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There was a time—and it wasn’t that long ago, historically speaking—when what we call “natural” fibers were the only fibers. Wool, cotton, flax, silk, for the most part. These were (and still are) amazing fibers for covering a range of textile demands.
Then, less than 100 years ago, “Nylon” was introduced. You have to admit it was an amazing innovation, earning lasting importance in fiber markets. Polyester followed a few years later, and we all know about its impact at the time – never mind all the iterations of it ever since.
A range of manufactured fibers followed, with all manner of blends for making clothing more comfortable, less wrinkled and water resistant. High-strength, fire resistance and other demanding functionalities were addressed, too, including developing materials that made it possible for a human being to walk on the face of the moon.
So, what happened to our old favorites?
They’re still here, but a while back I did a blog post that mentioned my frustration with finding clothing and other textile products that were made from cotton, wool and linen. I became experienced at feeling a fabric and guessing fairly accurately its fiber content without looking at the tag. I prowled thrift shops for 100 percent cotton flannel – and found it!
Why? Because I liked the way it felt, laundered and stood up to wear. I liked wool socks for skiing that were still warm when they got wet. I liked linens for hot summer weather and silk for beautiful scarves. And cotton sheets.
But I work in the high-tech end of the industry, covering emerging markets and new innovations, so how is this a fit? It is and it isn’t. We don’t cover retail fashion, for example. But fibers are fibers, and protective workwear still has to be comfortable, breathable, washable, durable, and safe for human use. Smart textile wearables – same thing. Lots of textiles and fibrous materials are used in lots of products you know about but may not realize their important contributions.
Engineered textiles have taken over many applications, largely because of their versatility—and they are often less expensive to produce. But they have a drawback that’s starting to have more meaning to more consumers and producers: they can carry environmental risks that natural fibers (wool, cotton, flax, silk) do not.
That brings us to our features this month. Debra Cobb has created a two-part article titled, “Rediscovering natural fibers’ technical prowess.” It discusses an impressive list of new developments in natural fiber technologies. In fact, new uses have been found for natural fibers for some time, but it was usually through a treatment or coating that gave the material a functionality it didn’t inherently have, such as water (or oil) repellency.
This concept has been taken to another level in the effort to take sustainability concerns much more seriously than in the past. But I’ll let our writer do the talking on this. It’s really worth the read.
Janet Preus is senior editor of Textile Technology Source. She can be reached at janet.preus@textiles.org.