What is the Most Eco-friendly Fiber

How do we measure Eco-friendliness

A worldwide known measure is the estimation of Carbon Footprint for a particular activity. Carbon Footprint is the  amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community.

Measuring carbon footprint of textiles fibres involves the energy needed to make that fiber and then energy needed to weave that fiber into the yarn.

The following table gives an idea:

Energy used in MJ per kg of fiber

1. flax fiber: 10
2. Cotton: 55
3. Wool: 63
4. Viscose: 100
5. Polypropylene: 115
6. Polyester: 125
7. Acrylic: 175
8. Nylon: 250

Interestingly Cotton emits 5.90 ton of CO2 per ton of spun fiber. The same values for organic cotton ( India) are 3.80 and 2.35 respectively.

Thermal energy required per meter of weaving of cloth is 4,500-5,500 Kcal and electrical energy required per meter of cloth is 0.45-0.55 kwh and is independent of the nature of fiber. 

Processing of fibers, however, use a lot of chemicals and copious amount of water. 

Source

http://timeforchange.org/what-is-a-carbon-footprint-definition
https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/estimating-the-carbon-footprint-of-a-fabric/

Buy my books at Amazon.com

Technology of Charkha Spinning

This document is for textile technologist. You can download it from   here  or from here.

Buy my books at Amazon.com

What is the difference between Khadi and Handloom

Khadi means a cloth woven on Handloom using Hand –Spun Yarn. Handloom means cloth woven on Handloom using Mill-spun yarn.

Khadi cloth is generally much more porous. This gives Khadi a soft and well ventilated feel. The twist of the hand woven yarn is generally less than that of mill yarn. This less twist helps improve its absorption properties.

Yarn spun on Charakhaa has a twist in the direction of letter 'S'. If we twist the yarn in the direction of normal tightening of the right handed screw, the yarn gets more twist. ( The mill yarn has an opposite twist in the direction of letter 'Z').

Interestingly the count of Khadi is measured in km/kg or N/m. The general relationship between Nm and English count is 0.59 x Nm. Thus khadi that is sold in the khadi store as 250s count khadi is actually 250 x 0.59= 147s count, which is also very good.

Generally 1 meter of roving is converted to 20 m of yarn for Amber charkha.

It would be curious to know that one tree yields 1-2 kg of raw cotton. 40% of it can be used for spinning. As a thumb rule, from 1 kg of yarn of 40s count we can weave 7 to 8 sq meter of cloth ( of course, it also depends upon the reed and pick).

As a trivia, it takes 5-6 hours on Amber charkha to make a yarn required from 1 sq meter of cloth. One weaver family can weave about 200-250 meters of cloth per month.


Source 

Watch this movie on Khadi

and this movie

This movie narrates self employment through Khadi:

http://www.kvic.org.in/kvicres/images/KHADI_Englilsh_Compress.mp4 

Buy my books at Amazon.com

What is Khana or Khunn Saree Blouse Fabric

Guledgudd Khana is the name of the fabric which has obtained the Geographical Indication ( GI) Registration.

The small design motifs are a speciality of these fabrics. These designs are produced using extra threads and make the motifs appear bolder and enhance the attractiveness of the fabrics.

The basic raw material is silk, viscose and cotton yarn. However, increasingly polyester is also used. Dyeing of cotton and silk yarn is done in open using firewood. Indigo dyeing using buried earthern pots is also practised.

Street sizing is practiced. Weaving of the Khana requires a dobby attachment in both handlooms and powerlooms. The handlooms are either pit looms or plain looms. These are narrow width looms of  32 to 36 inches width.



Guledgudd is a cluster of villages in the Badami area of Bagalkot district of Karnataka. This is a great compliment to Ilkal sarees and other sarees also woven in Karnataka. Most of the designs are replicas of Suranarayana Mukta ( Sun God), Siddeswar Mukta ( Siddeswara God), Theru ( Chariot), Ane Hejje ( Footsteps of elephants), Tulsi Pan or Sooji Mallige ( Frangrance Giving Flower).These are woven by Devanga and  Veerashaiva community.

The structure of a khunn Fabric is like this:

1. Extra Warp: It is usually in viscose with yarn count of about 75/2. Sometimes silk of 16/18 denier is also used.

2. Ground Warp: It is usually of silk of 16/18 denier or polyester 80s or 30s count.

3. Border Warp: It is usually of silk of 16/18 denier or polyester 80s or 30s count. Sometimes mercerised cotton of 120s count is also used.

4. Weft: Most of the time it is of cotton of 40s or 60s count.

A few of the designs:

Deepa

Kalawar Balli

Karamantikki

Kavalihuva Putani

Navalpari

Suryanarayana Sudarshna

Kolu Teru

Bairihuwu

Reference

Buy my books at Amazon.com