Flax High strength fiber-stronger when wet Rotates in s direction Good moisture absorption Wrinkles badly Flax preparation

tion Pulled, not cut to keep fibers long Rippling, seed removal by drawing through a comb Retting- decompose pectin and gums that hold fibers together and free them from the woody portions of the stem Dew retting Stream or pond retting Tank retting Braking Pounding to free fiber from woody stems-free inner layers Scotching or swingling After drying, woody portions removed by scotching; crushing the outer stalks Hackling Combing the fibers into parallel arrangement Flax fiber names Tow-short fibers Line-long fibers- better quality Linen is the term for the cloth made from the fiber or the yarn spun from flax Flax is the term for the plant and the fibers prepared for spinning. Ancient areas of flax cultivation Egypt o Samples form 4500 BC o Made different grades of cloth o High status cloth 500 threads to the inch o Symbol of divine light and purity o Exported for sails Assyria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia Used frequently in Europe from roman Most important plant fiber for the Middle Ages

A seed hair fiber Holds moisture for the germination of the seed One seed=20,000 fibers One boll (fruit of the plant= 150,000 fibers Fiber is like a straw with center canal; this collapses upon drying and fiber twists in Z direction since fibers are so short the spindle is supported to prevent the yarn from pulling apart. Naturally a white fiber than flax or wool Naturally pigmented varieties in peru and North America Browns, greens, mauve, lilac, orange Fox fibre- green=verde, brown=buffalo o Developed by sally fox Archeological evidence for India-2500 BC Old World Variety Peru-3000 BC Old World Variety Spread as trade object and later the plants and industry Documented in Annals of Assyrian king and Babylonia in 700 BC Greeks used cotton 323-30 BC Rome 71 BC Difficult to spin on a Saxony wheel Flax dominates in Europe prior to Industrial Revolution which began in late 1700s

Cotton

Mixture Fabric - Fusitan Cloth made from linen warp and cotton filling Arabs conquered Spain in 9th CAD and introduced cotton cultivation with Granada and Catalonia known for high quality fabrics of fustian type 18th century saw rise of 100% cotton fibers

Wool Hair fiber from sheep, goats, camels and dogs Archeological evidence Swiss lake dwellers 8000-7000 BC Uplands of northern Iraq 9000 BC Northwest Iran 7000 BC Palestine and Turkey 6,000 BC Sumeria-sheep raising a major industry by 35000-3000 BC Shears were not known until Iron age 1000 BC Before shears were known hair was plucked with comb device or stone knife Wool- guard hair and inner or soft hair Sheep were one of first animals to be domesticated and bred to have predominance of inner coat Different breeds vary in length size crimp and color of fiber Scales along exterior surface allow the fiber to felt or form a fabric without form forming yarn and weaving. Wool preparation In the grease-means not washing away the lanolin from the fiber Scoured with cleaning agents to remove grease (desert people used sand) Picked-beaten with stick to open fiber clumps Carding-wooden paddles with teeth to straighten Combing- removal of short fibers for smoother yarns and resultant thinner fabric o Found in higher quality goods? Spinning-imparting twist on the fibers to form continuous strand; not directional, so s or z Mesopotamia land of the wool first place where sheep were domesticated 2000 BC tablets of Ur reported flocks of black and white sheep, 127 slave girls and 30 children working wool and 165 women and girls weaving Greece- 5000 BC wool major fiber for home production (made at home) Scythians 500 BC- on stepped of Eurasia making felt appliques for tent hangings, horse trappings, and pile rugs and 230 knots per inch

Rome expert breeders of sheep developed ancestor of Spanish merino sheep over 300 mills Fulleries-controlled shrinkage of cloth and made softer Medieval times Trade expanded Flanders the leader exporter of fine wool England William the conqueror brought in weavers First guild 1080 (also many in Florence) By 1200, more wool grown than any other country in Europe 1600 competitive in fine wool cloth Silk Protein fiber- weaker when wet (also wool) Secretion of Bombyx mori moth Controlled diet of mulberry leaves will yield white fiber Wild or Tussah silk Feed on other leaves, shades of brown and light green Tradition found by Chinese princess Si-Ling Chi on 2700 BC 2000 BC Lung Shan established silk trade only natural filament fiber strong comfortable and lustrous cultivation of the silkworm is sericulture sericin is the gummy substance secreted with filament to form cocoon

Silk Preparation reeling-pulling the filament from cocoon after softening in boiling water one filament 300 yards long to 1,000 yards long throwing- slight twisting operation to hold several filaments together o s or z twist o different amounts of twist will create different fabrics China had monopoly for centuries Han dynasty used silk as medium of exchange and used by all classes, developed the silk road linking China to India to Syria and Asia Minor Japan learned the secret of silk sericulture in 200 AD