textile science

7. FIBER BLEND

Fiber blending is a common method to produce new textile materials by combining properties of individual fiber components together. There are many fiber blends available in the market. Some examples are cotton – polyester, nylon – spandex, wool – rayon, etc. They serve a wide range of properties to suit different applications.

A blend is a fabric with two or more fibers, which are put together before or during spinning so that each yarn is made up of different fibers that cannot be mechanically separated, these yarns are thin and are used to make up a fabric. E.g. warp yarns could be made up of cotton and wool fibers whereas the weft yarns could be made up of cotton and rayon fibers.

This is a cotton/wool/rayon blend therefore, mixtures can be mechanically separated while blends cannot be mechanically separated

Types of Fiber Blends

Blending can be classified into different categories based on the textile fiber composition or way of blending used. The following are some common combinations of different fiber types:

	Blending nature	Type	Examples
A	Natural– Natural	Cellulosic – Cellulosic	Cotton – Ramie
		Protein – Protein	Wool – Cashmere
B	Natural – Regenerated	Cellulosic - Regenerated	Cotton - Rayon
		Protein - Regenerated	Wool – Rayon
C	Natural – Synthetic	Cellulosic - Synthetic	Cotton – Polyester, Cotton – Spandex
		Protein - Synthetic	Wool – Polyester, Wool – Acrylic
D	Synthetic – Regenerated	―	Polyester – Rayon
E	Synthetic – Synthetic	―	Nylon - Spandex

 

Apart from composition, classification of blended fabrics can be based on the way the fibers are blended.

	Blending Nature	Type	Examples
A	Staple - Staple	Yarn	Cotton - Ramie
B	Core spun (Staple – Filament Blends)	Yarn	Cotton – Polyester Core Yarn
C	Bi-Constituent or Tri-Constituent	Synthetic Filament	Acrylic – Acrylic Filament
D	Blended Fabric	Fabric	Polyester Warp / Cotton Weft

 

Several types of bi-constituent or tri-component fibers with different textile materials A, B and C are fused together to form a single fiber

 Advantages of Fiber Blending

The following is the summary of the advantages of fiber blending.

·          Low cost by using a cheap fiber with expensive one

-          Besides contributing to comfort and functionality, blends can produce economical materials.

-          Camel hair can be blended with sheep wool. Camel hair provides warmth without adding weight, and it is finer and more expensive than cotton, so a camelhair-sheep wool blend produces a lighter and warmer blend than sheep wool alone.

-          Cotton is frequently blended with polyester; the blend is more economical than a 100% cotton product.

-          Cashmere (an expensive wool) and sheep wool are sometimes blended together to make the product cost-effective.

·         Blends help to create a variety of aesthetic effects.

-          Plated fabric - Blending is also used to create many weaving and knitting structures, such as plated fabrics

-          Cross-dyed fabrics - Blends are also used for cross-dyed fabrics. When dyeing fabric with two different classes of dyes in a blend, it is possible to dye both parts in completely different colors. It is called "cross-dyeing.

·         Quick development time

·         Advantages of different fiber components can be combined and manifested

·         Enhancement of particular advantages of a fiber component and improve fabric performance

·         Minimize, reduce or cover up the demerits of a fiber component

·         Permit application of certain finishes and give different textures or appearances

·         Give a chance to fine tune various properties to suit different applications by changing fiber composition