Rayon, also called viscose and commercialised in some countries as sabra silk or cactus silk, is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. Many types and grades of viscose fibers and films exist. Some imitate the feel and texture of natural fibers such as silk, wool, cotton, and linen. The types that resemble silk are often called artificial silk. It can be woven or knit to make textiles for clothing and other purposes.
A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave and twill weave.
Lyocell is a semi-synthetic fiber used to make textiles for clothing and other purposes. It is a form of regenerated cellulose made by dissolving pulp and dry jet-wet spinning. Unlike rayon made by the more common viscose processes, Lyocell production does not use carbon disulfide, which is toxic to workers and the environment. Lyocell was originally trademarked as Tencel in 1982.
A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, containing materials such as hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, or a framework of metal springs. Mattresses may also be filled with air or water.
A duvet, usually called a comforter or (down-filled) quilt in American English, and a doona in Australian English, is a type of bedding consisting of a soft flat bag filled with either down, feathers, wool, cotton, silk, or a synthetic alternative, and is typically protected with a removable cover, analogous to a pillow and pillow case. The term duvet is mainly British, especially in reference to the bedding; rarely used in US English, it often refers to the cover. Sleepers often use a duvet without a top bed sheet, as the duvet cover can readily be removed and laundered as often as the bottom sheet.
Bedding, also called bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environment. Multiple sets of bedding for each bed are often washed in rotation and/or changed seasonally to improve sleep comfort at varying room temperatures. Most standardized measurements for bedding are rectangular, but there are also some square-shaped sizes, which allows the user to put on bedding without having to consider its lengthwise orientation.
Calendering of textiles is a finishing process used to smooth, coat, or thin a material. With textiles, fabric is passed between calender rollers at high temperatures and pressures. Calendering is used on fabrics such as moire to produce its watered effect and also on cambric and some types of sateens.
A comforter, also known as a doona in Australian English, or a continental quilt or duvet in British English, is a type of bedding made of two lengths of fabric or covering sewn together and filled with insulative materials for warmth, traditionally down or feathers, wool or cotton batting, silk, or polyester and other down alternative fibers. Like quilts, comforters are generally laid over a top bed sheet and used to cover the body during sleep. Duvets are another form of quilt, traditionally filled with feathers, though since the late 20th century often made of synthetic fibres or down alternatives.
Linens are fabric household goods intended for daily use, such as bedding, tablecloths, and towels. "Linens" may also refer to church linens, meaning the altar cloths used in church.
Ticking is a type of cloth, traditionally a tightly-woven cotton or linen textile. It is traditionally used to cover tick mattresses and bed pillows. The tight weave makes it more durable and hinders the stuffing from poking through the fabric. To make it even tighter, ticking could be waxed, soaped, or starched. Tick materials designed to hold foam may be knit, or more porous. In English-speaking countries ticking commonly has a striped design, in muted colors such as brown, grey or blue, and occasionally red or yellow, against a plain, neutral background.
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, with color and patterns, which turns it into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of coloring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.
A mattress protector is an item of removable bedding that sits on top of, or encases, a mattress to protect it. Some mattress protectors also provide protection to the person sleeping on the mattress from allergens and irritants such as dust mites, bed bugs, mold, and dead skin.
Textile fibers, threads, yarns and fabrics are measured in a multiplicity of units.
Novelty yarns include a wide variety of yarns made with unusual features, structure or fiber composition such as slubs, inclusions, metallic or synthetic fibers, laddering and varying thickness introduced during production. Some linens, wools to be woven into tweed, and the uneven filaments of some types of silk are allowed to retain their normal irregularities, producing the characteristic uneven surface of the finished fabric. Man-made fibres, which can be modified during production, are especially adaptable for special effects such as crimping and texturizing.
Embroidery thread is yarn that is manufactured or hand-spun specifically for embroidery and other forms of needlework. Embroidery thread often differs widely, coming in many different fiber types, colors and weights.
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.
A bed skirt, sometimes spelled bedskirt, a bed ruffle, a dust ruffle in North America, a valance, or a valance sheet in the British Isles, is a piece of decorative fabric that is placed between the mattress and the box spring of a bed that extends to the floor around the sides. In addition to its aesthetics, a bed skirt is used to hide the ensemble fabric, wheels and other unsightly objects underneath the bed, or as protection against dust.
A thread is a long strand of material, often composed of several filaments or fibres, used for joining, creating or decorating textiles. Ancient Egyptians were known for creating thread using plant fibers, wool and hair. Today, thread can also be made of many different materials including but not limited to cotton, wool, flax, nylon, silk, polyester etc. There are also metal threads, which can be made of fine wire.
A tick mattress, bed tick or tick is a large bag made of strong, stiff, tightly-woven material (ticking). This is then filled to make a mattress, with material such as straw, chaff, horsehair, coarse wool or down feathers, and less commonly, leaves, grass, reeds, bracken, or seaweed. The whole stuffed mattress may also, more loosely, be called a tick. The tick mattress may then be sewn through to hold the filling in place, or the unsecured filling could be shaken and smoothed as the beds were aired each morning. A straw-filled bed tick is called a paillasse, palliasse, or pallet, and these terms may also be used for bed ticks with other fillings. A tick filled with flock is called a flockbed. A feather-filled tick is called a featherbed, and a down-filled one is a downbed; these can also be used above the sleeper as a duvet.
