fibers, they are especially suitable for fabrics that are soft & warm. Yet it burns easily. It is very resistant to sunlight & chemicals. Used for awnings & for clothing of people who work with common chemicals. It feels soft & easy to wash, will not shrink, & are moth resistant.

Polyester Fibers - as with other man-made fibers, the manufacture is a complex chemical process involving many steps. The final step, again, is the forcing of a semi-liquid through a spinneret in order to form a filament. There are many types of polyesters, each serving a specific purpose. Polyester fibers are made in staple & filament forms, & also as a film called Mylar. This plastic film is used for making metallic yarns. The major advantage of the polyesters over other thermoplastic fibers, which they resemble, is their outstanding resistance to wrinkling, either dry or wet, & their ability to spring back to shape after used. Polyester fibers are used alone in a wide range of fabrics from sheers to heavy suitings. Blended with cotton, the polyester fibers add easy care to the absorbency & comfort of cotton fibers.

Note: Not all fibers are listed here as new ones are constantly appearing on the market. But even those fibers that have appeared in the past & others that still to come belongs to the above-mentioned family groups and are related in properties.

16/05/2021

NATURAL FIBERS - PROTEIN

Wool
Silk
Cashmere
Camel's Hair
Mohair
Alpaca
Vicuna
Angora

MAN-MADE FIBERS - PROTEIN

Azlon
Marinova
Lanital

In this classed, silk is one of the common fabric used for curtain. Yet today, silk has limited use because of its cost & the development of many man-made fibers, but no other fiber has its luxurious appearance & feel. Silk is a filament spun by the silkworm when it is preparing its cocoon. For many years silk was costly & was used only by nobility. Common fabrics made from silk fibers are; brocade, velvet, bengaline, china silk, chiffon, crepe, damask, faille, moire, foulard, organza, peau de soie, pongee, satin, shantung, surah, taffeta, & tussah, among others. Silk is similar to wool in many ways. Silk fiber appears as a straight, smooth, hollow cylender. It tend to shed dirt & fray easily. It burns faster than wool. Silk is a very strong fiber, but is weakened with age, sunlight & perspiration. Very absorbent too. It is washable, but fabrics are often made in such a way that dry cleaning is necessary. If it is handwashed, use lukewarm water & no chlorine bleach. Press with a slightly warm iron. Wild or tussah silks can be machine washed, as they usually make quite strong fabrics.

15/05/2021

Classification of fibers & common trade names

Natural Fibers - Cellulose

- Cotton
- Flax (linen)
- Ramie
- H**p
- Jute
- Piña
- Coir
- Sisal

Man-Made Fibers - Cellulose

- Rayon (viscose & cuprammonium)
- Avisco
- Bemberg
- Cupioni
(high modulus)
- Avril
- Zantrel

For curtain making purposes; cotton, linen, & rayon are best suited under this classed.

Cotton - is known to us all & still the most commonly used natural fiber today. There are several varieties of cotton plants producing fibers or staples of various lengths. The different length fibers make fabrics with different looks. It is very absorbent, reasonably strong & is not weakened by moisture. It can be bleach, wash in hot water, iron it, starch it, & dye it. But cotton also wrinkles easily & is not self-extinguishing. It is weakened & eventually disintegrate if exposed to strong sunlight.

Linen - has many similar characteristics with cotton but is more expensive to produce & it can't be used in as great variety of fabrics. Linen comes from the extract of the long, tough fibers from the outer stem of the flax plant. It is durable, & stronger than cotton. It is crisp & leathery in feel & cool to the touch. It is not affected by water, & absorbs moisture more readily than cotton. It is not elastic, so it wrinkles easily. It needs no special care in washing & ironing as it is not affected by hot water or a hot iron. But linen will tend to crack & show wear along folds so it is best not to crease it sharply.

Rayon - is a man-made cellulose fiber - a regenerated cellulose fiber means that it is cellulose in a different physical but the same chemical form. But even though man-made, it is still classified as cellulose fiber because its characteristics are similar to cotton & linen. Rayon has been improved in many ways since its early development & is now available in several variety. Rayon is similar to cotton in properties with a few exceptions. Rayon fiber appears like a smooth rod, so fiber tend to shed dirt easily. It burns fast like other cellulose fiber. Moderately strong when dry but are weaker when wet. Needs care during washing, yet it is strong & not weakened by moisture. It wrinkles easily, so it needs special finishing treatments. Washed like other cellulose fiber & can be dried at any temperature & pressed with a medium-hot iron. Will shrink unless given a shrink-resistant finish. Rayon is often known as the great imitator since it can be made to resemble fabrics of silk, cotton, linen, & wool. It is often blended with other man-made fibers to add absorbency, to cut cost, and because of the way it takes certain dyes so beautifully. Most paper fabrics are made from rayon fibers. New uses are expected as research continues.

14/05/2021

We might ignore it, but a lot of what we touched is a textile. From our clothes, curtains, carpets, upholstery, & handkerchiefs are made in fiber. Fibers make fabric, & both are textile. And there are just four major groups of fibers, namely; cellulose, protein, mineral, and thermoplastic.

06/02/2020