Interior design
Natural Fabrics
Natural fibres are greatly elongated
substances produced by plants and
animals that can be spun into
filaments, thread or rope.
Plant fibres
• Abaca
• Coir
• Cotton
• Flax
• Hemp
• Ramie
• Sisal
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Animal fibres
Alpaca Wool
Angora Wool
Camel hair
Cashmere
Mohair
Silk
Wool
Why natural fibres?
A healthy choice
Most synthetic fibres
cannot match the "breathability" of
natural fibre textiles, which creates
natural ventilation
A responsible choice
By choosing natural
fibres, we can contribute to the
economies of developing countries
and help fight hunger and rural
poverty
A sustainable choice
Renewable and carbon
neutral, natural fibres leave residues
that can be used to generate
electricity. And they are 100%
biodegradable
• A high-tech choice
•
Fibres that give strength
and stability to plants are
being incorporated in an
ever widening range of
industrial products
• A fashionable choice
•
Eco-conscious designers
offer “carbon neutral”
collections that strive for
sustainability at every stage
of their garments’ life cycle
Natural fibres
Alpaca
Soft and dense, or lustrous and silky,
alpaca is used to make high-end
luxury fabrics and outdoor sports
clothing
Huacayo alpacas produce
soft, dense, short fibres, while the
fleece of the rarer suri is lustrous, silky
and straight. Alpaca blends well with
wool, mohair and silk.
Uses of alpaca
For spinning yarns for
fashion applications.
The primary end use is
knitwear, but it is also woven into
cloth for clothing, accessories - such as
shawls and stoles - and rugs.
Natural fibres
Camel
The best quality camel yarn is
produced by nomadic households in
Mongolia (above) and Inner Mongolia,
China, where women spin the
collected hair on drop spindles. Other
significant producers are Afghanistan
and Iran.
Uses of camel hair
In Mongolia, camel hair is
used by nomadic herders to make
yurts , winter clothing and carpets.
Exported yarns are used
for production of a wide range of
garments - overcoats, suits, coats,
blazers, jackets and sweaters - and
winter accessories such as gloves, caps
and scarves.
Since it is a premium fibre, camel hair
is usually blended with wool to make it
more economical. Nylon is sometimes
used with virgin quality camel hair in
hosiery and other knitted products,
while camel/cashmere blends are
targeted at the luxury market.
Natural fibres
Coir
A coarse, short fibre extracted from
the outer shell of coconuts, coir is
found in ropes, mattresses, brushes,
geotextiles and automobile seats
Coir is extracted from the tissues
surrounding the seed of the coconut
palm (Cocos nucifera), which is grown
on 10 million ha of land throughout
the tropics. There are two types of
coir: brown fibre, which is obtained
from mature coconuts, and finer white
fibre, which is extracted from
immature green coconuts after
soaking for up to 10 months.
The fibre
Coir fibres measure up to 35 cm in
length with a diameter of 12-25
microns. Among vegetable fibres, coir
has one of the highest concentrations
of lignin, making it stronger but less
flexible than cotton and unsuitable for
dyeing. The tensile strength of coir is
low compared to abaca, but it has
good resistance to microbial action
and salt water damage.
Uses of coir
White coir spun into yarn is used in
the manufacture of rope (at left) and,
thanks to its strong resistance to salt
water, in fishing nets
Brown coir is used in sacking, brushes,
doormats, rugs, mattresses, insulation
panels and packaging. In Europe, the
automobile industry upholsters cars
with pads of brown coir bonded with
rubber latex.
Geotextiles made from coir mesh (at
left) are durable, absorb water, resist
sunlight, facilitate seed germination,
and are 100% biodegradable.
Natural fibres
Flax
One of nature's strongest vegetable
fibres, flax was also one of the first to
be extracted, spun and woven into
textiles
Flax fibres obtained from the stems of
the plant Linum usitatissimum are
used mainly to make linen.
In Poland, a hectare of flax plants
yields 1.5 to 3.5 tonnes of fibre.
The leading producers of flax fibre are
France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Other significant producers are China,
Belarus and the Russian Federation.
