Fiber History

The history of fibers is as old as human civilization. Traces of natural fibers have been located to ancient civilizations all over the globe. For many thousand years, the usage of fiber was limited by natural fibers such as flax, cotton, silk, wool and plant fibers for different applications.

Fiber history can be divided into natural fibers and man-made or chemical fibers. One of the most used natural fibers since ancient times and a glimpse at thier brief history have been listed here.

Flax

The recorded usage of Flax can be dated back to 5000 BC and it is considered to be the oldest natural textile fiber.
There have been reported usage of fine linen used in Egyptian pharaohs and tombs.
One of the largest producers of Flax today include the Soviet States, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France while one of the key exporters are Northern Ireland and Belgium.

Cotton
More than 1,300 years ago, it is recorded as a singular fact that an emperor named Ou-ti, wore on the occasion of his accession to the throne of China, a cotton robe!

Earliest use of cotton has been estimated between 3,000 BC to 5,000 BC.
It is recorded to have been worn by Egyptians prior to 2,500 BCThe invention of the cotton gin in 1793 revolutionized the processing of cotton.
During 1884, the development of the power loom brought about significant improvements and variations to cotton fabrics.

Major producers: United States, Soviet States, China and India. Lessor producers include Pakistan, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico Iran and Sudan.

Wool
In the tombs and ruins of Egypt, Nineveh, and Babylon, in the barrows of early Britons, and among the relics of the Peruvians, fragments of woolen fabrics have been found.

The Romans began to improve their flocks as early as 200 BC, that later became the progenitors of the popular Spanish Merino sheep.
The dated usage of wool goes back to 3,000 BC and it is known to have been used by people of the late stone age.
During the 18th century, England became the great wool-producing country of Europe, and wool was the staple of its industry until cotton began to overshadow it.
In 1788, the first factory in America using water power to weave wool was established at Hartford, Conn.

There are 40 different breeds of sheep, which produce approximately 200 types of wool of varying grades. The key producers of wool are Australia, New Zealand, Soviet States, China, South Africa, and Argentina.

Silk
Silk production and its roots in textile history is ancient, variegated and unknown to many.

· Pliny, the Roman historian, quoted in his Natural History in 70 BC "Silk was obtained by removing the down from the leaves with the help of water…".
For more than two thousand years the Chinese kept the secret of silk altogether to themselves.
It is believed to be discovered by a Chinese princess. It was a guarded secret that passed through many centuries till it was discovered.

More recent archeological reveal a small ivory cup carved with a silkworm design predicted to be between 6000 and 7000 years old. Spinning tools, silk thread and fabric fragments were found from sites along the lower Yangzi River in China and goes on to unravel the origins of sericulture as being earlier than recorded in history. There is a story that two monks smuggled seeds of the mulberry tree and silkworm eggs out of China by hiding them in their walking sticks. Silk is made from two continuous filaments cemented together and used to form the cocoon of the silkworm. It is again said that India learnt of silk culture when a Chinese princess married an Indian prince. The major producer and exporter of silk is Japan.

Manufactured/Man-made/Chemical fibers

In the year 1665, the English researcher Robert Hooke was the first to describe in his book "Micrographia or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies" the idea of producing artificial silk from a gelatinous mass.
Starting from then to now, man made fiber production has reached an estimate of more than 24 million ton. Used for different applications such as modern apparel, home furnishings, medicine, aeronautics, energy, industry, and more. Fiber engineers can combine, modify and tailor fibers in ways far beyond the performance limits of fiber drawn from the silkworm cocoon, grown in the fields, or spun from the fleece of animals. Listed here are the common fibers with their brief history and major producers.

Rayon
Rayon was the first manufactured fiber. It was developed in France in the 1890s and was originally also called as artificial silk.

In 1924, the term rayon was officially adopted by the textile industry as a man-made fiber.
It is different from most chemical fibers as rayon is not synthetic.
It is made from wood pulp, a naturally-occurring, cellulose-based raw material.
As a result, rayon's properties are more similar to those of natural cellulosic fibers, such as cotton or linen, than those of thermoplastic, petroleum-based synthetic fibers such as nylon or polyester.

By using two different chemicals and manufacturing techniques, four type of rayons was developed---Regular rayon, High Wet Modulus (HWM) rayon , High Tenacity Rayon, Cupramonium Rayon .Currently, two major companies manufacture rayon fiber for U.S. markets. British companies manufactures viscose rayon in short staple lengths and microfibers. Lenzing, based in Austria, produces viscose rayon, high wet modulus or polynosic rayon, microfibers, and long filament fibers which are used in linings and dress fabrics like taffeta. Lenzing is the only company currently manufacturing rayon in the United States. Overall, rayon is manufactured primarily in Europe and Japan.

Acetate
The first commercial textile uses for acetate in fiber form were developed by the Celanese Company in 1924.

In 1893, Arthur D. Little of Boston invented a cellulosic product called acetate. He developed it as a film.
By the year 1910, Camille and Henry Dreyfus started making acetate motion picture film and different toilet articles in Basel, Switzerland.
It was during World War I, they built a plant in England to produce cellulose acetate dope for airplane wings and other commercial products.
Upon entering the War, the United States invited the Dreyfus brothers to build a plant in Maryland to make the product for American warplanes.

Nylon
Nylon's advent created a revolution in the fiber industry. Rayon and acetate had been derived from plant cellulose, but nylon was synthesized completely from petrochemicals.

It established the basis for the ensuing discovery of an entire new world of manufactured fibers.
It was in the laboratory of American chemist Wallace Carothers that Nylon, the miracle fiber was born.
While working in the laboratories of the DuPont Company on giant molecules called polymers, Wallace focused his work on a fiber simply called as "66", which is a number derived from its molecular structure.

