Chiengora

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Chiengora, also called "dog wool," is yarn or wool spun from dog hair. The word is a portmanteau of chien (the French word for dog) and angora and was coined by an American spinner, Annette Klick. [1] Dog hair is up to 80% warmer than wool [2] and is not elastic.

Contents

History

Spinning dog hair is not a new art form. [3] Dog hair has been found in yarns dating back from pre-historic Scandinavia, and in textiles from the Navajo and Northwest Coast native Americans of North America. It was the main fiber spun on the Northern American continent before the Spaniards introduced sheep. [4] Sometimes dog hair is blended with wool during the carding process to make yarn. This blend has some give to it, which is preferable when knitting. It may also be blended with sheep wool in order to create a yarn with less heat insulation.

The best hairs for this application are from 'Northern' breeds with a soft undercoat, such as Newfoundlands, Chow Chows, Samoyed, Norwegian Elkhounds, and the like.

While not as common as the use of wool and other animal fibers, chiengora has a long history of use by hand spinners as well as small businesses who produce it for sale. It has been called by many descriptive names over the decades. In a 1983 article, Annette Klick noted that when selling her doghair products, some people would be disgusted if told an item was made of dog hair, but would admire finished mittens that looked like they were made of angora (rabbit). Consequently, Klick and her daughter created the word Chiengora and from then on Klick noted "we got a much heartier response." [1] While it is difficult to trace the earlier history of small businesses spinning chiengora and selling chiengora products, there continue to be many businesses advertising their chiengora online. Some spinners primarily work on custom projects, such as spinning dog hair provided by customers from their own dogs, while others collect chiengora from many dogs, spin, and then sell the yarns for others to use.

Chiengora has been the subject of several studies including a 2003 thesis for a Master of Science degree in the Department of Textile Apparel Technology & Management at the North Carolina State University. In this study, J. Suzanne Greer states that the objectives of their research are "1) to determine the properties of dog hair, and 2) to pinpoint which dog hair, or chiengora, fibers should be considered possible candidates for commercially producing yarns and/or fabrics." [4] She clarifies that "Chiengora is the name being used for yarn spun from dog hair. Chien is French for dog and gora is from angora, the fiber that dog hair most closely resembles. [...] Chiengora is now considered a luxury fiber along with mohair, cashmere (goat hair), and angora (rabbit hair)." [4] It was later the subject of a paper from the Department of Fashion Technology at the PSG College of Technology in India titled "Analysis of physical and thermal properties of chiengora fibers". [5] It has also been the topic for a series of articles published in the Journal of Natural Fibers from 2018-2021. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Although chiengora had been spun for decades, an increase in interest in hand-spinning and the use of alternative fibers for textiles led to increased attention to this fiber source in the 2010s. [9] [10] Even the American Kennel Club adopted discussion of chiengora and asserted, in 2018, that "The official term for dog-fur yarn is 'chiengora'. " [11]

Starting in 2017 a German company, Yarnsustain GmbH (founded in 2020) in conjunction with Modus Intarsia attempted to register a trademark on Chiengora in various countries. Their applications have been refused or denied in the EU, UK, Australia, and US so far. It was approved in Germany.

See also

Related Research Articles

Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose, and synthetic polyester. Originally done by hand using a spindle whorl, starting in the 500s AD the spinning wheel became the predominant spinning tool across Asia and Europe. The spinning jenny and spinning mule, invented in the late 1700s, made mechanical spinning far more efficient than spinning by hand, and especially made cotton manufacturing one of the most important industries of the Industrial Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wool</span> Textile fibre from the hair of sheep or other mammals

Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile</span> Various fiber-based materials

Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarn</span> Long continuous length of interlocked fibres

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. To add value or improve the appearance, the yarn can be twisted with one or more other yarns. Staple fibers, which are still used today, are fibers with a finite length that have historically been used to make yarns. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for needlework. Yarn can be made of a number of natural or synthetic materials, and comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses. Although yarn may be dyed different colours, most yarns are solid coloured with a uniform hue. The yarn gives variety in colors and also uniqueness when the material is being used to create stuff animals, clothing, scarfs, hoodies, socks, carpets, and blankets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worsted</span> Fabrics manufactured from worsted yarns.

Worsted is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, formed a manufacturing centre for yarn and cloth in the 12th century, when pasture enclosure and liming rendered the East Anglian soil too rich for the older agrarian sheep breeds. In the same period, many weavers from the County of Flanders moved to Norfolk. "Worsted" yarns/fabrics are distinct from woollens : the former is considered stronger, finer, smoother, and harder than the latter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohair</span> Natural animal fiber made from the long, lustrous hair of the Angora goat

Mohair is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat. Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high luster and sheen, and is often used in fiber blends to add these qualities to a textile. Mohair takes dye exceptionally well. It feels warm in winter as it has excellent insulating properties, while its moisture-wicking properties allow it to remain cool in summer. It is durable, naturally elastic, flame-resistant and crease-resistant. It is considered a luxury fiber, like cashmere, angora, and silk, and can be more expensive than most sheep's wool.

Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast to worsted yarn, in which the fibers are combed to lie parallel rather than carded, producing a hard, strong yarn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angora wool</span> Fur of the angora rabbit, used as a textile fiber

Angora hair or Angora fibre refers to the downy coat produced by the Angora rabbit. While the names of the source animals are similar, Angora fibre is distinct from mohair, which comes from the Angora goat. Angora fibre is also distinct from cashmere, which comes from the cashmere goat. Angora is known for its softness, thin fibres, and what knitters refer to as a halo (fluffiness). It is also known for its silky texture. It is much warmer and lighter than wool due to the hollow core of the angora fibre. It also gives the wool its characteristic floating feel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cashmere wool</span> Fiber obtained from cashmere goats and other types of goat

Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from cashmere goats, pashmina goats, and some other breeds of goat. It has been used to make yarn, textiles and clothing for hundreds of years. Cashmere is closely associated with the Kashmir shawl, the word "cashmere" deriving from an anglicization of Kashmir, when the Kashmir shawl reached Europe in the 19th century. Both the soft undercoat and the guard hairs may be used; the softer hair is reserved for textiles, while the coarse guard hair is used for brushes and other non-apparel purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acrylic fiber</span> Synthetic fiber made from polymer

Acrylic fibers are synthetic fibers made from a polymer (polyacrylonitrile) with an average molecular weight of ~100,000, about 1900 monomer units. For a fiber to be called "acrylic" in the US, the polymer must contain at least 85% acrylonitrile monomer. Typical comonomers are vinyl acetate or methyl acrylate. DuPont created the first acrylic fibers in 1941 and trademarked them under the name Orlon. It was first developed in the mid-1940s but was not produced in large quantities until the 1950s. Strong and warm acrylic fiber is often used for sweaters and tracksuits and as linings for boots and gloves, as well as in furnishing fabrics and carpets. It is manufactured as a filament, then cut into short staple lengths similar to wool hairs, and spun into yarn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orenburg shawl</span> Russian knitted lace textile

The Orenburg shawl is a Russian knitted lace textile using goat down and stands as one of the classic symbols of Russian handicraft, along with Tula samovars, the Matrioshka doll, Khokhloma painting, Gzhel ceramics, the Palekh miniature, Vologda lace, Dymkovo toys, Rostov finift (enamel), and Ural malachite.

The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns yarn into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal fiber</span> Natural fiber from animals like silk worms and sheep

Animal fibers are natural fibers that consist largely of certain proteins. Examples include silk, hair/fur and feathers. The animal fibers used most commonly both in the manufacturing world as well as by the hand spinners are wool from domestic sheep and silk. Also very popular are alpaca fiber and mohair from Angora goats. Unusual fibers such as Angora wool from rabbits and Chiengora from dogs also exist, but are rarely used for mass production.

A staple fiber is a textile fiber of discrete length. The opposite is a filament fiber, which comes in continuous lengths. Staple length is a characteristic fiber length of a sample of staple fibers. A fiber is made up of natural substances and it’s known for being longer than it is wide. It is an essential criterion in yarn spinning, and aids in cohesion and twisting. Compared to synthetic fibers, natural fibers tend to have different and shorter lengths. The quality of natural fibers like cotton is categorized on staple length such as short, medium, long staple, and extra-long. Gossypium barbadense, one of several cotton species, produces extra-long staple fibers. The staple fibers may be obtained from natural and synthetic sources. In the case of synthetics and blends, the filament yarns are cut to a predetermined length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpaca fiber</span>

Alpaca fleece is the natural fiber harvested from an alpaca. There are two different types of alpaca fleece. The most common fleece type comes from a Huacaya. Huacaya fiber grows and looks similar to sheep wool in that the animal looks "fluffy". The second type of alpaca is Suri and makes up less than 10% of the South American alpaca population. Suri fiber is more similar to natural silk and hangs off the body in locks that have a dreadlock appearance. While both fibers can be used in the worsted milling process using light weight yarn or thread, Huacaya fiber can also be used in a woolen process and spun into various weight yarns. It is a soft, durable, luxurious and silky natural fiber.

An S number on the label of wool suits or other tailored apparel, wool fabric, or yarn, indicates the fineness of the wool fiber used in the making of the apparel, as measured by its maximum diameter in micrometres. Fiber fineness is one of the factors determining the quality and performance of a wool product. In recent years it has also become an important marketing device used by many mills, garment makers, and retailers. The S number appears as a plural with an s or 's following the number, such as 100s or 100's.

Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest human activities. The oldest known textiles date back to about 5000 B.C. In order to make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fibre from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving to create cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. Cloth is finished by what are described as wet process to become fabric. The fabric may be dyed, printed or decorated by embroidering with coloured yarns.

Cheviot, woolen fabric made originally from the wool of Cheviot sheep and now also made from other types of wool or from blends of wool and man-made fibers in plain or various twill weaves. The cheviot sheep originate on the border of England and Scotland, and their name is derived from Cheviot Hills, a range of hills in north Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. Cheviot wool possesses good spinning qualities, since the fiber is fine, soft, and pliable. It has a crispness of texture similar to serge but is slightly rougher and heavier.

Bourette is a shoddy silk fabric with bumps often blended with other yarns made of Bourette fibers. The name "Bourette" is from its constituting fiber. It has a rough surface incorporating multicolored threads and knots of spun silk. The fabric is made with silk bourette and wool or cotton yarn. Bourette is a lightweight single cloth with a rough, knotty, and uneven surface.

A blend is a mixture of two or more fibers. In yarn spinning, different compositions, lengths, diameters, or colors may be combined to create a blend. Blended textiles are fabrics or yarns produced with a combination of two or more types of different fibers, or yarns to obtain desired traits and aesthetics. Blending is possible at various stages of textile manufacturing. The term, blend, refers to spun fibers or a fabric composed of such fibers. There are several synonymous terms: a combination yarn is made up of two strands of different fibers twisted together to form a ply; a mixture or mixed cloth refers to blended cloths in which different types of yarns are used in warp and weft sides.

References

  1. 1 2 Keese, Susan (September 29, 1983). "'Chiengora': Spinning Mittens from Fido's Hair". Rutland Herald.
  2. ↑ Choron & Choron (2005), p.  326.
  3. ↑ Choron, Sandra; Choron, Harry (2005). Planet Dog: A Doglopedia. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN   0-618-51752-9 . Retrieved May 3, 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 Greer, J. Suzanne. "Evaluation of Non-Traditional Animal Fibers for Use in Textile Products". Thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University. (2003)
  5. 1 2 Ramamoorthy, Surjit; et al. (May 31, 2018). "Analysis of physical and thermal properties of chiengora fibers". Journal of Natural Fibers. 17 (2): 246–257. doi:10.1080/15440478.2018.1479996. S2CID   139767587.
  6. ↑ Ramamoorthy, Surjit; Ramadoss, Murugan; Thangavelu, Karthik; Kalapatti Jagannathan, Vishnu Vardhini (2021-05-23). "Analysis on the Yarn and Fabric Characteristics of Chiengora Fibers from Hairs of Lhasa Apso Breed and its Blends in Comparison with Wool and its Blends. Part I – Yarn Characteristics". Journal of Natural Fibers. 19 (13): 6389–6403. doi:10.1080/15440478.2021.1921655. ISSN   1544-0478. S2CID   236360162.
  7. ↑ Ramamoorthy, Surjit; Ramadoss, Murugan; Thangavelu, Karthik; Kalapatti Jagannathan, Vishnu Vardhini (2021-06-06). "Analysis on the Yarn and Fabric Characteristics of Chiengora Fibers from Hairs of Lhasa Apso Breed and Its Blends in Comparison with Wool and Its Blends. Part II – Fabric Characteristics". Journal of Natural Fibers. 19 (13): 6701–6714. doi:10.1080/15440478.2021.1932668. ISSN   1544-0478.
  8. ↑ Ramamoorthy, Surjit; Ramadoss, Murugan; Kandhavadivu, Palanisamy; Kalapatti Jagannathan, Vishnu Vardhini (2021-10-06). "Evaluation of yarn and fabric properties of environmentally friendly and sustainable chiengora fibers from Pomeranian dog breed for textile applications". Journal of Natural Fibers. 19 (14): 8946–8959. doi:10.1080/15440478.2021.1975601. ISSN   1544-0478. S2CID   243197963.
  9. ↑ Simon, Stephanie (May 23, 2011). "In This Yarn With a Tail, Our Heroes Thirst for Hair of the Dog Fans of 'Chiengora' Hope to Spread Love of Garments Made From Canine Sheddings". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  10. ↑ O'Brien, Anna (June 11, 2014). "Hair of the Dog: Wear your best friend". Modern Farmer. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  11. ↑ Gibeault, Stephanie (July 20, 2018). "Get Crafty With Yarn Made From Your Dog's Fur". American Kennel Club. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
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