Non traditional fibre source notes and reflection

Hemp
Man's oldest cultivated fibre, hemp is a versatile corp where every part has a use.
It has natural strength, UV resistance, thermal properties and suability.
This naturally renewable resource requires little agricultural assistance.
Hemp is now seen in denim and casual sports fabrics, interior and domestic textiles. In non-woven form it is used for the insulation in cars.

Banana fibre

Leaf fibres
A minority area as only a few plants have the necessary commercial attributes for economic fibre production.
Agave, pineapple and banana are sources of supply.
From naturally renewable resources, fibre are hard wearing and strong.
Uses include floor coverings, fibres for paper, accessories, shoes and ropes.
Textile that grows on trees. Bark cloth is the basis for a wide range of textiles and composites which are manufactured with low energy and water consumption, a carbon footprint less than zero.
Based on culturally aligned, socio-economically and ecologically suitable conditions, benefiting local villages in Uganda.
Once the bark is stripped from the tree, new bark grows in its place - a truly sustainable product.

Coir fibre

Seed Hair Fibre
Cotton is a commercial seed hair fibre. These are the more unusual sources.
Kapok has fine, light and silky short fibres, used for insulation and fibre filling.
Coir is hard wearing and abrasion resistant, used for floor coverings, geotextiles and ropes.
They are a natural renewable resource, and often grown in areas of limited agricultural potential.


Peat
Peat fibre is produced from organic plant remains found in Scandinavia peat bogs.
They have good thermal properties. UV resistant, are antistatic with natural antiseptic properties.
Fabrics have a warm woolen felted handle and are produced organically.
Used in woven and knitted fabrics for clothing, blankets, interior products and footwear.

Alginate
Produced from brown sea weed. alginate fibres have natural healing properties from the iodine content.
Blended with cellulose fibres, fabrics are used in underwear that imparts anti-inflammatory and antiseptic benefits to the skin.
In medical applications, non woven alginate fibres hasten blood clotting and encourage healing on damaged skin.
They are used as non-woven hum and skin dressings.

Micrograph of tissue paper

Paper fibre
Paper fibres come from the renewable resources of pine tress, cotton, rice and abaca, a form of banana plant.
Recent developments in Japan have introduced paper content fabrics with a  softer handle.
With a high strength and good light fastness, fibres are recyclable and biodegradable.
Used also for accessories and floor-covrings.

Latex
Latex is considered by some to be a more natural fibre because it is manufactured from the milky white latex fluid collected from the rubber tree.
A rubber tree will produce latex for at least 40 years and yield enough latex to make 10 par of latex gloves per week.
A growing problem is skin sensitivity to naturally derived latex.
Can also be prodded from synthetic material.
Per 1960 used for stretch garments and waterproofs, but is non breathable.

Man- made synthetic polymers
Polyethylene, PVC, polypropylene and polyurethane are all forms of synthetics from non renewable oil-based resources.
All have properties of high strength, can be heat set, and provide a wide variety of different products for industrial, medical, sports, and medical textiles.
Fibre and products can be recycled.

Bio-fibre
Biotechnology is an exciting area, gaining much attention at the moment.
Dextrose from plants can create a fibre with an environmentally acceptable life cycle, new PLA bio-plastic materials.
Starch from plant material such as maize, potatoes or sugar beet can be used.
Thus the fibre has an acceptable cradle to cradle lifecycle and could replace some synthetics.
A silk like fibre produced from the casein in milk
Waste/spoiled milk is used, turning it into a profitable bi-product.
Has good skin-frinedly properties, is absorbent and blends well with other fibres.
Is soft to the touch, with good fluidity and drape.
Creating protein materials that can think, respond and take action.
Silk type fibre from the honey bee is 100x finer than human hair, skin friendly and biodegradable.
Aiming to create dissolvable wound dressings that can sense the state of the wound and respond accordingly.
Linking teams of biologists with textile engineers and medical professionals.

Growing Fabrics
An alternative to exploiting pereo-chenicals or plants as a raw material for textile products.
Bio-couture work investigates the use of microbes to grow a textile /leather type bio material.
The aim is to produce an entire garment to fit a personalized form.
Take dye easily and can be printed
Safe to compost- feel like a vegetable leather.

High-tech fibre
The fineness and flexibility of fibre optic yarns has allowed a growth in their use in many different area.
Both in woven, and knitted constructions and embroidery.
Can be purely aesthetic with color and pattern change, but also enabling response, interaction and increased functionality.
Can link with other wireless communication.


//reference//
http://us.naturespath.com/sites/default/files/styles/page_main/public/page/hemp_0.jpg
http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/07/41107-004-32AA668A.jpg
http://www.coimbatoregrandexport.com/images/buy_coconut_fibre.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PaperAutofluorescence.jpg
http://sblanchard7.weebly.com/uploads/7/3/4/5/7345784/651313149.jpg
http://students.egfi-k12.org/high-tech-textiles/