The third edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines fabric as this:
“A cloth produced especially by knitting, weaving or felting [matting/compressing fiber into felt] fibers.”
It defines fibers as:
“A natural or synthetic filament , as of cotton or nylon, capable of being spun into yarn.”
This definition leaves a lot of room for what exactly fabric is. Maybe when someone says “fabric,” you think of bolts of brightly patterned cloth in WalMart, but fabric weaves in and out of our society and civilization.
Without fiber, Edison would not have been able to invent the lightbulb. He used carbon fiber filaments and finally a fiber filament derived from bamboo.
Without fabric, bandages and field dressings would not exist. The seats of your vehicle would not be as comfortable or plush if they were not made with fabric.
Fiber is used all around us.
Natural
Natural fibers, such as cotton, flax, wool and silk, exist in nature. They are taken from a plant, shorn from an animal, or, in the case of silk, are a worm’s coccoon, and spun into yarn. The yarn is then knitted or woven into cloth.
Synthetic
Synthetic fibers are a relatively new technology – whereas natural fiber production is a very old technology (roughly 7000 years old). Rayon is the first successful, commercially viable man-made fiber, developed by the American Viscose Company in 1910. People had created synthetic filaments prior to this; however, they were not very successful in creating cloth with the filaments.
Getting the best of both worlds, or Having your cake and eating it too!
While there are natural fibers and synthetic fibers, quite often the two are blended together. Blending takes advantage of the ideal properties of both fibers and enhances the performance and aesthetic quality of your garment.
For example, cotton is a natural fiber that breathes and is very comfortable; it is also a fiber that retains color fairly well and requires some maintenance and care. Polyester is a synthetic fiber that does not have the breathable properties of cotton; however, it retains its color and shape very well, without requiring a great deal of maintenance. When you blend polyester and cotton together, you get a fabric with a softer feel than polyester, a longer lasting color than cotton, more breathability than polyester, and easier care requirements than cotton.
Your fabric apparel item is made up of thousands of fibers, either woven, knitted or felted. It’s been cut and sewn together … however, it’s the properties of the individual fibers that help determine if your uniform shirt is soft, breathable, moisture-wicking (moves moisture off of your body), crisp and/or retains its shape and color.
Learn even more about Fabrics. Continue on or click any of the links below to go directly to that topic.
