Hey, Everyone!
This is Sarah with Sewing Parts Online.com and today we are going to go over how to determine
the fiber content of your fabric.
So, if you went to a thrift store or an estate sale or you inherited a bunch of fabric and
you don't know what it's made of, this test is going to help you figure it out.
Now, this is important because it will help you determine how to wash your fabric, how
you take care of your fabric, even what you want to use the fabric for.
So, before we jump in, a few safety precautions.
Make sure you have a fire extinguisher, a fire proof bowl, some tweezers, and if you
are under 18, please go get an adult.
We'll wait.
And lastly, tie up your hair.
Make sure you don't have any loose fitting clothing on.
And if you need a second reference for all the test we are about to do, Threads Magazine
has a really great fabric burn chart on their site.
Go ahead and look it up.
We'll leave the link below.
So, let's go ahead and jump in with cotton, linen, and rayon.
Cotton, Rayon, and Linen are very similar in that they all have a light, grey feathery
ash.
They all smell like burnt paper.
And they all have a nice, yellow flame.
However, the difference is that rayon takes longer to burn.
It catches quickly, but it doesn't completely finish burning as fast as cotton does.
Linen is somewhere in between.
So, if you need a gauge, go ahead and try some 100% cotton thread to see how quickly
that burns and compare to that for your other fabrics.
Now silk doesn't like to burn.
Now I know that this is silk because I got some 100% silk thread.
And it will curl away from the flame.
It smells like burnt hair.
And when it does catch flame, it kind of melts and turns into little black beads that you
can crush.
Wool behaves similarly to silk, but when it does catch flame, it kind of flickers, and
it sizzles and it curls away.
And once it does burn, the ash is dark and crispy , or it has irregularly shaped beads.
And it also smells like burnt hair, but it's much, much stronger than the smell of silk.
Now polyester catches very quickly.
It sputters like crazy, it melts, and it produces a black smoke that will more often than not,
stain your fabric black.
So nylon doesn't really burn at all.
It kind of fuses and melts together and has an intense chemical smell.
Also, you cannot crush the beads.
Now, acetate is a lot of fun to burn, but it loves to burn.
It catches really quickly.
It sputters, it goes really nuts.
And when it melts, it kind of drips like tar and has a vinegar smell to it.
Now acrylic is very similar to acetate, except it has a chemical smell as opposed to the
vinegar smell of acetate.
Now spandex will also curl away from the flame and fuse together, but spandex is always blended
with another fabric, so your results will vary depending on what it is blended with
and what percent it's blended.
I hope you enjoyed out little experiment.
If you have any questions or comments or just want to say hi, feel free to message us in
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