Brief presentation on the journey of fibers to fabric

1. Fibers to fabric
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Dr. Madhava B Mallia
Navi Mumbai Science Foundation
Guidance session for Homi Bhabha Bal Vaidnyanik
Competition

2. Story of fiber
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Cotton fabric Cotton fabric under microscope
Single yarn of cotton under
microscope
Single fiber of cotton under
microscope

3. 3
Single fiber of cotton fabric under microscope
C6H12O6
Glucose
Polymer
Many part
Monomer

4. Source of fibers
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Natural fibers Synthetic fibers
Plant fibers Animal fibers
cotton Jute
coir
Wool
Silk

5. Cotton facts
• Cotton obtained from cotton plant
• Black soil and warm climate is best for
growing cotton
• Separation of cotton seeds from cotton
fibers is called ginning
• Ginning can be done by hand or by
machine
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6. Jute facts
• Jute is obtained from the stem of jute
plant
• Jute plant is harvested when it is in
flowering stage
• Stems of jute plant immersed in water,
where they rot, and then fibers are
separated by hand
• West Bengal, Bihar and Assam are the
jute producing states of India
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7. Wool facts
• Obtained from fleece (hair) of sheep, goat, yak, camel, etc.
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Sheep Yak Goat
Camel Angora Goat
J & K
Pashmina shawls
Llama
South America
Alpaca

8. Obtaining wool
• Shearing
– Removal of fleece (hair) from the animal
• Scouring
– Cleaning of fleece
• Sorting
– Separation of different type of hairs
• Dying
– Application of coloring the fibers
• Converting to yarn (wool)
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9. Silk facts
• Rearing of silk worms is called Sericulture
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Silk larva loves mulberry leaves!!

10. Obtaining silk
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Boiling cocoon to obtain silk fibers

11. Fiber to yarn
• Spinning
– The process of converting fiber to yarn
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Takli
Spinning with Takli Spinning with Charkha Industrial spinning machines

12. Yarn to fabric
• Weaving
– The process of converting yarn to fabric
• Loom
– The machine used for weaving
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Handloom Industrial loom

13. Knitting
• Knitting
– When a fabric is woven from a single yarn
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