Assignment 3: Fibres

5 Samples of different fibres:

1.  Christmas fabric:  I believe this is a polyester cotton but I hope that it is pure cotton.

2.  Red felt:  I believe that this is fake felt (polyester) as it doesn’t feel “right” in the hand, especially after examining the felts at Gasperaux Fibres.

3.  Blue flannel:  I believe this is pure cotton as I used this fabric on my son’s duvet cover when he was a little boy.  Peter Rabbit Blue I called it at the time.  It made a heavy duvet but it had a nice weight for an unheated bedroom in the winter time over the down duvet.

4.  Magenta fabric:  I think this is a slightly raw silk/ nubbed silk.  I really forget where it came from but I’m hoping it is pure silk as I’m imagining what I can do now that the sewing machine is set up.

5.  Spandex:  I bought this fabric this spring to repair a very expensive and well-loved piece of lingerie.  Something I’ve never done before but my sewing friend recommended it.  It worked although it was hard to hide the repair totally.  Not sure what spandex is or how it will burn.

Burn Test

 

Burn Test

1.  Christmas fabric:  Turns out that this fabric is indeed cotton.  It ignited and burned quickly, left a glowing ember on the end burned-over part, the smoke was light coloured and smells like burning paper.  The ash was very soft and light gray and blew away quickly in the breeze.  I thought, if it was a combination cotton/polyester that the ash would be harder and form a ridge along the edge of the cloth which would point to the presence of polyester but it didn’t.

I would use this fabric to make a homemade Christmas stocking for my son, and use similar cotton as contrast, to add some holiday cheer.  In terms of care, I would wash and try to shrink it so that it will keep its precise shape, especially because I will want to line it.  Because I will be adding other fabrics, I will plan on hanging it to dry instead of using the dryer, even though, if the fabric is pre-washed, it shouldn’t matter.  Heirlooms to pass down should be treated a little more carefully.  Cotton irons well and I’ll have to be carefully of any embellishments so that all will react the same to the use of an iron.  Of course, if I store the stocking carefully it shouldn’t need to be ironed ever again!  Any possible staining of the cotton is quite easily dealt with by washing with cold water and some stain remover (after testing on a scrap piece) and hanging in the sun.

2. Red felt:  Just as I thought, this fabric is totally man-made.  It ignited very quickly, and burned fast.  As it burned, it also seemed to shrink as it melted (more than burned).  The smoke was black and had a strong acrid chemical smell.  It is definitely synthetic and based on the acrid smell, I’m assuming that it must be acrylic.  The ash had formed a strong hard bead that was hard to remove from the rest of the fabric swatch which is typical of synthetic materials.

As far as using this fabric for anything to do with children’s toys, Christmas decorations or decorations in a bedroom, I would not use this fabric.  Toxic fumes, melting “plastic”, and black smoke should not be near a child.  I may use it for covering the bottom of chairs so they don’t scratch wooden floors but I doubt it.  I prefer natural materials, especially after seeing how they behave in a burn test.  Washing and drying it should be done by hand laying it flat and stretching it slightly to help it retain its shape.  When I used the iron, I could tell immediately that if I wasn’t quick it would melt to the bottom of my iron so using an iron on a very low setting would be the only safe way to care for it.  If it ever got a stain, I would throw it out.  Synthetic felt is not worth the bother.

3.  Blue Flannel:  I’m glad that this turned out to be pure cotton flannel.  In conducting the burn test, it smoldered slowly and had a strong wood smell.  It ignited quickly with glowing embers in the burned-out area.  The ash was light coloured and blew away very quickly.

I would be careful with this fabric around children.  I love flannel around babies and children (and myself) for pajamas and cozy throws but also remember back in my Massachusetts days when it was banned from being used.  I did use this flannel for the duvet cover and other flannels for homemade diapers.  When preparing for projects you really have to be careful to pre-shrink it and also make sure it is cut straight so that the project will hang properly.  Staining can be taken care of usually by using stain remover, cold water, my Mexican soap (lye based) and hanging in the sun.  I only use a dryer with flannel after its been washed and dried on the line a number of times as it seems to take awhile to settle into a permanent shape.  It is easily ironed and stored, which is one reason flannel continues to be so popular.

4.  Magenta Silk:  This did turn out to be silk.  It was so easy to tell from the burn test.  It was very slow to ignite, burned reluctantly, and smelled just like burning hair.  The ash was very brittle, dark, and easily crumbled away.  Definitely not a synthetic by the ash and burning characteristics.

I would use this fabric as part of a Christmas stocking, small jewelry bags, or what I really want: a silk pillow case.  Silk fibres are very smooth and do not “tear up” the hair like cotton does and is recommended by hair stylists to keep your hair healthy looking.  Although silk is often recommended to be dry-cleaned, I have washed silk garments many times by hand, in cold water, agitating slightly with my hands, using a gentle soap, handling it very gently, never wringing it out or twisting it but letting the water “fall out” and then drying it flat until it is light enough to hand on the clothesline in the shade.  In caring for it, it should be ironed very lightly and quickly on a low setting (I try to do it on the inside to avoid any possible sheening of the fabric).

5.  Spandex:  What interesting fabric to feel and to try to burn!  It ignited very slowly but then melted more than burned.  As it continued to melt, drops quickly fell away from the fabric, which is certainly dangerous.  The ash was very hard and formed a bead that became part of the fabric.  The smell of the burning had a slightly sweet smell, but definitely a chemical toxic smell, which makes me believe that it must be mostly a type of polyester.

It washes and dries perfectly and never needs to be ironed, which is probably why it is used so much in athletic clothing and socks.  I used it to repair a piece of lingerie and it works well.  I don’t believe that I would use it for anything else; it’s a slippery, specific-use fabric which would make it hard to work with.

Internet sites to assist:

1.  Clothing labels and care of fabric for cleaning:

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc.nsf/eng/ca02009.html

2.  Excellent site about identification and qualities of fibres including the “Family Tree” of fibres.

Click to access FA110_Ch02.pdf

 

Lesson for Family Studies 7

Have students bring one garment and identify the country of origin, the type of fabric it is made of, view the properties of various fibres on the “family tree”, use a microsope to examine the individual fibres and then create a report of what they found out (which includes the type of fabric, the qualities of the fibre, the suitability of the fabric for the garment, the care of the fabric with a picture of the fibre (hand-drawn or from on-line).