Uses of flax
Fine and regular long flax
fibres are spun into yarns for linen
textiles. More than 70% of linen goes
to clothing manufacture, where it is
valued for its exceptional coolness in
hot weather - the legendary linen suit
is a symbol of breezy summer
elegance.
Linen fabric maintains a
strong traditional niche among high
quality household textiles - bed linen,
furnishing fabrics, and interior
decoration accessories.
Shorter flax fibres
produce heavier yarns suitable for
kitchen towels, sails, tents and canvas.
Lower fibre grades are used as
reinforcement and filler in
thermoplastic composites and
thermoset resins used in automotive
interior substrates, furniture and other
consumer products.
Natural fibres
Jute
The strong threads made from jute
fibre are used worldwide in sackcloth
- and help sustain the livelihoods of
millions of small farmers
Jute is extracted from the bark of the
white jute plant, Corchorus capsularis
and to a lesser extent from tossa jute
(C. olitorius). It flourishes in tropical
lowland areas with humidity of 60% to
90%. A hectare of jute plants
consumes about 15 tonnes of carbon
dioxide and releases 11 tonnes of
oxygen. Yields are about 2 tonnes of
dry jute fibre per hectare.
Bangladesh and West Bengal in India
the world's main jute producers, with
Myanmar and Nepal producing much
smaller quantities.
Uses of jute
During the Industrial
Revolution, jute yarn largely replaced flax
and hemp fibres in sackcloth. Today,
sacking still makes up the bulk of
manufactured jute products.
Jute yarn and twines are
also woven into curtains, chair coverings,
carpets, rugs and backing for linoleum.
Blended with other fibres, it is used in
cushion covers, toys, wall hangings, lamp
shades and shoes. Very fine threads can
be separated out and made into imitation
silk
Jute is being used
increasingly in rigid packaging and
reinforced plastic and is replacing wood
in pulp and paper.
Geotextiles made from jute
are biodegradable, flexible, absorb
moisture and drain well. They are used to
prevent soil erosion and landslides
Natural fibres
Ramie
Not widely known outside the East
Asian countries that produce it, ramie
is lightweight, silky and made for
summer
Native to East Asia and commonly
known as China grass, ramie
(Boehmeria nivea) is a flowering plant
of the nettle family. Its bark has been
used for millennia to make twine and
thread, and spun as grass-cloth.
The ramie plant is grown for fibre
mainly in China, Brazil, the Lao PDR
and the Philippines. While it is
considered a promising "ecological"
fibre for use in textiles, fibre extraction
and cleaning is difficult and labourintensive.
Uses of ramie
Coarse ramie fibres are
suitable for making twine, rope and
nets. Wet-spun, it produces a fine yarn
with high lustre (at left), suitable for a
wide range of garments, ranging from
dresses to jeans.
Fabrics of 100% ramie are
lightweight and silky, similar in
appearance to linen. The Korean
traditional costume, the ramie hanbok
(at right), is renowned for its fineness
However, since it has low
elasticity and resilience, ramie is
usually blended with other textile
fibres. It increases the lustre and
strength of cotton fabric and reduces
shrinkage in wool blends. It is also
blended with silk.
Natural fibres
Sisal
Too coarse for clothing and
upholstery, sisal is replacing glass
fibres in composite materials used to
make cars and furniture
Sisal fibre is obtained from Agave
sisalana, a native of Mexico. The hardy
plant grows well in a variety of hot
climates, including dry areas
unsuitable for other crops. After
harvest, its leaves are cut and crushed
in order to separate the pulp from the
fibres. The average yield of dried fibres
is about 1 tonnes per hectare,
although yields in East Africa reach 2.5
tonnes.
Sisal is cultivated for fibre in Brazil,
China, Cuba, Kenya, Haiti, Madagascar,
and Mexico. Production patterns differ
between counties. In Tanzania and
Kenya sisal is predominantly a
plantation crop, while production in
Brazil is largely small-scale.
Uses of sisal
Sisal is used in twine and
ropes, but competition from
polypropylene has weakened demand
It is used as reinforcement
in plastic composite materials,
particularly in automotive
components, but also in furniture.
