Fabric quality plays a vital role in the creation of great dresses. The design on the apparel shines only when there is a perfect fabric. There are number of self made fabrics that are available in market today. Acetate, Acrylic, Latex, Nylon, Polyester, Rayon, Spandex and Velvet are manufactured fabrics. Though they render beauty and style, nobody can refuse the clothes made of natural fiber, as natural fibers do not react with human skin. These days there are plenty of fabrics available and it is really hard to identify whether the fabric is either natural or synthetic fabric. However it is possible to perform simple tests in order to identify the fabric. Few tests are applicable to both natural and man made fabrics.
A fabric can be easily and exactly identified through burn test. But it should be practiced only by a skilled burner. This test is used by many of the designers and in various fabric stores. Cotton is inflammable and produces a leaf burning smell, but it would not burn easily as cotton has a very long yarn. Silk is also inflammable however steady flame is very rare. Wool takes time to burn but burns with steady flame. Both silk and wool smell like burning hair while the tests are performed. As Acetate is made from wood fibers it produces smell of burning wood chips. Acrylic gets ignited quickly due to its fiber contents. Petroleum and natural gas are the major contents of acrylic. They ignite easily even with a single match drop and give hard ash with a harsh smell.
Nylon fabric melts and doesn’t produce any ash at the end. It smells like burning plastic. Polyester also melts but quickly sticks with any material including skin. With the black smoke and sweetish smell polyester can be identified easily. Rayon fabric is also inflammable but produces very slight ash with the smell of burning leaves. However results of burning test are not so accurate if the cloth used is a blend of fabrics. When two or more fabrics are blended, then chemical tests are used to identify the fabric accurately.
For example acetone is a chemical in which acetate fabric dissolves. This chemical is included in some of the household things like glue or nail polish remover.
Though there are number of attractive fabrics , teens tend to prefer fashion accessories to enhance their looks. Of, course accessories are very important in the view of designers too.
Fabric identification tests are very useful to most of the designers while implementing their designs and allow them to produce high quality stuff.
