How to Identify Constituent Fibre Percentage in a Blend-2

Blend of Acrylic with Wool, Silk, Cotton, Viscose, Polyester or Nylon

1. Dissolve the acrylic fibres with (Dimethyl Formamide - DMF). Acrylic Fibres will dissolve in DMF.

2. Filter, rinse and weigh carefully to get the ratio of Acrylic Fibres.

Blend of Protein Fibres ( Wool or Silk) with cotton, polyester, nylon or acrylic

1. Take the blended fibres ( Carefully weighed) in a conical flask.

2. Add a solution of 5% (w/w) solution of Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide and boil for 10 minutes. Protein fibres will dissolve in Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide.

3. Rinse the leftover fibres with water and neutralise with dilute Acetic Acid.

4. Weigh the fibres after drying and find the ratio of protein fibres.

Blend of Polyester with Cotton or Viscose

1. Weigh the blend and heat it with Meta cresol. Polyester fibres will dissolve.

2. Weigh the residual fibres after rinsing thoroughly and drying and find the percentage of polyester fibres.

Blend of Elastane ( Spandex or Lycra) with Cotton or Viscose

1. Treat the blend with DMF. Elastane will dissolve in DMF.

2. Filter, Rinse, dry and get the weight of residual fibres to get the percentage of elastane.