Rayon Fabrics- A Comparison with Other Fabrics

The generalized classification of textile fibers are done as natural fibers and man made synthetic fibers. However, not all manmade fibers are synthetic fibers. Rayon fiber one of such manmade fibers. The two categories of cellulose fibers- rayon and acetate are man made rather than synthetic because they are manufactured by using natural materials like cotton linters and wood pulp instead of using chemical elements.

Types of Rayon
There are two types of rayons- viscose rayon and high-wet-modulus (HWM) rayon, categorized on the basis of two principal methods of making rayon. Whatever the method used for making rayons, they are essentially made from cotton linter or wood pulp usually obtained from pine, spruce, or hemlock trees. Cotton linter is the residue cotton fiber which cling to cotton seed after the ginning process.
Wood chips or cotton fibers are used to make viscose solution, which is forced through a spinneret into sulfuric acid to produce cellulose filaments. After extrusion from spinneret, the viscose rayon fibers are processed to make filament or spun staple yarns through various spinning processes, such as Pot Spinning, Spool Spinning, and Continuous Spinning. Different varieties of yarns such as monofilament yarns, multifilament yarns, spun yarns etc. are made that are further woven into a wide variety of fabrics. Spun rayon yarns can be used for making fabrics similar to cotton, linen or wool. Rayon filament yarns can make fabrics like silk. Various finishes are also applied to these fabrics that give numerous properties to viscose rayon

Properties of Rayon- A Comparison with Other Fabrics
Strength: The tensile strength of viscose rayon is greater than wool but only about half as great as that of silk.
Elasticity: Viscose rayon has greater elasticity than cotton or linen but less than wool or silk.
Resilience: Viscose rayon lack the resilience like that of wool and silk and creases readily. However, resistance to creasing depends on the kind of yarn, weave and finishing process. For instance, extremely fine filaments used in multifilament rayons and any crepe surface produced by tightly twisted yarns have greater resistance to creasing.
Drapability: Viscose rayon have a good quality of drapability as it is a relatively heavyweight fabric.
Heat Conductivity: Viscose rayon is a good conductor of heat and thus is appropriate for summer clothing.
Absorbency: Viscose rayon is one of the most absorbent fabrics, more absorbent than cotton or linen. Only wool and silk exceed rayon in absorbency.
Shrinkage: Viscose rayon fabrics tend to shrink more than cotton fabrics of similar construction. Spun Viscose rayon fabrics shrink more with repeated laundering than fabrics made of the filament yarns.
Washability: Viscose rayon fiber, due to its smoothness, produces such fabric that sheds dirt. Some of them wash easily. Finishes given to them decides whether they'll become yellow on washing or dry cleaning. Since viscose rayon temporarily loses strength when wet, it must be handled with care when washed.

Recycle Textile Waste-Be Eco-friendly

What can be more noble than turning our waste into another person’s resource. Just think over for a while, what do you do with your old clothing? Are they still stacked on your cupboard rack or have they ended up in landfill or incinerator? You'll be amazed to know that around 11.9 million tons of textile waste or 4.7% of total municipal solid waste (MSW) was generated in 2007 in the USA! What happens to this textile waste? There's a full fledged textile recycling industry that takes care of this waste.

Textile Wastes and Their Recycling

There are two types of textile wastes. The apparel, clothing & garments and other forms of textiles coming from household sources is the post-consumer waste and the textile waste arising during yarns and fabric manufacturing or apparel-making processes is the post-industrial waste. The post-consumer waste is collected by many nonprofit organizations through door-to-door pickup within or otherwise municipal or county programs. Few people also go out of their way to make a drop off at the charitable organizations. Some counties collect used textiles with curbside recyclables pickup at regular intervals. Clothes are often given to the homeless, sold in charity shops or in developing countries. The un-wearable items are sold to merchants to be recycled and used as wiping cloths. Unsold and un-wearable clothing is sold as raw materials to textile recycling plants. Post industrial waste is generally reprocessed inhouse. Clippings from apparel manufacture are also used by fiber reclaimers to make garments, felts and blankets. Fashion designers also sometimes use recovered items for making garments and bags but this is on a very small scale.

