Topic 1:: Types of Textile Fibers - List of Textile Fibers by Its Sources

1 Topic 1: Textile Fibre
TOPIC 1:
Types of textile fibers – list of textile fibers by its sources
In this article a comprehensive textile fiber names are listed, would answer
your following questions.
Type of Textile Fibers | Classification Textile Fibers | List of Textile Fibers |

Textile Fiber Names | Textile Fiber Sources | Kind of Textile Fibers| Textile
fibers and their properties | Fibres used for in textiles | Fibers considered as
textile | Examples of fibers | Widely used textile fibers | What is textile fiber |
Natural Fibers | Manmade Fibers | Artificial Fibers
Fiber is a fine hair-like structure and is considered the raw materials of textiles. The
fiber is extracted from various sources for commercial use. In addition to obtaining
from animals, plants, and minerals, many of the fibers are artificially generated as well.
Here is a list of most commonly used textile fibers.
FIBERMANMADE FIBERNATURAL FIBER
Fig: Wool Fiber from sheep
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Plant/Vegetable/Cellulosic Fibers
Natural plant fibers are cell walls that occur in the stem, wood, and leaf parts
and are comprised of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignins and aromatics, waxes
and other lipids, ash and water-soluble compounds attached in a specific way.
Plant fibers are classified into two groups: soft fibers and hard fibers.
Plant Seed Fibers

1. Cotton Fiber
Cotton is a vegetable fiber which surrounds the seeds of the cotton plant,
a shrub in the Malvaceae family. The fiber is generally transformed into
yarn which is woven to manufacture fabrics. Cotton has been used for
millennia in the confection of fabric, with the earliest known use dating
from 12,000 years B.C. in Egypt.
Classification is used to determine the quality of the cotton fiber in terms

of length, uniformity, strength, micronaire (fibre weight in micro grams per
inch), and color. Cotton classification (and quality) can also be affected
by trash content, leaf grade, and the presence of extraneous matter.
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2. Coir Fiber
Coir is a durable fiber extracted from discarded coconut husks. Coir or

coconut Fibre belongs to the group of hard structural fibers. Coir fibers
are categorized in two ways.
One distinction is based on whether they are recovered from ripe or

immature coconut husks.
o The husks of fully ripened coconuts yield brown coir. Strong and
highly resistant to abrasion, its method of processing also protects
it from the damaging ultraviolet component of sunlight. Dark brown
in color, it is used primarily in brushes, floor mats, and upholstery
padding.
o White coir comes from the husks of coconuts harvested shortly
before they ripen. Light brown or white in color, this fiber is softer
and less strong than brown coir. It is usually spun into yarn, which
may be woven into mats or twisted into twine or rope.
3. Kapok Fiber
Pod Ceiba Safed Selma White Silk-cotton Tree Kapok
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Kapok fiber is a natural and environmental-friendly cellulosic fiber with a

lightweight of volume units, hollow structure. Kapok fiber is soft silky
cellulosic fiber but has a significantly homogeneous hollow tube shape.
Kapok is considered unsuitable for textile purposes because the fiber is

brittle, smooth and slippery. They are used in bedding, upholstery
industries, in the production of life-saving equipment and in the
construction of thermally insulated and soundproof covers and walls.
Plant Bast Fibers

Bast consists of a wood core surrounded by a stem. Within the stem, there are
a number of fibers bundles, each containing individual fiber cells. The filaments
are made up of cellulose and hemicelluloses, bonded together by lignin and
pectin.
1. Jute Fiber
Jute is a natural fiber with golden and silky shine because of which also
called as the golden fiber. It is one of the cheapest vegetable fibers
obtained from the bast or skin of plant’s stem. Jute is mainly extracted
from the stem of white jute plant (Corchorus capsularis) and from Tossa
jute (C.olitorius).
Jute is a natural biodegradable fiber with advantages such as high tensile

strength, excellent thermal conductivity, coolness, ventilation function.
Jute has high specific properties, low density, less abrasive behavior to
the processing equipment, good dimensional stability, and harmlessness.
Jute is multicell with the cell wall of the fiber is made up of a number of
layers.
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2. Flax/Linen Fiber
Flax is the plant that produces the bast fiber that is made into linen. Linen
fiber is plant fiber collected from the phloem (the “inner bark”) or bast
surrounding the stem of certain, mainly dicotyledons, plants. They
support the conductive cells of the phloem and provide strength to the
stem. Hemp fiber contains the phenolic substance, so it has anti-moldy
and bacteriostatic properties.
3. Hemp Fiber
Hemp is a fast‐growing plant that generally requires little or no chemical

