Current Affairs 6th Class

Category : 6th Class

                                                              Fibre to Fabric

Fibre to Fabric

We use clothes for making variety of things like shirts, pants, skirts, sarees, uniforms, bed sheets, blankets, curtains, table cloths, towels, school bags, gunny bags, etc. So clothes are very important for us. In this chapter we will study about different types of fibres.

Clothes: Clothes are fabrics which are made up of yarns and in turn yarns are made up of fibres.

Fibres: Fibres are very thin, thread-like strand from which clothes are made up of.

Yarns: Yarns are made up of fibres. Fibres are turned into long twisted thread by the process of spinning called yarns.

Fabrics: Yarns are woven together to make fabrics. Then fabrics are used to prepare different types of clothes like shirts, pants, bags, etc.

Types of Fibres

There are two types of fibres: natural fibres and synthetic fibres.

Natural Fibres

The fibres which are obtained from natural sources are called natural fibres. Cotton, wool, silk, flax, and jute are the examples of natural fibres.

Cotton

We obtain cotton fibres from cotton plants. Seeds of cotton plants are covered with white, soft cotton fibres. Cotton fibres are separated from seeds by hands or machines.

The preparation of clothes or fabrics from cotton wools or cotton fibres involves mainly three processes which are as follows:

Ginning: The process of separating cotton wool from the cotton seeds is called ginning.

Spinning: The cotton fibres from cotton wool are drawn out and twisted to make yarns. This process is called spinning.

Weaving: In the process of weaving two distinct sets of yarns are interlaced at right angles to form a cloth. Cotton is mainly used to make clothes as it is soft and comfortable to wear. Cotton clothes let air in and can absorb sweat, therefore, very useful specially in hot and humid weather.

Wool

Wool fibres are obtained from the hair of animals like sheep, goat, rabbit, yak and camel. Wool is cut off from the sheep with a thin layer of skin. The process is known as shearing. After shearing the wool is sent to the mills. Where it is cleaned, combed and spun to make fibre. This fibre is then woven or knitted to make wool clothes.

Wool is used for knitting sweaters, shawls and other wool clothes. Wool is a fluffy material and can retain air inside it, therefore, woolen clothes are very useful in winter season.

Silk

Silk fibres are obtained from silk worms. Caterpillars of silkworms cover themself from silk fibres called cocoon. The cocoon is boiled in water to separate the silk fibres from the silkworms. The process is known as reeling. Further the obtained silk fibres twisted to obtain silk yarns then silk yarns are woven to make silk clothes.

The rearing of silkworm for the production of silk fibres is called sericulture.

Jute

Jute fibres are obtained from the stem of jute plants. Jute plants are cultivated in rainy season. After 4-5 months of sowing, the jute plants are harvested when they are at flowering stage. Then stem of jute plants are immersed in water for about 20 days. As a result jute stem rot and fibres are separated out. The fibres are collected from water by hand and dried for 2-3 days. Now the fibres are used to make different types of articles like ropes, jute bags, carpets, etc.

Jute fibres are long, soft and shiny. They are used for making ropes, mats, etc.

Synthetic Fibres

Synthetic fibres are artificial fibres or man-made fibres. Nylon and polyester are the examples of synthetic fibres. Synthetic fibres are prepared in industries from chemical substances. Melted plastic is forced through a device containing fine holes called a spinneret. The melted plastic passes through the holes and emerged out into long threads. The threads are cooled, solidified and twisted together to make fibres. Further the fibres are used to make synthetic cloth.

The synthetic fibres are very strong, therefore, clothes made up of synthetic fibres lasts for a longer time.