welcome page || Tex's page || projects || info || index || links || contact us
Ask Texviscose (also known as viscose rayon) is a group of fabrics and yarns produced by extruding cellulose solution through holes in a spinneret, then coagulating the resulting filaments in an acid (the viscose process). There are several different sort of viscose fibres made by modifying this process, eg crimped, hollow, high tenacity (stronger).
So viscose rayon is a particular type of cellulose fibre made using the viscose process, and it's also often called just 'viscose' or just 'rayon', because it's the commonest kind of rayon. Other kinds of rayon are cuprammonium rayon and acetate rayon.
Fabric Link has a good dictionary of fabric terms.
The web site Fibersource - the Manufactured Fiber Industry has loads of information about rayon and the viscose process as well as many other manmade fibres - it's one of the best I've seen.
And check out Rayon - the multi-faceted fiber from Ohio State University, and the Lycos Kid's Almanac - not only for kids. Education for Sustainability's Textiles Online site has a short history of viscose at http://www.e4s.org.uk/textilesonline/content/6library/report1/textile_fibres/viscose.htm
Viscose rayon and cuprammonium rayon, being cellulose, would burn rapidly, leaving an ashy residue that smells of burnt paper. Some viscose rayons are finished with resin and leave a black skeleton of the original fabric when burnt. Acetate rayon, which is not made by the viscose process, would burn readily, leaving a hard brittle black bead (by the end of the manufacturing process the original cellulose has been turned into a different chemical derivative). Fabrics.net has some info about burning tests.
What other questions have been asked?
 |
 |
Projects | info |  |
links | contact us |
Embroiderers' Guild | Embroidery | STITCH with the Embroiderers' Guild
created and maintained for the Young Embroiderers
Guild by Fiona Dix at hiraeth
mixed media