Staple (textiles)

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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. 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 into 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 (staple length). [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Etymology

The word staple, used about a fiber of wool, is attested from the 15th century; the use was later broadened to include other fibers such as cotton. The origin of the word is not known for certain. It may be a back-formation either from the obsolete noun stapler meaning wool-stapler , a merchant trading in wool who would sort and class the wool according to quality, or else from the obsolete verb staple, to receive goods such as wool at a staple port. [7]

History

For cotton and wool, staple length was originally tested by hand, the tester removing a clump of fiber and then arranging it on a dark cloth for measurement. In the 1970s, machines were invented to do this task, taking around 5 minutes for cotton and for wool around 20 minutes. Today, machines such as Optical scanning methods like digital fibro graph and HVI are used to measure fiber length; they can measure the staple length efficiently. [8] [9] [10]

Staple length

Staple length, a property of staple fiber, is a term referring to the average length of a group of fibers of any composition. Staple length depends on the origin of the fibers. Natural fibers (such as cotton or wool) have a range of lengths in each sample, so the staple length is an average. For synthetic fibers which have been cut to a certain length, the staple length is the same for every fiber in the group.

Staple length is an important criterion for spinning fiber, as shorter fibers are more difficult to spin than longer ones, so staple length varies from short to longer length fibers, short fibers also resulting in more hairy yarns. [11] [12] [9] [13] Long staple fibers or extra-long staple fibers produces soft linens, and superior clothing products. Fine (thin) yarn requires long fibers.

Cotton traders use many systems to classify the quality of cotton fiber. One of the most significant distinctions is "staple length", length of the individual fibers. Traditionally, cultivars of Gossypium barbadense fall into the "long-staple" category. The term extra-long staple (ELS) first came into use in 1907. The International Cotton Advisory Committee, in an attempt to standardize classification, defined extra-long-staple as 1+3⁄8 inches (35 mm) or longer, and long-staple as 1+1⁄8 to 1+5⁄16 inches (29 to 33 mm). Under this classification scheme, most cultivars of G. barbadense produce extra-long-staple fibers, but some cultivars qualify as long-staple. [3]

Categorization of staple length

Short staple cotton fibers produce carded yarns that are generally irregular and have protruding hairs, hence a cheap yarn quality. Long-staple fibers contribute to better spinnability and strength, delivering regular yarns of superior quality. The staple length of cotton fibers are divided into 19 lengths with a fixed range. The United States Department of Agriculture categorizes the staple length of cotton fibers for convenient cotton classing as follows: [14] [15] [16]

CategoryFiber length
Very Short staple< 0.25 in (6.4 mm)
Short staple0.25–0.94 in (6.4–23.9 mm)
Medium staple0.94–1.13 in (24–29 mm)
Long staple1.13–1.38 in (29–35 mm)
Extra long staple> 1.38 in (35 mm)

Wool

In wool, fineness is the major criterion. [17] Wool classification and grading are focused on measuring the wool's diameter in microns; Merino wool is typically 90–115 mm (3.5–4.5 in) in length and is very fine (between 12 and 24 microns). [18] Longer (more than 3 in or 76 mm) and finer wool yarns are used in fine worsted materials, and coarser and short-staple yarns (1–3 in or 25–76 mm) produce woolen materials. Worsted fabrics are smoother and more expensive. [19] [20] [21]

Filament fiber

Synthetic fibers are produced artificially by humans through chemical synthesis. The process includes polymerization. These fibers are formed with extruding fiber-forming materials through spinnerets. The product is continuous strands. These are called filament yarns. Examples of synthetic fibers are polyester, polyamide, and acrylic. Silk is the only natural fiber obtained as a filament. [22] [5] [6]

If filament fiber is cut into discrete lengths, it becomes staple fiber.

