Friday, October 10, 2014

Man-Made Fibers with Erica


As spinners, we work with lots of natural fibers, and may think of "synthetic" as a dirty word, but did you know there is a third fiber  category?  Man made fibers come from a single source in nature, like corn or bamboo, but go through both physical and chemical processes to become a spinnable fiber. Some of these fibers are brand new, but the first was created in the nineteenth century.  Erica Fire will talk about six man made fibers:  rayon, bamboo, ingeo, soy silk, milk silk (or silk latte), and seaCell.  She'll discuss their history, what they're made of, how they're made and also some of their "green" claims.  If you have made anything from one of these fibers, please bring it in to show as part of show and tell.  Please feel free to bring spinning or anything else you'd like to work on during the talk.