Another promising use is as a
substitute for asbestos in brake pads.
By-products from sisal
extraction can be used for making biogas, pharmaceutical ingredients and
building material.
Natural fibres
Abaca
Once a favoured source of rope for
ship's rigging, abaca shows promise as
an energy-saving replacement for
glass fibres in automobiles
Also called manila hemp, abaca is
extracted from the leaf sheath around
the trunk of the abaca plant (Musa
textilis), a close relative of the banana,
native to the Philippines and widely
distributed in the humid tropics
The world's leading abaca producer is
the Philippines
Uses of abaca
During the 19th century
abaca was widely used for ships'
rigging, and pulped to make sturdy
manila envelopes.
Today, it is still used to
make ropes, twines, fishing lines and
nets, as well as coarse cloth for
sacking. There is also a flourishing
niche market for abaca clothing,
curtains, screens and furnishings.
Paper made from abaca
pulp is used in stencil papers, cigarette
filter papers, tea-bags and sausage
skins, and also in currency paper
(Japan's yen banknotes contain up to
30% abaca).
Natural fibres
Angora
Fine, silky and exceptionally soft to
the touch, the wool of the Angora
rabbit is used in high quality knitwear
The angora is a variety of the Old
World domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus
cuniculus) with a special characteristic:
the active phase of hair growth is
double that of normal rabbits.
An adult angora produces up to 1.5 kg
of fibre per year.
Angora wool is very soft to the touch,
thanks to the low relief of its cuticle
scales. The hairs are light, absorb
water well and are easily dyed.
Premium wool is taken from the back
and upper sides of the rabbit.
Until the 1960s, France was the
leading producer of angora wool. Since
then it has been overtaken by China,
where angora farms count more than
50 million rabbits. Other angora
producers are Argentina, Chile, Czech
Republic and Hungary.
Uses of angora
Light but warm, angora
wool is used mainly in knitted clothes,
such as pullovers, scarves, socks and
gloves, producing a moderate
"fluffing" effect.
Garments made of 100% angora wool
are considered too warm and the
fibres are too fine to provide density. It
is therefore usually blended with other
fibres, such as wool (right) to improve
its processing performance, elasticity
and wearability.
Natural fibres
Cashmere
Its luxurious, rare and expensive: the
wool of six kashmir goats is enough to
make just one cashmere sports jacket
The only source of true cashmere is
the kashmir goat (Capra hircus
laniger), native to the Himalayas.
China is the world's leading cashmere
producer, while Mongolia produces
the finest fibre (with diameter of
around 15 microns). Other, smaller
producers include Australia, India, Iran,
Pakistan, New Zealand, Turkey, and the
USA.
It has natural crimp, allowing it to be
spun into fine, lightweight fabrics.
Cashmere has small air spaces
between the fibres, which makes it
warm without weight, while thin
cuticle cells on the fibre surface make
it smooth and lustrous.
Uses of cashmere
Cashmere is luxurious,
rare and expensive: spun and woven,
the annual fibre production of six
kashmir goats is enough to make just
one cashmere sports jacket.
Coarser cashmere is used
for rugs and carpets.
The fabric is widely used as cashmere
sweaters (at right) because of its
warmth and in babywear because of
its softness. It is also used as blazers,
coats, jackets and underwear.
Pashmina is a type of cashmere, used
mainly in scarves and shawls,
produced in the valley of Kashmir
Natural fibres
Cotton
Almost pure cellulose, cotton is the
world's most widely used natural
fibre and still the undisputed "king"
of the global textiles industry
The cotton fibre grows on the seed of
a variety of plants of the genus
Gossypium. Of the four cotton species
cultivated for fibre, the most
important are G. hirsutum, which
originated in Mexico and produces
90% of the world's cotton, and G.
barbadense, of Peruvian origin, which
accounts for 5%. World average cotton
yields are around 800 kg per hectare.