Core-spun yarn

Like blended fabrics, the staple fibers have an important use in core-spun yarn; they are produced by wrapping various staple fibers around a filament yarn. For instance, in a cotton polyester core-spun yarn, cotton wraps around a polyester filament yarn. Similarly, core-spun cotton spandex is a yarn in which cotton fibers are twisted around a spandex yarn and covers the core yarn and are primarily used in denim types. Plying two or more core-spun yarns are used for making core-spun threads. [23] [24] [25] [26]

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, animal fibers such as wool, 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 fiber from the hair of sheep or other mammals

Wool is the textile fiber 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 some properties similar to animal wool.

<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. 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.

<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">Flannel</span> Soft woven fabric with a lightly napped surface

Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of varying fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber. Flannel is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, bed sheets, sleepwear, and several other uses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noil</span> Short strands rejected from fiber combing

Noil refers to the short fibers that are removed during the combing process in spinning. These fibers are often then used for other 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">Textile manufacturing</span> The industry which produces textiles

Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.

TPI is a term used in the textile industry. It measures how much twist a yarn has, and can be calculated by counting the number of twists in an inch of yarn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hand spinning</span> Method of turning fiber into thread

Spinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic fibres are drawn out and twisted together to form yarn. For thousands of years, fibre was spun by hand using simple tools, the spindle and distaff. After the introduction of the spinning wheel in the 13th century, the output of individual spinners increased dramatically. Mass production later arose in the 18th century with the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. Hand-spinning remains a popular handicraft.

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 it 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">Units of textile measurement</span> Systems for measuring textiles

Textile fibers, threads, yarns and fabrics are measured in a multiplicity of units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combing</span> Method of preparing fiber for spinning

Combing is a method for preparing carded fibre for spinning. Combing aligns fibers in parallel before spinning to produce a smoother, stronger, and more lustrous yarn. The process of combing is accompanied by gilling, a process of evening out carded or combed top making it suitable for spinning. Combing separates out short fibres by means of a rotating ring or rectilinear row of steel pins. The fibres in the 'top' it produces have been straightened and lie parallel to each other. When combing wool, the discarded short fibres are called noils, and are ground up into shoddy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novelty yarns</span> Any yarn with special effects introduced in spinning or plying

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short draw</span> Drafting technique used with long-staple fibers in hand spinning

Short draw is the spinning technique used to create worsted yarns. It is spun from combed roving, sliver or wool top – anything with the fibers all lined up parallel to the yarn. It is generally spun from long stapled fibers. Short draw spun yarns are smooth, strong, sturdy yarns, and dense. Short draw spun yarns also tend to not be very elastic. These characteristics make them good for use in weaving.

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.

Wet Processing Engineering is one of the major streams in Textile Engineering or Textile manufacturing which refers to the engineering of textile chemical processes and associated applied science. The other three streams in textile engineering are yarn engineering, fabric engineering, and apparel engineering. The processes of this stream are involved or carried out in an aqueous stage. Hence, it is called a wet process which usually covers pre-treatment, dyeing, printing, and finishing.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slub (textiles)</span> Thicker section of yarn, thread or fiber

A slub in textiles production refers to thickened areas of a fiber or yarn. Slubbed or slubby fabric is woven from slubby yarn. Both high and low slubbiness may be sought.

In textile spinning, yarn realisation (YR), or yarn recovery, is an operational parameter of yarn manufacturing. It is the percentage conversion of raw material to finished yarn. The rest of the waste fibers with less value are compared to the weight of the produced yarn from a given weight of raw material. The quantity of waste removed during the various phases of yarn spinning, such as blow-room, carding, and combing, is often used to determine yarn realisation. Yarn realisation ranges between 85% and 90% in carded cotton yarns and between 67% and 75% in combed cotton yarns.

