Hair and Fibers

1. about natural, animal, synthetic, and plant fibers

2. ​cotton and its processing

3. how do we get ​wool from animals

4. ​selective breeding

5. process of wool into clothes

6. ​occupational hazards

7. ​silk from animals

​Wool is obtained from the fleece (hair ) of sheep, goat, camel, yak, llama, alpaca and other animals. These animals have a thick coat of hair on their bodies because the hair traps air and air is a poor conductor of heat. So the hair keeps their body warm. The most common wool is sheep wool. Yak wool is common in Tibet and Ladakh. The wool obtained from Angora goats of Jammu Kashmir is soft wool used for making shawls. Camel's hair is also used as wool. Llama and Alpaca found in South America also yield wool.

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COTTON FLAX jute

​​Plant fibers: Plant fibers are obtained from plants. These fibers are mainly composed of cellulose and cellulose fibers. These are most commonly used to make paper and cloth. Cellulose generates long, often highly lustrous fibers when prepared appropriately. Plants including cotton, jute, flax and hemp are used to obtain plant fibers.

​Animal fibers: These are the fibers that are acquired from animals. For example Wool, silk, etc. Wool is a natural animal fiber obtained from sheep, goats, yak, camel, etc. All these animals have an outer covering of hair, which is shaved off to obtain wool fibers. Silk is a natural protein fiber, which is cultivated from the cocoon of mulberry silkworm larvae.

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Yak Goat Sheep

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camel llama alpaca

Processing fibers into wool:

​ The skin of the sheep is hairy having two types of fibers forming its fleece: (i) the coarse beard hair (ii) the fine soft under-hair near the skin is the fleece. This fleece is the main source of fibers of wool. The process of making fiber into wool follows a series of processes: Shearing → Scouring → Sorting → Dyeing → Straightening, Rolling and Combing. Step 1:- Shearing The removal of wool from sheep is called shearing. It can be done manually with large razor or with a shearing machine. Shearing is usually done during hot season. It is important to note that shearing does not hurt sheep because uppermost layer of the skin of sheep is dead. Step 2:- Scouring:The sheared hair is thoroughly washed in tanks to remove dust, dirt and grease. This process is called scouring. It is then passed through series of rollers and dryers. Step 3:- Sorting: Clean hairs are then sent to factory where hairs of different textures are separated or sorted. This process is called sorting. Step 4:- Removing burr Burrs are soft fluffy fibers in the wool. These burrs are picked out from the hair. Step 5:- Dyeing: The natural fleece of sheep is white, brown or black. These fibers are dyed in different colors. Step 6:- Making Yarn

​Rearing and Breeding of Sheep for Wool: Rearing: It is a process of breeding, feeding and providing medical care to sheep. These animals are kept since they produce one or more useful products for the human beings.

Some special breeds of sheep are specially chosen to give birth to sheep which have only soft under hair. This process of selecting parents for obtaining special characters in their offspring is termed as ‘selective breeding

by: k.kaushic & gayathri​

​The cocoons are collected and kept in sunlight or boiled or exposed to steam. The silk fibres separate out. The process of taking out the fibres from the cocoons is called reeling. Reeling is done by machines. The silk fibres are then spun into threads and woven into silk cloth.

​Silk:- Silk is obtained from silkworms.

The rearing of silkworms for     

​obtaining silk is called sericulture.

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​The female silk moth lays eggs that hatch into larvae called caterpillars or silkworms. The larva feeds on mulberry leaves and grows bigger in size. Then it secretes fibers made of protein and weaves the fibers around itself completely and forms pupa. This covering is called a cocoon. The pupa then develops into a young silk moth. Silk yarn (thread) is obtained from the cocoon of the silk moth. The most common silk moth is the mulberry silk moth.

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​Silk moths are reared and their cocoons are collected to get silk yarns (threads). The female silk moth lays eggs. The eggs are warmed to a suitable temperature. The eggs hatch into larvae called caterpillars or silkworms. The silkworms are kept in bamboo trays and feed on mulberry leaves and grow in size. After 30 to 40 days the silkworms stop eating and begin to spin cocoons. Inside the cocoon, the silkworm develops into a silk moth.