Natural Fiber
Looking back to go forward – natural fiber innovation, 30,000 years in the making
Not too long ago, deep in a cave in the Eurasian country of Georgia, archaeologists unearthed the world’s oldest textile fibers – flax (linen) fibers dating back 30,000 years or more. Early humans recognized the importance of bast fibers and used the plant to revolutionize the way they made baskets, ropes, string and ultimately textiles. …
Gaston College gets the green light to build state-of-the-art Fiber Innovation Center
In 1941, the North Carolina Textile School was established by an act of legislation, and it officially opened in 1943 with a series of classes including weaving, spinning, knitting and equipment maintenance. The school awarded its first diploma in 1945, and it established the first Associate Degree Program in Textile Manufacturing Technology in 1971. In …
Reversing the shift back to natural fibers
Once upon a time there were only natural fibers; in fact that is not very long ago! That said, synthetic fibers, such as polyester and nylon have been around since the 1930s, and in the 1980s synthetic fibers started surpassing natural fibers in marketshare. Most synthetic fibers were developed from their early conception to mimic …
Palm-based fiber provides a truly sustainable alternative for various applications
A consortium of five Egyptian researchers have developed the world’s first high-performance fibers and reinforcements extracted from the byproducts of pruning of date palms, such as frond and fruit stalks, also known as PalmFil. The fiber is not only sustainable, but also economical in manufacturing, compatible with textile and composite processing and offers the properties …
COVID, trade disputes & the global cotton market
COVID-19 is the macro event of our lifetimes, affecting the life and business of virtually everyone on the planet. For the global economy, the speed and depth of the pandemic’s effects represented an unprecedented shock. Global impact In their report released near the end of January, the International Monetary Fund was predicting 2020 would be …