Cotton is almost pure cellulose, with
softness and breathability that have
made it the world's most popular
natural fibre
It absorbs moisture readily, which
makes cotton clothes comfortable in
hot weather, while high tensile
strength in soap solutions means they
are easy to wash
Uses of cotton
An estimated 60% of cotton fibre is
used as yarn and threads in a wide
range of clothing, most notably in
shirts, T-shirts and jeans, but also in
coats, jackets, underwear and
foundation garments.
Cotton is also used to make home
furnishings, such as draperies,
bedspreads and window blinds, and is
the most commonly used fibre in
sheets, pillowcases, towels and
washcloths.
Its is made into specialty materials
suitable for a great variety of
applications: fire-proof apparel, cotton
wool, compresses, gauze bandages,
sanitary towels and cotton swabs.
Industrial products containing cotton
include bookbindings, industrial
thread and tarpaulins.
Natural fibres
Hemp
Easy to grow without agrochemicals,
hemp is used increasingly in
agrotextiles, car panels and
fibreboard, and "cottonized" for
clothing
Hemp fibre is obtained from the bast
of the plant Cannabis sativa L.
Production of hemp is restricted in
some countries, where the plant is
confused with marijuana. Optimum
yield of hemp fibre is more than 2
tonnes per ha, while average yields are
around 650 kg.
Long, strong and durable, hemp fibres
are about 70% cellulose and contain
low levels of lignin (around 8-10%).
Hemp fibre conducts heat, dyes well,
resists mildew, blocks ultraviolet light
and has natural anti-bacterial
properties. Shorter, woody core fibres
("tow") contain higher levels of lignin.
The world's leading producer of hemp
is China (above), with smaller
production in Europe, Chile and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Uses of hemp
Hemp has been used for
centuries to make rope, canvas and
paper. Long hemp fibres can be spun
and woven to make crisp, linen-like
fabric used in clothing, home
furnishing textiles and floor coverings.
In China, hemp is de-gummed for
processing on flax or cotton
machinery. Blending with cotton,
linen, silk and wool gives hemp a
softer feel, while adding resistance and
durability to the product.
In Europe, hemp fibres are used
mainly in the special paper industry thanks to lower lignin content, it can
be pulped using fewer chemicals than
wood.
Hemp fibres are also used to reinforce
moulded thermoplastics in the
automobile industry. The short core
fibres go into insulation products,
fibreboard and erosion control mats,
while the fibrous core can be blended
with lime to make strong, lightweight
concrete.
Natural fibres
Mohair
Thin surface scales make mohair
smooth to touch, while light reflected
from its surface gives it a
characteristic lustre
Mohair" is derived from Arabic
(mukhayyar, a goat's hair cloth). The
goat in question, the Angora (Capra
hircus) is thought to have originated in
Tibet. Turkey was the centre of mohair
textile production before the goat was
introduced, during the 19th century, to
southern Africa and the USA.
Light and insulating, its tensile
strength is significantly higher than
that of merino wool. Like wool, mohair
has surface scales, but they are
thinner, making it smooth to the
touch. Light reflected from the surface
gives mohair a characteristic lustre.
the major producer is South Africa.
Uses of mohair
Mohair dyes exceptionally well and is
moisture-absorbing, resilient, and
flame- and crease-resistant. It is used
mainly in yarn for knitting and
crocheting, and in fabric for stoles,
scarves and durable upholstery.
Fine hair from younger animals is used
in clothing, while thicker hair from
older animals goes into rugs and
carpets and heavy fabrics for jackets
and coats.
Mohair is often blended with wool to
make top quality blankets. Weavers in
Italy and Japan use mohair in blends as
low as 20% to add crease resistance
and lustre to luxury garments.
Natural fibres
Silk
Developed in ancient China, where its
use was reserved for royalty, silk
remains the "queen of fabrics"
Silk is produced by the silkworm,
Bombyx mori. Fed on mulberry leaves,
it produces liquid silk that hardens
into filaments to form its cocoon. The
larva is then killed, and heat is used to
soften the hardened filaments so they
can be unwound. Single filaments are
combined with a slight twist into one
strand, a process known as filaturee or
"silk reeling".
Silk is produced in more than 20
countries. While the major producers
are in Asia, sericulture industries have
been established in Brazil, Bulgaria,
Egypt and Madagascar.