Explore every episode of the podcast TextileUpdate

Cotton is a popular fiber and this makes it a popular topic for research and development for sustainability. In this episode, I discuss the difference between conventional and organic agriculture in the United States and how this might impact the sustainability of cotton. My goal is to introduce concepts related to agriculture to my fashion students and explain how genetic modification is used in producing cotton that uses less pesticides. This is the first of a set of two episodes on this topic. 

I haven’t started a new season of this podcast, which is a companion to my Textiles course at Texas State University because the course is complete.  However, I know that some people are looking for a recent episode to decide if the podcast is worth the listen. I will also be uploading two episodes from a lecture I am giving at a University in Tokyo in December. So, if you new to TextileUpdate, please go back to Season 2 and set your setting to see the oldest episodes first. Start with the episode titled Fiber Properties 1A and then go in order through season 2 to get my full college course. 

I start a new season of the podcast with each new session of my Textiles course. Rather than make students go back in time, I duplicate episodes from previous seasons, and put them in the proper order. Season 3 will start on January 20th, but I am going to release the first episode, on Fiber Properties, a bit early to whet your appetite. If you have been listening to Season 2, you can continue to enjoy the same content there, or you can start over with a new year and a new season. i will insert a bit more new content and the spring goes along.

Water, stains, we can repel them all! Radiation, Fire, no problem!

Changing the properties of textiles is the goal of functional finishing.

Besides Luster and Hand, we can change the Design or Texture of fabrics.

Aesthetic finishes are used to change the look or feel of fabric by changing the luster or the hand.

Routine finishes include bleaching, ironing and tentering.

Printing and dyeing can have some quality issues that it is helpful to understand.

Direct printing also includes screen printing and inkjet printing while indirect printing solves a problem we have since the invention of synthetic polymers.

The methods used for printing have developed over time.

We can dye at different stages during the production process. We can use dyes to make designs in a process called “resist printing”.

How do we improve the affinity of dyes for fibers?

We give color to textiles using dyes and pigments.

We don’t need to use fibers to make nonyarn fabrics, we can just use polymers in solution or look to nature.

The nonyarn fabrics usually have fairly descriptive names.

We can make fabrics without using yarns.

Weft and warp knits don’t have warp or weft yarns, but they do go in different directions. The warp knits include tricot and raschel knits.

The weft knits include jersey, rib and purl knits.

Knits are far newer than wovens and borrow vocabulary from wovens.

Double cloths can use 3, 4 or 5 yarns instead of the usual two. Textured weaves, on the other hand, stick to familiar methods to create a subtle pebbly surface.

Pile weaves can be made in so many ways and produce so many fabrics, including velvet, velveteen and corduroy. Plus, let’s dig into carpet!

The Jacquard Weave is pretty fancy, while the Leno weave is pretty dull looking.

The Dobby weave was very popular for several hundred years and remains a great choice for interiors.

The basket weave, twill weave and satin weave are three other types of basic weaves, although the basket weave is actually a plain weave too.

The Basic Weaves start with plain weaves but this is the most diverse category of weaves, despite the plain wrapper.

What sort of properties are built into fabric during weaving and how can we identify them to help us differentiate fabric?

We make fabrics using several methods, but we will focus on weaving for now. How do looms work?

Novelty yarns are just faancy!

What is up with the Venus de Milo? She isn’t Venus! But we love Goddesses of Spinning and Weaving, like Athena, just as much as the Goddess of Love. Spinning was the foundation of several ancient trade cultures.

The Olefin polymer family goes by many other names, but Acrylic is famous for just being itself, and for being our nails!

The first synthetic fiber was nylon followed by polyester, both inveted by scientists at Dupont.

The late 10th century brought an eco-friendly player to the regenerated fiber scene, the generic name for this innovated fiber is lyocell. Oh, we also talk about Acetate, a modified cellulose regenerated fiber.

The regenerated fibers are “manually” made. Manufacturing fibers from naturally concurring polymers, such as cellulose, is a major accomplishment of the 20th century.

We can modify manufactured fibers by adding compounds to the “dope”, we can change their size and cross section, we can add a crimp.

Manufacturing fibers involved either using naturally occurring polymers or synthesizing polymers in the laboratory.

The minor cellulosic fibers include Hemp, Kenaf, Coir and Abaca. Isn’t this fun?

Linen is an ancient fiber with an ancient vocabulary.

Cotton is King and with good reason

What are the good and bad properties of fibers made from cellulose?

Silk is another important protein fiber that has a totally different history and set of properties, despite also being made from polymers of amino acids.

The specialty hair fibers include mohair, cashmere and camel, just to name a few.

This double length episode of the podcast focuses completely on wool, my favorite fiber.

This double length episode of the podcast introduces our first natural fiber, protein fibers, and explains some of the great properties of these fibers, going deep on moisture and moisture regain.

We wrap up our discussion of the internal morphology of fibers, focusing on polymer properties, by considering what the arrangement of polymers into crystalline structures can do for strength, or how cross-linking agents can improve resiliency.

While the surface morphology of fibers is an important influence on properties like luster and hand, it is the internal, chemical structure of the polymers that make up the fibers that has the greatest influence on properties like strength and absorbency.

Fiber crimp deserves its own podcast because it is so cool! This 3D physical property influences lots of things like resiliency, bulk and luster.

Performance properties such as comfort as actually a dimension of performance made up of several properties, including absorbency.

We can categorize fibers using various features, including physical structures (morphology) that we can easily see under a microscope.