OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Marlborough Express, Volume LII, Issue 83, 12 April 1918, Page 6

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

THE PRINCIPLES -OF CLOTH ' MANUFACTURE OR HOW TO TELL. A WELL MADE FABRIC.

[fbom otjr correspondent.J

BItADFOKD, Jan. 10. Wo are living in days when difficulties are growing thick and fast regarding the obtaining of sound made fabrics, and everything indicates them increasing right up to the end of the war. No wholesale fabric buyer can to-day go to a manufacturer and say he wants a certain fabric with any likelihood of obtaining it, every mill to-day being in the position of only being able to use the raw manufacturing materials that can he obtained. No living man ever thought wo should see conditions prevailing which obtain to-day, and it is no use disguising the fact that the war is entirely responsible for this. The cry of shortage in manufacturing areas is undoubtedly the loudest of any complaint, and it is due more to the Department making provision for the future than to any actual shortage which exists. It is imperative that the powers that be look well ahead and provide for military requirements, consequently reserve stocks of wool are being created which otherwise would have been allowed to go out to manufacturers providing for civilian needs. Mills everywhere throughout Great Britain are only running fifty hours per week, and in addition there is considerable, standing machinery. It is all being done with tlie purpose of conserving supplies, the Shipping Controller having to-day all on to bring food supplies from our Colonies along with cargoes of wool want 2 ed for military fabrics. These thoughts are suggested by the conditions which obtain to-day, and in view of the fact that wholesale buyers are having to face difficult times, the thought occurs that a few remarks on the question of cloth and how to tell when it is good, will be read with interest by the readers of this issue.

I GOOD MATERIALS THE FOUNDATION OF GOOD CLOTHS. Authoritative statements have filtered through from ' Germany during recent months of all wool supplies being exhatisted, paper and other vegetable fibres to-day forming a constituent part of the fabrics which are being made." The writer was privileged to see a few days ago a [combed sliver after the order of 'combed wool produced from nettles, I and the material is simply marvel- | lous. We say, unhesitatingly that brains that can take nettles from the hedgerows, treat them by combing and spinning ought to be spending that energy in a far different way. to manufacturing instruments for the destruction of human life. The combed fibre in question is as white 'as silk, and has the appearance of mercerised cotton. It h vas actually been spun to single 30's, and dyed several attractive colors. The yarn is fairly strong, but it lacks elasticity and life, and while it will do as a makeshift for blending with other sounder materials it can never equal fabrics made from wool. Tlie writer makes the. assertion that any fabric produced from a vegetable fibre can never possess the strength or heat retaining qualities of those made from wool ov even mungo or shoddy. In, other words, nothing will, ever be found to supersede the fleece of the sheep in.-p roducing a sound wearable fabric. It seems as if a higher power has designed the fleece of the sheep'■•as the natural product for clothing man, and as long as the world lasts good wool will form the foundation of ' good cloth, and the less is put into a blend forming tlie raw material out of > which the woven fabric h made, the more unsatisfac-' tory will be the fabric. ' THE DIVIDING LINE.

In looking at this subject, fabrics divide themselves into three' classes, all cloths coming under the 'category of woollen, worsted or cotton. It is the two former. which we want to deal "with. In America, cotton worsteds are an every day product, arid are sold by the regular wholesale houses, but here in England, cotton worsteds are unknown, the term being entirely a misnomer. To use solid cotton spun yarns and weave them into twills or corkscrews in imitation of worsted coatings has never found favor in Great Britain, perhaps weather conditions in summer time not favoring their wear. Instead of manufacturers producing theso cloths, a great number produce solid worsteds of 14 to 15 ozs in weight and up to 16 ozs, while for winter wear solid worsteds are made anywhere from 18 to 22 ozs to the yard. It can here be said that worsted fabrics lend themselves less to adulteration than woollen cloths. This is due to the principle of manufacture. . If anyone buys a solid indigo blue serge; the wearer can rest assured that he is purchasing a pure wool fabric which should wear exceedingly well. In fact, there is nothing yet to beat a blue worsted serge, this being the chief reason for the fabric never being out of date. After twenty-five years' experience of mill life, the writer is able to say that a solid worsted fabric either for men's or women's wear' is hard to beat, simply because the yarns are spun from a combed top, the top being produced solely from the pure wool fibre. If one is content with really hard wear, then a well made worsted fabric beats woollen, this being due to the principle of manufacture. It is really wonderful ■what to-day can be made out of worsted fabrics, in fact it is safe to say that from a hard twisted worsted yarn, a more attractive fabric can be made than from woollen, and what the latter lacks in attractiveness it has in its heat retaining property. The reader should put it down as a fundamental principle that a solid worsted fabric as a rule gives every .satisfaction. When serges wear shiny, it is due to the nature of the yarns, and the harder twisted they are in spinning, the sooner they go shiny. Still it is a fact that one does not meet with the same appearance on worsted cloth after being worn one_ or two seasons as formerly, and it is also remarkable that cloths made from crossbred yarns go shiny sooner than when made from merino.

