Fibre to Fabric Class 7 Notes Science Chapter 3

Fibre to Fabric

Fibres from Plants

Plant fibres are essential materials made from cellulose found in plants. These fibres are commonly used to create paper and cloth, and they can be long and shiny when prepared correctly. Some well-known plant fibres are cotton, jute, flax, and hemp.

Jute is obtained solely from the stem of jute plants, growing in regions with alluvial soil found in the Ganga and Brahmaputra river deltas. It is a soft, shiny, and long fibre with a silky texture.

Basic of Fabric

Fibres are the finer parts of threads, resembling thread-like structures that can be spun into ropes, clothes, and strings. Fabrics are made from fibres, which are sourced either from natural materials like cotton or artificial ones like rayon, nylon, and polyester.

Fibre to Yarn to Fabric

Fabrics are made up of thin strands called yarn, which, in turn, consist of even thinner strands known as fibres.

Cotton and Its Processing

Cotton comes from cotton bolls, directly obtained from the surface of cotton seeds. It thrives in warm climates and black clayey soil. Processing cotton involves steps like ginning, spinning, weaving, and knitting.

Wool

Wool is a natural animal fibre obtained from sheep, goats, yak, camel, and others. It is derived from the hair that covers their bodies and is used to make various fabrics, such as woollen clothes, carpets, and sweaters.

Rearing and Breeding of Sheep for Wool

Sheep are reared for their useful products, and selective breeding is done to obtain special characteristics in their offspring, like soft under hair for wool production.

Processing Fibres into Wool

Sheep’s fleece has two types of fibres: coarse beard hair and fine soft under-hair near the skin. The process of making fibre into wool includes shearing, scouring, sorting, dyeing, straightening, rolling, and combing.

Occupational Hazards of Fibre Production

Workers involved in fibre production might get infected by a bacterium called anthrax, causing a fatal blood disease known as sorter’s disease.

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fibre obtained from silkworms and used for textiles. Different types of silk come from various silkworms, like Kosa, tassar, mooga, etc. The process of sericulture involves rearing silkworms at appropriate conditions to obtain silk threads from cocoons.

Processing Silk Obtained from Cocoons

Silk threads are obtained by reeling the silk from the cocoon, followed by spinning the fibres into threads. These threads are then woven into desired clothes.

Natural Fibres vs. Synthetic Fibres

Natural fibres are obtained from plants (e.g., cotton) or animals (e.g., wool and silk), while synthetic fibres are man-made using chemical substances (e.g., polyester, nylon, acrylic). Synthetic fibres tend to be more durable compared to natural fibres.

Some Indian breeds of sheep which provide wool Name of a breed of sheep Quality of wool Name of the state where found Lohi Good quality wool Rajasthan, Punjab Rampur bushier Brown fleece Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh Nali Carpet wool Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab Bakharwal For woollen shawls Jammu and Kashmir Marwari Coarse Wool Gujarat Patanwadi For hosiery Gujarat.

Breed of Sheep	Quality of Wool	State Where Found
Lohi	Good quality wool	Rajasthan, Punjab
Rampur Bushier	Brown fleece	Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh
Nali	Carpet wool	Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab
Bakharwal	For woollen shawls	Jammu and Kashmir
Marwari	Coarse Wool	Gujarat
Patanwadi	For hosiery	Gujarat