Types of Fabric play a crucial role in society, as it provides numerous numbers of benefits to society. This acts as a vital component as the raw material used in the production or manufacturing of garments for all the civilians present within the society. The quality of fabrics tends to influence the quality of the materials used in making the garments. The quality of the garments also changes in the aspects of texture, and smoothness. Fabrics are widely used for a massive range of production purposes.
Humans come across various kinds of fabrics on a daily basis. Fabrics are composed of quite long as well as larger wide sections of fibres with long strands of threads. However, fabrics are segregated into two different types involve synthetic and natural fabrics. Those have been derived from both natural as well as synthetic resources. Fabrics provide massive benefits to civilians as it proves to tear are quite flexible in nature and are easy in recycling and can be as well reused.
Two major types of fabrics are found mostly used by humans; however, it is completely based on the sources of fibres they are produced from.
Figure 1: Types of fibre leading to the formation of Fabrics
Jan Široky, Barbora Široka and Thomas Bechtold, Classification of textile fibers, CC BY 3.0
Natural fabric is manufactured with the help of natural fibres. On the other hand, the synthetic fabrics are made out of man-made sources of fabrics. A categorisation has been provided in the above image that states the natural fibres are predominantly sourced from plants, animals as well as minerals. On contrary, man-made fibres are sourced from natural polymers such as milk fibres, as well as from synthetic source namely, acrylic, nylon and many more.
Natural fabrics are derived from natural sources. For example, natural fabrics are collected from fibres, such as; cotton is collected from the cotton plant. More to this, silk is sourced from silkworm cocoons.
Figure 2: Various sources of natural fabrics
Natural fabrics, such as; cotton are made from plucking of seeds and thereafter spun. The image of the cotton plant is shown in the image above. Wool is quite a common natural fabric used from fibres are collected from sheep.
Synthetic fabrics are majorly manufactured from various chemicals are man-made or artificial in nature. Some of its types are rayon and nylon.
These are predominantly made from synthetic fibres where cellulose is synthesized. These fabrics are quite durable in nature and highly versatile in their usages.
The natural fabrics are different from synthetic fabrics based on certain crucial factors. However, these include the factors such as; natural fibres differ in the aspect of warmth due to the little crips present within this fabric, whereas, synthetic or man-made fabrics do not cater to such qualities. Breathability is another vital notion quite noticeable in cotton as it supports the circulation of air. Moreover, natural fibres show strength with its strong layer of binding of threads. The man-made fabrics are durable in nature such as; polyester and spandex.
The other qualities that create a difference between natural and synthetic fabrics are, dying aspects, where linen seems to be the best as it does not fade away as easily as other fabrics does. The qualities such as; softness or scratchiness are also shown by wool and by the fabrics such as; silks. Lustre and elasticity are the two significant properties are responsible for creating a difference among natural and synthetic fabrics. Other property, such as absorption helps in segregating of both fabrics.
Valid importance is noticed for the uses of fabrics as it is quite beneficial in various usages. The fibres are quite luxurious and provide a feeling of upscale. The fabrics are rich as well as intense in colour. Fabrics provide a wide variety of selection in their usages to humans depending on their purpose of usage. Fabrics are lightweight, reusable, and flexible in nature. Moreover, fabrics are tearing proof as well as these materials are easy to transport and storage purposes.
In this tutorial, the focus has been given on exploring what fabrics are and discussion has been conducted on their sources. It is noticed that natural fabrics are derived from natural sources whereas; synthetic fabrics are derived from chemical sources. More to this it is noticed that fabrics are quite essential as well as beneficial to mankind.
Q1. What are the main types of fabric found mostly used by humans?
Ans. The main types of fabric that are found to be mostly used by humans include both natural as well as synthetic fabrics. The natural fabrics used involve, materials like wool, silk, cotton, linen which are derived from animals, silkworms, and plants like; flax and cotton. On the other hand, synthetic fabrics consist of nylon, rayon, acrylic, spandex, and polyesters are man-made.
Q2. What can be defined as fabrics?
Ans. Fabrics are defined as long and quite wider strands in the area of cross-section and are made up of fibres. These fibres are made up from sources of both natural as well as synthetic. Humans originally use natural sources for their wearable clothes other synthetic fibres are made out of chemicals.
Q3. What are the two ways used by humans to make fibres?
Ans. Two ways are used by humans to produce fibre; the first one is the process of dissolving the element of cellulose found in plants cell walls and reformed into threads. Secondly, it is made up from oil through the synthesis of cellulose.
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