Woollen made fabrics are also sound and good, if made from pure wool. The principle of spinning a woollen yarn is quite different to that of worsted, for where in the latter the fibres are kept parallel to each other in the combing operation, woollon yarns are treated very differently in the carding and spinning1 operation. Here the fibres are all rubbed together in the scribbling machine, the resultant cloth presenting a very different appearance when in the finished state. It is difficult to make the average reader clearly understand the principle of woollen manufrM+.urp. At every mill there a wiliey-house where, the Blending is

done, and it is here where one can observe every working day of the week different materials being blended together to form the basis of the woven fabric. Of course there are many woollen cloths produced from pm\j virgin wool, but we should say that the" majority of woollen cloths are produced from a blond of wool, mungo, and cotton. If the cloth is a crossbred one, then instead of mungo, shoddy will be used, the latter being simply pulled from old stockings, jerseys and similar cast-off fabrics. It is safe to say that woollen cloths lend themselves more to adulteration than worsteds, and yet some excellent fabrics are being turned out containing an admixture of the materials named. It may surprise the reader to know that it is no uncommon thing for a woollen manufacturer to carry hundreds of different colors *ii dyed wool, mungo and cotton which are all used in obtaining different shades, the blending always being done in, the wilieyhouse. »

In the production «f British khaki cloths, both drab and tartan serge (two cloths) a worsted warp is used and a woollen weft. Many years' experience have proved^ that a worsted cloth wears like pinwire, but they do not retain the heat the soldier wants when in the trenches. To get over this difficulty a worsted warp is used along with a woollen weft, and today in the production of the latter, 50 and 75 per cent of virgin wool is used, the remainder being khaki serge mungo and wool wastes which make up the blend. This produces satisfactory fabrics, which are sound and retain the natural heat of the body to the maximum. The reader can always rest assured that the raw materials used in the first instance determine the character of the cloth, and for such to be sound and well made, the nearer they approach to being made from virgin wool, the better they will be. A MISTAKEN .IDEA.

The opinion prevails in many quarters that the heavier the fabric, the better it is. This is not in harmony with the principles of manufacture. If a heavy fabric is made from pure wool, then, of course, it is boraid to bo excellent, as for instance the heavy overcoatings wMeli' are worn to-day by the British troops. Still there are many woollen cloths on the market that feel thick and boardy which are very poor indeed'- Dotli from a wearing and heat retaining standpoiat. It is a fundamental principle of manufacture that to.', obtain a fine spun yarn, good wool must be used, whereas to obtain a thick spun yarn, say the thickness of medium twine, any kind of rubbish that lias two ends will spin the woollen; yarn. Hence it is often the case that a very well made light weight fabric wears better, looks smarter for a longer period, and lias more heat retaining property about it .than a thick heavy woollen cloth. Often, the latter has a cotton warp for 'its foundation across which is put a thick shoddy weft, the cotton warp being completely hid in the process of finishing. After many years spent inside one of the best mills in the West Riding, the writer ventures to say that in order to obtain a good woven fabric that will give satisfaction to the wearer, there is nothing to boat one made from virgin, wool.