The textile industry utilizes an assortment of raw materials, from natural and synthetic fibers such as cellulose, cotton, wool, silk and jute, which are spun into yarns before being woven together to form fabric which is dyed and finished to become garments

Types of Raw Materials Used in the Textile Industry

The textile industry utilizes an assortment of raw materials, from natural and synthetic fibers such as cellulose, cotton, wool, silk and jute, which are spun into yarns before being woven together to form fabric which is dyed and finished to become garments. Unfortunately, its production processes use large quantities of water, energy and chemicals - an activity which contributes significantly to environmental pollution.

Textiles can be created out of any flexible material that can be spun into yarn and weaved into fabric, either naturally or synthetic. Textiles may come from old clothing or plants/animals/synthetic sources reclaimed from old clothes as well as natural or artificial sources like plants/animals/synths etc. Polyester and cotton fabrics are popular choices used in clothing production due to their strength and softness; however they come with their own set of drawbacks; polyester is produced using fossil fuels with potentially serious environmental repercussions while cotton grows in limited areas and hard sustainable sources can lead to deforestation/land degradation issues.

Other textiles can be reused or downcycled into industrial rags, upholstery filling and insulation materials; less than one percent is recycled back into clothing fibers while the rest may either be downcycled into industrial rags or landfilled (ETC/WMGE, 2019).

Technical textiles are comprised of synthetic or natural fibers with special performance characteristics, used in automotive and aerospace technologies as well as for medical monitoring applications to ensure drivers do not become tired or impaired while driving. These fabrics may absorb moisture or provide insulation, with some also designed to absorb perspiration or absorb airborne pollutants. Furthermore, technical textiles can even help ensure driver health - like monitoring heart rates and blood pressure to detect fatigued driving behavior or drunk driving situations.

These fabrics are manufactured by combining various fibers using either wetlaid, airlaid, carding/cross lapping processes. Staple nonwovens can also be manufactured through wetlaid and airlaid processes where fibers are deposited onto a web by multistep processes to produce products with low specific weight and high stability.

Woven fabrics feature a formal structure determined by weaving, thread density, crimp and yarn count. Woven textile materials offer many possibilities when it comes to design; however, they don't offer as much flexibility or softness than knitted and nonwoven fabrics, and may have very low specific weights. Furthermore, woven fabric is durable enough to be stiffened or folded while boasting high specific strength properties.

Use of high quality yarn is essential in producing durable textile fabrics of superior quality. Furthermore, having reliable machinery makes production faster and of higher quality; saving both money and time while decreasing errors during production processes while helping the environment at the same time.