CLOTHES OF RUBBER

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 96, 17 January 1933, Page 14

CLOTHES OF RUBBER

New Weaving Invention REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE People in Britain will soon be wearing rubber clothes, states an English - journal of recent date. A revolution of the textile industries of Europe will begin within the next few weeks if negotiations between a great American rubber company and European firms for the application of a new weaving invention to wool, silk, and cotton come to the expected satisfactory end. This invention involves the use of a new rubber thread as the weft in all materials, giving them extra wear, greater elasticity, and making them crease-proof. The invention can be applied to both men’s and women’s clothes and also to furnishing fabrics without increasing the cost of the materials. Negotiations for the application of this new process in Great Britain are nearly concluded. If they are successful work will be provided for thousands of men and women. Lancashire '■ and Yorkshire will hear the hum of scores of looms which have long been idle. America has gone mad about this new rubber thread. Sales amounted to more than £BOO,OOO in the first week when it was put on the market not long ago. The factories are working twentyfour hours a day, yet cannot meet the demand. The invention consists of a superfine thread of latex (pure rubber as it comes from the tree), which is wound with from two to nine spider webs of silk or cotton. The thread, it is claimed, can stand any amount of washing and ironing. It resists damp and heat, and is said not only to prevent the fabric from creasing where not intended to crease, but also to keep folds and creases in materials where they are intended. Clothes made of these materials will automatically lit the figure. Materials made with the thread will have a life, it js claimed, from four to five years longer than other fabrics, yet they will retain their appearance to the end. The price of the thread is at present high owing to the precision with which It has to be made. It is, however, thin and light, and being sold by the pound like rubber. It can be woven to produce lengths at a normal cost.