The fibers obtained in natural animals mainly include animal hair (wool, cashmere, etc.) and glandular secretions (silk, spider silk, etc.). Because its material composition is mainly protein, it is also called protein fiber.
(1) Wool fiber
Wool fiber is an important raw material for the textile and garment industry, which is a staple fiber. It has many excellent characteristics, such as good elasticity, strong moisture absorption, good warmth, not easy to stain, soft luster, etc., these properties make wool fabrics and wool clothing have a unique style, is a good material for winter internal and external clothing. There are many types of natural animal hair, and the commonly used textiles and clothing are sheep wool, cashmere, mohair, rabbit hair, camel down, yak hair and so on. The most used is sheep wool, commonly known as wool, which is usually obtained by shearing, grabbing and other methods.
1. Wool
There are many classification methods of wool, according to the thickness and length of wool can be divided into fine hairs, semi-fine hairs, coarse hairs and long hairs; According to the tissue structure of the fiber, it can be divided into fine villi, coarse villi, coarse hair, hair, two types of hair and dead hair; According to the sheep breeding strain, it can be divided into domestic soil breed hair, modified hair and foreign merino wool, Lincoln wool, etc., of which the quality of Australian merino wool is the best, its fiber is thin and uniform, the hair bush is long and neat, the curl is normal, the strength is high, the elasticity is good, the luster is good, the color is white, the impurities are less, and the oil sweat is more.
The appearance of wool is a coarse and thin root, naturally curled along the fiber length. Wool has scales on the surface and a round or nearly circular cross-section. The microstructure of wool fibers can be divided into three layers: the scale layer, the cortical layer and the bone layer, of which the medullary layer is only present in coarse wool. The layer of scales wrapped on the outside of the fiber not only gives the fiber a soft luster, but also has good spinability and shrinkage. The cortical layer is the main component of wool and determines the physical and chemical properties of wool. Due to the lateral distribution of positive and metacortical cells, wool has a curly shape. For coarse wool, there is also a medullary layer in the cortex, which is composed of loose structure and air-filled keratin cells, wool containing more medulla layers, brittle and easy to break, and not easy to dye.
Using this characteristic of the wool scale structure, under the action of wet holding, repeatedly squeezed by mechanical external forces, the fiber aggregate gradually shrinks tightly, and intersperses entanglement and interlocking felt, which is called the shrinkage of wool. The wool fabric has been shrunk and finished, the length of the fabric is contracted, the thickness and tightness are enhanced, and a layer of fluff is exposed on the surface, which is rich and soft in the hand, and the warmth is enhanced. Using the shrinkage of wool, the loose short fibers are combined into felt pieces with certain mechanical strength, certain shape and certain density, which is called felting. Felt hats, felt shoes, etc. are made by felt together.
Wool fibers are very hygroscopic, second only to cashmere, and water vapor can penetrate along the fine stratum corneum of the epidermis. However, due to the needle-like shape of the fiber and the overlapping scales on the surface, the water droplets are not easy to penetrate into the fabric, so it has a certain waterproof performance.
Wool has strong resilience in the dry state, so its fabric has good wrinkle resistance. However, the dimensional stability of the fabric in the wet state will be affected to a certain extent, and it is easy to wrinkle. Therefore, wool garment processing often uses this feature, in the wet state with steam ironing finishing, or the fabric is applied to pleat processing, when the fabric is in a dry state, it shows the corresponding morphological style. In order to avoid deformation of garment pleats in the resurgence of rain, durable pleats can be processed in the rear finishing of wool fabrics.
Wool is not alkali tolerant, in the pH greater than 8 in the dilute alkali liquid that is damaged, boiling hot 3% sodium hydroxide solution can completely dissolve the wool, alkali can also make the wool yellow, so wool products in the washing should not be used alkaline detergent.
Oxidants and reducing agents can damage wool, while chlorine compound oxidants can soften or destroy wool scales, and this effect is applied to the anti-shrinkage finishing of wool.
Light is extremely important for the oxidation of wool, and light damages the ends of the scales and makes them easily yellow. In addition, due to the protein composition of the fiber and good moisture absorption, wool is susceptible to insect moths and mildew.