herbicides and pesticides. Hemp can be processed as a bast fiber, or as
a regenerated fiber. Hemp is a member of the Cannabaceae family and
is a plant which produces bast fibers. Hemp (also known as Cannabis)
was one of the first plants to be cultivated by the human race and was
previously considered to be one of the most important agricultural crops.
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4. Banana Fiber
All varieties of banana plants have fibers in abundance that fall under
bast fibers category. The fibers are collected after the fruit is harvested
from the trunk of the banana plant (pseudostem), which usually is usually
thrown as an agricultural waste.
5. Ramie Fiber
Ramie is one of the strongest natural fibers. It exhibits even greater

strength when wet. Ramie fiber is known especially for its ability to hold
shape, reduce wrinkling, and introduce a silky luster to the fabric
appearance. It is not as durable as other fibers, and so is usually used as
a blend with other fibers such as cotton or wool.
It is similar to flax in absorbency, density, and microscopic appearance.

Because of its high molecular crystallinity, ramie is stiff and brittle and will
break if folded repeatedly in the same place; it lacks resiliency and is low
in elasticity and elongation potential.
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6. Kenaf Fiber
Kenaf fiber is a natural fiber extracted from Hibiscus cannabinus L. The

kenaf trunks need to be retted in order to extract the fiber. Kenaf fiber
possesses excellent tensile and flexural strength when compared with
other natural fibers.
7. Sugarcane bagasse
Sugarcane is a plant which grows up to 6 meters high and has a diameter
up to 6 cm, and the bagasse is the fibrous residue which is obtained
from sugarcane processing after extraction of the juice from the cane
stalk.
Plant Leaf Fibers

1. Piña Fiber
Pineapple leaf fiber is one kind of fiber derived from the leaves of the
pineapple plant. From a large selection of plant fibers, pineapple leaf
fibers obtained from the leaves of pineapple plant of Josapine have the
highest cellulose contents which make the fibers mechanically sound.
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Pineapple Leaf Fiber exhibit excellent mechanical properties due to rich

cellulose content of more than 70% which are potential to be used as
reinforcement in polymer composites.
2. Sisal Fiber
The sisal fibers obtained from the leaf of sisal plants are white/golden
white in color. They can be twisted into yarns and ropes in wet conditions.
Fiber thickness, length, and strength depend upon the age and location
of the plant. The length varied from 0.5m to 1m and diameter is 43
between 0.21mm to 0.29mm. The density of the fiber was found to be
around 1.51 g/ cm3.
3. Raffia Fiber
Raffia fibers are leaf fibers obtained raffia palms. Raffia fabrics are used
for everyday garments or “ceremonial costumes” among some ethnic
groups of Central Africa from the coast of the Gulf of Guinea.
Raffia is a plant that belongs to a palm genus that originated from

Madagascar and grows in tropical rainforests, along river banks of the
savannah, marshes, and swamps in the areas stretching from
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Madagascar, where it originated, to the Congo and Gabon of Central

Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Liberia alongside of the Gulf of Guinea.
4. Abaca Fiber
Abaca is a leaf fiber which belongs to the banana family of plants with
more tapering the leaves than Banana and is cheap and abundantly
available. Known as Manila Hemp Abaca is a hard fiber. Abaca is the
strongest of all-natural fibers.
Abaca fiber is extracted from the leaf sheath traditionally by stripping

using either manual or mechanical process. Volcanic areas are suited for
abaca cultivation the Philippines tropical climate. It has a lot of
applications in the household as well as technical areas.
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1 Topic 1: Textile Fibre

Type of Textile Fibers | Classification Textile Fibers | List of Textile Fibers |

FIBERMANMADE FIBERNATURAL FIBER

Fig: Wool Fiber from sheep

Plant Seed Fibers

Classification is used to determine the quality of the cotton fiber in terms

Coir is a durable fiber extracted from discarded coconut husks. Coir or

One distinction is based on whether they are recovered from ripe or

Pod Ceiba Safed Selma White Silk-cotton Tree Kapok

Kapok fiber is a natural and environmental-friendly cellulosic fiber with a

Kapok is considered unsuitable for textile purposes because the fiber is

Plant Bast Fibers

Jute is a natural biodegradable fiber with advantages such as high tensile

Hemp is a fast‐growing plant that generally requires little or no chemical

Ramie is one of the strongest natural fibers. It exhibits even greater

It is similar to flax in absorbency, density, and microscopic appearance.

Kenaf fiber is a natural fiber extracted from Hibiscus cannabinus L. The

Plant Leaf Fibers

Pineapple Leaf Fiber exhibit excellent mechanical properties due to rich

Raffia is a plant that belongs to a palm genus that originated from

Madagascar, where it originated, to the Congo and Gabon of Central

Abaca fiber is extracted from the leaf sheath traditionally by stripping

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