Benefits of Textile Recycling
Textile recycling gives both, environmental and economic benefits. It avoids pollution occurring from energy intensive processes used to make textiles from new raw materials. Also the need for landfill space is reduced as also the pressure on new resources. Fibers are locally available so they don't have to be transported from abroad thus reducing pollution and saving energy once again. The textile waste doesn't have to be re-dyed or scoured and as such there is reduced consumption of chemicals and energy. Additionally waste water is also reduced as they don't have to be thoroughly washed with large volumes of water.

Contribute to Textile Recycling
Donate clothes to a textile bank or charitable organizations working for textile recycling. You can also take used clothing to local charity shops. Give old clothes, shoes, curtains, handbags etc. to jumble sales. Remember to tie shoes together. Buy second-hand clothes, preferably from a charity shop. Buy items that you are likely to wear for a long time – you need not sacrifice fashion, just choose carefully. Look for recycled contents in the apparels you buy. See the label. Buy wiping cloths instead of disposable paper products as it can be used repeatedly.

Global Textile Chemicals Industry – Trends and Demands

Textile Industry is an important segment of any economy. Apart from other things, textile chemicals have a significant role in its development. In the recent times, this industry has seen a dynamic change. The global demand patterns have altered. Now more and more environmental friendly alternatives of harsh chemicals are required by the textile manufacturers and suppliers. In the view of recession and otherwise also, the chemical manufacturers are in need of cost effective methods for production of textile chemicals. As such, many innovations have been introduced that have introduced new products and also improved the existing ones.

Market Trends of Textile Chemicals Industry
Before moving onto the product specific demands in the textile chemical industry, its better to know the recent market trends. The worldwide demand for textile chemicals is estimated to rise 2.8 % per year to $19 billion by 2012. Among the textile chemicals, colorants and auxiliaries are predicted to rise at a faster pace globally. Most of the chemicals will be consumed by two countries- India and China. However, other countries all over the world too, are showing improvement in their investments related to textile industry.

Demand of Textile Chemicals and Auxiliaries
Due to the demand of eco-friendly textiles and products along with legislation on health, safety and environment, new technologies are increasingly coming up in the field of textile chemicals. Polymers for technical textiles, have made most of the advance in recent past due to the fact that fibers made out of them posses semiconductor capabilities and thus have a strong growth potential. Apart from polymers, new coatings, laminates and binder systems are also developing as they add value to the end products. Textile wet processing chemicals which assist in lowering the cost of textile chemical production
are also in much demand. Chemicals are now preferably provided in bulk or semi-bulk containers thus avoiding the cost involved in drums and drum disposal.

It seems that the demands made from textile chemical industry has a clear direction. It is driven by the emphasis put on lower cost of production and environmental safety.

Soft, Durable, Eco Friendly Bamboo Fiber!

The bamboo fiber is obtained from the pulp of bamboo plants. It is an eco-friendly fiber just like the banana fiber. It is fast becoming the choice of fashion designers due to its popular demand. Lets see why bamboo fiber is making way into the fashion circles and wardrobes of fashion conscious people.

Bamboo fiber is a complete package- it is anti-bacterial, UV protective, green & biodegradable, breathable & cool, strong, flexible, soft and has a luxurious shiny appearance. It can be softer than even silk when spun into yarn and with its microscopic round surface, it becomes very smooth and sit perfectly next to the skin without clinging. Apart from this, it has a good drapability that attracts designers to make fashion clothings from it.
Bamboo fabric has a fantastic absorption ability that evaporates sweat very quickly. In fact, it is 3-4 times more absorbent than cotton fabrics. These fabrics are highly breathable in hot weather and also keeps you warmer in cold season.

The most useful feature of bamboo fabric is its natural antibacterial, antifungal and anti-static nature. This is due to bacteriostasis bio-agent named "bamboo kun" which bonds tightly with bamboo cellulose molecules during the normal process of bamboo fiber growth. It not only makes bamboo fabric germ free but also odor free.

However, all these benefits results only when bamboo fiber is produced mechanically and not chemically. We come to know the bamboo facts only when we analyze how the processing of this fiber affects the qualities of the fabric. Chemical processing uses solvents that destroy most of its characteristics and also affect environment and plant workers. The mechanical processing, although more expensive and time consuming, retains its eco-friendly properties.
So, whenever, we opt for bamboo fiber, we must ensure that it is organically processed. Even if we have to pay a little more, we are contributing to our good health and better environment in the long run.