CTD 261 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Tussar Silk, Muskox, Sericin

• School: University of Alabama
• Department: Clothing, Textiles and Interior Design
• Course: CTD 261
• Professor: Thompson

Document Summary

Resilient, hygroscopic, low tenacity when wet, lower specific gravity compares to natural cellulosic fibers, sensitive to alkalis, potential for damage by insects, harmed by dry heat, somewhat flame resistant. The most important hair fiber used in textiles is the fleece sheared from sheep. As sheared, product is called greasy wool, and may contain up to 40% impurities, mainly lanolin. Graded and sorted by fineness, length, color, crimp, elasticity, and strength. Wool is formed from a polymer of amino acids, the protein is called keratin. Keratin any of various sulfur containing fibrous proteins that form the chemical basis of horny epidermis tissues, both hair and nails. The polymer chain is coiled (like a slinky). Periodically along the coiled chains strong links form that tie two chains together. This structure makes wool a highly resilient fiber. Wool is not as strong as cotton or flax, but has high elongation and good elastic recovery and resilience.