DuPont began commercial production of nylon in 1939. The first testing used nylon fiber as sewing thread, in the creation of parachute fabric, and also in women's hosiery. In February 1939, Nylon stockings were first shown at the San Francisco Exposition. During the World War II, nylon replaced Asian silk in parachutes. It also found use in tires, tents, ropes, ponchos, and other military supplies, and even was used in the production of a high-grade paper for U.S. currency.

Acrylic
In 1944, Acrylic was developed by DuPont and was first commercially produced in 1950.

Acrylonitrile, the substance from which acrylic fibers are produced, was first made in 1893 in Germany.
It was used as another chemical in research for the DuPont Company.
A new fiber, acrylic was added to the list of generic names, as DuPont began production of this wool-like product

It was at first used for outdoor purposes. While technology has allowed acrylic to come a long way, and it is now most commonly used in apparel and carpets. DuPont ceased production of acrylic in 1991, and only a handful of companies produce acrylic today.The growing demand for acrylic increase in so do the number of trade names for which acrylic is most known. Pil-Trol is just one of the many trade names of acrylic and was developed by Monsanto Chemical Company. It allows for the comfort and easy care of acrylic without the pilling. Pills are the little balls that form on fabric when fiber ends break and migrate to the surface. Pilling is a disadvantage of acrylic, but has been eliminated by the technology of Pil-Trol. Other trade names that describe acrylic include:

Acrilan
Acrilan Plus
Biofresh
Bounce-Back
Creslan
CresLoft
Duraspun
Fi-lana
Innova

MicroSafe
MicroSupreme
Salus
Sayelle
So-Lara
Smart Yarns
Ware-dated
WeatherBloc
Wintuck

Polyester
Polyester began as a group of polymers in W.H. Carothers' laboratory, the inventor of nylon fibers. Carothers was working for DuPont at the time when he discovered that alcohols and carboxyl acids could be successfully merged to create fibers.
Polyester was put on the back shelf once Carothers discovered nylon. In 1939, his work was resumed by a group of British scientists, J.R. Whinfield, J.T. Dickson, W.K. Birtwhistle, and C.G. Ritchie. In 1941, they successfully created the first polester fiber called Terylene. In 1946, DuPont bought all legal rights from them and came up with another polyester fiber which they named Dacron.

In 1951, Polyester was first introduced to the Americans.
It was advertised as a miracle fiber that could be worn for 68 days straight without ironing and it would still not wrinkle.

In 1958 another polyester fiber called Kodel was developed by Eastman Chemical Products, Inc.
Ever since, the polyester market has been growing. Since it is an inexpensive and durable fiber, small textile mills emerged all over US. Polyester reached a constant growth until the 1970s when sales drastically fell down due to the negative public image that came up during the late 60s as a result of the infamous polyester double-knit fabric! Today, polyester is still widely regarded as a "cheap, uncomfortable" fiber, but even now this image is slowly beginning to change with the emergence of polyester luxury fibers such as polyester microfiber.

Triacetate
In the year 1901, Arthur Eichengrün and Becker succeed in directly acetylating cellulose to triacetate at Farbenfabriken, formerly Friedr. Bayer & Co.

In 1954, Celanese launched Arnel triacetate filament yarn after overcoming significant technical barriers.
The first commercial production of triacetate fiber in the United States by the Celanese Corporation in 1954.
Arnel is made from triacetate fibers from purified wood cellulose which has been chemically bonded to acetyl
Domestic Triacetate production was discontinued in 1985.

Spandex
Spandex was invented in 1959, and when first introduced it revolutionized many areas of the clothing industry

It is the stretchable fiber of bathing suits and sports clothes, is stronger and more durable than rubber, its major plant competitor.
The first U.S. commercial spandex fiber production began in 1959 by the DuPont Company.
Spandex is an elastomeric man-made fiber (able to stretch at least 100% and snap back like natural rubber).
A well-known trademark for spandex or elastane is Invista's brand name Lycra; another trademark (also Invista's) is Elaspan.

Current U.S. spandex fiber producers: Invista; Bayer Corporation

Polyolefin/ Polypropylene
Polyolefin is a polymer.

In 1966, polyolefin became the world's first and only Nobel Prize-winning fiber due to its unique eualities. It can float and is abrasion-resistant.
It is a good insulator, dries very quickly and resists deterioration from chemicals and perspiration.
It is used mainly in furnishings and high performance activewear.In 1980, the production of polyolefin hollow fiber membranes started.

Lyocell
First produced in the US by Courtaulds Fibers , Lyocell was known by the trade name Tencel.

The first commercial production of lyocell began in the U.S. during 1993, by Courtaulds Fibers.
It is an environment friendly fiber,created from the wood pulp of trees.
It is processed using a solvent spinning technique in which the dissolving agent is recycled, reducing environment effluents.

Microfibers
Microfiber was introduced in 1986. Microfibers is a variety of polyester that has extremely thin filaments. As a synthetic it provides us with control over its supply. Microfibers is derived using technology and the result is to extrude extremely fine filaments (less than 1.0 denier) while maintaining all of the strength, uniformity and processing characteristics expected by textile manufacturers and consumers.

Microfiber as the sole constituent of a cloth will wear and shed fiber with use, so it is best utilized in combination with Nylon.
It is tough, resilient, and can be manufactured to extremely fine tolerances, many times thinner than other synthetics.
It is this strength, precision and absolute sheerness as well as its phenomenal absorbency that give rise to so many applications, including an amazing ability to clean and dry surfaces.
Microfiber yarns are now available for most major generic fibers. They can bring their outstanding performance to a wide variety of end uses.