References

  1. ↑ Wingate, Isabel Barnum (1979). Fairchild's dictionary of textiles. Internet Archive. New York : Fairchild Publications. pp. 583, 496. ISBN   978-0-87005-198-2.
  2. ↑ "Staple Fiber - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  3. 1 2 Porcher, Richard D. (2010). The story of Sea Island cotton. Sarah Fick. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 56. ISBN   978-0-941711-73-9. OCLC   61878949.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ American Home Economics Association. Textiles and Clothing Section (1970). Textile handbook. Internet Archive. Washington, American Home Economics Association. p. 7.
  5. 1 2 Burkinshaw, Stephen M. (2016-02-08). Physico-chemical Aspects of Textile Coloration. John Wiley & Sons. p. 2. ISBN   978-1-118-72569-6.
  6. 1 2 ''The filament is <1 mm in maximum cross section (i.e., diameter, in most cases). A filament can be compared ... Manufactured fibers are produced either as continuous infinite length filaments or cut staple of desired length value.'' Engineering Cotton Yarns with Artificial Neural Networking (ANN)books.google.co.in › books Tasnim N. Shaikh, Sweety A. Agrawal · 2017
  7. ↑ "staple, n.3". OED Online. April 2021. Oxford University Press
  8. ↑ Johnston, D. D. (Donald D. ); Ray, H. D. (H Dean); Pohle, E. M. (Elroy M. ) (1957). Staple length sampling schedules for raw wool packaged in bags. National Agricultural Library U. S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Livestock Division.
  9. 1 2 Saville, B. P. (8 January 1999). Physical Testing of Textiles | ScienceDirect. Elsevier Science. ISBN   9781855733671 . Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  10. ↑ "Fibre Length - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  11. ↑ Rogers, Clarence D.; Bargeron, Jefferson D. (1979). Influence of Staple-length Variations on the Spinning Performance and Yarn Quality of Cotton. Department of Agriculture, Science and Education Administration. p. 2.
  12. ↑ Pakistan Textile. All Pakistan Textile Mills Association. 1977. pp. 39–41.
  13. ↑ Hollen, Norma R.; Hollen, Norma R. Textiles (1988). Textiles. Internet Archive. New York : Macmillan. p. 6. ISBN   978-0-02-367530-0.
  14. ↑ Kadolph, Sara J. (2007). Textiles. Internet Archive. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 45, 46. ISBN   978-0-13-118769-6. Cotton classification describes the quality of cotton in terms of staple length, grade, and charac¬ ter. Fiber-length classifications for cotton include very-short-staple cotton (less than 0.25 inch), short- staple cotton (0.25 to 0.94 inch), medium-staple cotton (0.94 to 1.13 inches), ordinary long-staple cotton (1.13 to 1.38 inches), and extra-long- staple cotton (1.38 inches). Staple length is based on the length of a representative bundle of fibers from a bale of cotton. There are 19 staple lengths, ranging from less than inch
  15. ↑ Kadolph, Sara J. (1998). Textiles. Internet Archive. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Merrill. pp. 38, 39. ISBN   978-0-13-494592-7.
  16. ↑ Hathorn, Scott (1951). American-egyptian co. pp. 34, 35, 36.
  17. ↑ "Wool Grading" (PDF). 2012-03-14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  18. ↑ "Merino Sheep in Australia". 2006-11-05. Archived from the original on 2006-11-05. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  19. ↑ Gilligan, E. G. (2004-01-05). Woollen and Worsted Woven Fabric Design. Elsevier. p. 7. ISBN   978-1-84569-317-6.
  20. ↑ McLaren, Walter Stowe B. (1884). Spinning woollen and worsted. p. 58.
  21. ↑ "Manufacturing of Worsted and Woolen Yarns" . Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  22. ↑ MATHEWS, KOLANJIKOMBIL (2017). Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Textile Terms: Four Volume Set. Woodhead Publishing India PVT. Limited. p. 1342. ISBN   978-93-85059-66-7.
  23. ↑ MATHEWS, KOLANJIKOMBIL (2017). Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Textile Terms: Four Volume Set. Woodhead Publishing India PVT. Limited. p. 361. ISBN   978-93-85059-66-7.
  24. ↑ "Core-Spun Yarn - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  25. ↑ Textile Asia. Business Press. 2003. p. 59.
  26. ↑ Muthu, Subramanian Senthilkannan (2017-06-12). Sustainability in Denim. Woodhead Publishing. p. 33. ISBN   978-0-08-102044-9.
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