Australian Merino sheep
2. Cashmere
Cashmere, known internationally as Cashmere, Chinese transliterated as "Cashmere". In order to adapt to the severe climate change, the goat has a thick outer coat and a fine inner layer of fluff all over the body to protect it from the wind and snow. Cashmere refers to the inner layer of villi, no medulla layer, and smooth edges of the scales. The diameter of the fiber is thinner than that of fine wool, the average fineness is more than 15 to 16um, the average length is 35 to 45 mm, and the straight length is 3 times the natural length. The appearance form is irregular and thin and deep curls, with white, blue, purple and other colors, with white velvet being the most precious. The fiber has excellent characteristics such as fine, light, soft, smooth and good warmth, and the hygroscopicity ranks first among the fibers (the standard moisture regain rate is 17%). Mainly used dry pure spinning or blended with fine wool, is a high-grade and valuable clothing material. However, the reaction of cashmere acid, alkali, and heat is more sensitive than that of fine wool, and the damage to the fibers is also significant, especially for chlorine-containing oxidants.
goat
3. Mohair
Mohair is the Angora goat, native to the Province of Angola, Turkey, and is typical of the lustrous long goat wool. The morphology of the mohair is similar to that of long wool, with a hair length of 120 to 150 mm and a diameter of 10 to 90 um. Because the scales are flat and broad against the hair stem and rarely overlap, the surface of the fiber is smooth and has a silky luster. The cross-sectional roundness is high. In addition, because the cortex is almost always made up of cortical cells, the fibers are rarely curled. Mohair has high strength, and has superior resilience, high wear resistance and dust and dirt resistance, not easy to shrink and difficult to felt shrinkage, easy to wash. The effect on some chemical agents is more sensitive than that of general wool, has better dyeing affinity, and the moisture absorption is similar to that of wool. Due to the air gap between cortical cells, the hair is light and fluffy. Mohair is a multi-purpose fiber, which can be purely spun or blended to make high-grade wool clothing and decorative materials, especially long wool and blanket fabrics. The product has a good elasticity and feel, high brightness, luster and pleasant eyes.
4. Rabbit hair
Rabbit hair for textile clothing is derived from angora rabbits and domestic rabbits. Angora rabbit hair is slender and has excellent hair quality, while rabbit hair quality is inferior. Rabbit hair is divided into fluff and coarse hair, and its composition and structure are similar to wool and other wool fibers. The fineness of villus is 5 to 30um, and the fineness of coarse hair is 30 to 100um. Most fiber fineness is concentrated in 10 to 15 pum, and the length is concentrated in 25 to 45 mm. Rabbit hair has a medullary layer of villi and coarse hair. The villous section is nearly circular or irregularly quadrilateral, while the coarse hair section is waist-shaped, oval or dumbbell-shaped. Rabbit hair is relatively small in density and hygroscopic than other fibers, so the fibers are thin and fluffy, light, soft and warm. However, due to the small amount of curl, smooth surface, poor holding force between fibers, low fiber strength, difficulty in spinning alone, products, easy to shed hair, so often blended with wool or other fibers. In addition, rabbit hair has worse fleece than wool and is less dyed than wool.
5. Camel hair
Most of the camel hair used for textile clothing is taken from the Bactrian camel, which is thick and short, non-woven yarn value. The color of camel hair is milky white, light yellow, yellowish brown, tan and so on, and the quality is mostly light. Camel hair contains fine and coarse hairs, namely camel hair and camel hair. Camel hair is 50 to 300 mm long, camel wool is 40 to 135 mm long, and the average diameter is 50 to 209um. Camel hairs have few scales and smooth edges. Camel hair is very strong, shiny, warm, poor shrinkage, often used as industrial supplies or fillers, durable. Camel wool can be used to make high-grade coarse fabrics and blankets, especially suitable for making knitted fabrics or fillers instead of cotton wool, and has the characteristics of light warmth and comfort.
6. Yak hair
Yak is an endemic cattle breed produced in the alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its adjacent areas in China. The coat of the yak is made up of coarse and fluffy hairs, mostly black, black-brown or with white hairs, which are not suitable for dyeing. The white yak down from Gansu is a treasure. The average fineness of yak down is about 20um, the length is about 30mm, there is irregular bending, the scales are ring-shaped edges are neat, close to the hair stem, so the fiber is very fine, the luster is soft, the elasticity is strong, and the feel is smooth. The average fineness of yak hair is about 70um, the length is about 110mm, there is a hairy pulp, the fiber shape is straight, the surface is smooth, tough and shiny, and the felt shrinkage is poor. Yak velvet can be blended with wool, chemical fiber, silk and other blends as worsted and woolen raw materials. Yak hair can be used to make padded fabrics and felts, and yak tail can be used to make wigs and decorations.