Preservation of Natural Textile Fibers—Historical Perspectives

Abstract

The development of methods and tests for preserving natural textile fibers is surveyed. The effect of the environment in which the textiles are stored or exposed, chemical, physical, and biological agents responsible for their degradation, and test methods for evaluating their performance and extent of damage are discussed. Emphasis is on cotton, wool, and silk, with selected references on other cellulosic fibers such as jute and linen.[ he use of natural vegetable and animal fibers dates back to ancient times. Despite the advent of synthetic textile materials, natural fibers still account for the greater part of world fiber consumption, and their care and preservation are of paramount importance. This survey dis cusses methods for preserving natural fibers, identifies causes of degradaiton attributable to textile processing and the environments in which fibers exist or are stored, and evaluates methods of assessing their ability to withstand degradation and of determining the extent and nature of damage in the textile. Emphasis is on cotton for the vegetable fibers and on wool for the animal fibers, with selected studies on linen, jute, and silk. Since the literature on this subject is formidable, only the most relevant, current, and informative reviews, books, and references are included. The reader should delve more deeply into particular aspects of this complex and interesting subject by consulting specific references cited. Discussion of degradation is arbitrarily divided into (1) environ mental, (2) chemical agents, (3) physical agents, (4) biodeterioration, and (5) test methods.