Fabric Expertise

Blossom and Browne's Sycamore Laundry has been operating for over 120 years in the London area. Based on this expertise, we've collated the following interesting facts about fabrics:

Fabric Sources

Animals (e.g. wool or silk)

• Pure Wool comes from sheep and has waterproof properties due to the natural lanolin produced by the animals
• Cashmere is from the Cashmere goat
• Mohair is from the coat of the Angora goat
• Angora is from the coat of Angora rabbits
• Vicuna is a type of wool from a relative of Llamas
• Silk is from the cocoon of the Mulbery silkworm

Plants (e.g. cotton or linen)

• Cotton is a fibre that grows in a fluffy 'boll' around the seed heads of the cotton plant
• Linen is made from the flax or linseed plant
• Jute is often called Hessian and is also known as Burlap in the USA and is from a plant in the same genus as flax
• Bamboo is rapidly becoming an eco-friendly alternative to cotton due to its sustainability, absorbancy and softness
• Lyocell is a fabric made from wood pulp and is also marketed under the name Tencell

Synthetic (e.g. nylon or polyester)

• Lurex is a synthetic fibre coated in metal
• Nylon was intended as a synthetic replacement for silk
• Polyesters are also used to make plastic bottles and other everyday plastics
• Spandex is also know as Lycra or Elastane - it is an anagram of the word 'expands' referring to its stretchy nature

Synthetic (e.g. nylon or polyester)

• Lurex is a synthetic fibre coated in metal
• Nylon was intended as a synthetic replacement for silk
• Polyesters are also used to make plastic bottles and other everyday plastics
• Spandex is also know as Lycra or Elastane - it is an anagram of the word 'expands' referring to its stretchy nature

Fabric Manufacturing

• Acetate is used to enhance the 'shininess' of fabrics
• Velvet is made on a special loom which makes two layers at the same time and is then cut in half to give its characteristic 'pile'
• Starching reduces stains and wrinkles

Fabric Measurement

• Thread count refers to the fineness or coarseness of a material and is measured by the number of threads per square inch or square centimetre
• A 'standard' thread count is 150, good quality fabric features a threadcount of over 180 and if a fabric has a thread count of over 200 it is called 'percale'
• Fabric weight is measured in 'denier' in the UK and USA. It is based on silk and is the mass in grams per 9000 metres of filament
• Microfibre is a fabric of less than 1 denier
• An alternative measuring system is used in Canada and Europe called Tex which is measured on the mass in grams of a single filament per 1000 metres

Fabric History

• Linen is labour intensive to make but prized for its coolness and freshness in hot weather and can be traced back as far as 5000BC
• Wood block printing to create patterned fabrics can be traced back to Chine c. 200AD
• Spinning wheels have been around in India since 500-1000AD

If you have any queries about fabrics and fabric care, please complete our contact form online or call our head office on 020 8552 1231