CHAPTAR:2 FIBER

Fiber is a hair-like strand of material. It is flexible and can be spun or twisted for weaving, braiding, knotting, crocheting, etc. to make desired products. Fibres can be obtained in natural form from plants and animals as well as in synthetic form. Man-made or synthetic fibres are either made up of chemicals or by processing natural fibres to create new fibre structures/properties.

2.1

Textile Fiber

Fiber is the fundamental component required for making textile yarns and fabrics. There are two types - natural and synthetic. Natural fibers come from animals (sheep, goats, camelids, etc.) or vegetable-based fibers (cotton, flax, linen, and other plant fibers). Mineral fibers (asbestos, etc) are also classified as natural fiber. Synthetic fibers are man-made and manufactured from synthetic chemicals – (byproducts of the petrochemical industries) – nylon, polyester, acetates.The characteristics of fibers directly affect the properties of the fabric it is woven into.
The history of fibres is as old as human civilization. Traces of natural fibres have been located to ancient civilizations all over the gobe. For many thousand years, the usage of fiber was limited by natural fibres such as flax, cotton, silk, wool and plant fibres for different applications.
Fibers can be divided into natural fibres and man-made or chemical fibres. Flax is considered to be the oldest and the most used natural fibre since ancient times.
A unit of matter which is capable of being spun into a yarn or made into a fabric by bonding or by interlacing in a variety of methods including weaving, knitting, braiding, felting, twisting, or webbing, and which is the basic structural element of textile products.
It is a smallest textile component which is microscopic hair like substance that may be man made or natural.
They have length at least hundred times to that of their diameter or width.