Types of Fabrics
Fabrics are either natural or synthetic, based on the type of fiber they’re comprised of. Natural
fibers can further be divided into two categories: cellulose and protein. Cellulose
fibers, such as cotton and linen, originate from plants,while protein fibers, such as wool, are
made from animal sources. Unlike natural fibers, manufactured fibers can be extruded in
various thicknesses.
   It is important to understand that each fiber has a unique composition and its own set of
physical properties.
Fiber manufacturers have been able to modify the basic composition of each generic
fiber, both chemically and physically, to produce variations which provide improved characteristics,
a softer feel, greater comfort, brighter/longer lasting colors, better warmth/cooling,
moisture transport/winking, and better properties for blending with other fibers. These
improved fibers are typically given a trademark name and are owned and promoted by the
fiber producer. The most common fibers available on the market today include:
• Wool is generally obtained from the fleece of sheep, and is considered to be one of the
best natural fibers for all types of fabrics.Wool is also dirt resistant, and, in many weaves,
resists wear and tearing. It has excellent resilience and elasticity. Although wool will burn
when exposed to flame, it is self-extinguishing when the flame is removed. It accepts dyes
well and can be cleaned easily.
• Cotton is a cellulose fiber that comes from the cotton plant’s seed pod. Cotton breathes,
is relatively inexpensive, and has moderately good abrasion resistance. However, cotton
has poor resilience and recovery properties and degrades under prolonged sunlight
exposure. It is also subject to mildew. Mercerized cotton is treated to permanently
straighten the cotton fibers which then becomes a smooth, rod-like fiber that is uniform in
appearance with a high luster. Cotton is often blended with other fibers such as polyester,
linen,wool, to blend the best properties of each fiber.
• Linen is from flax, a bast fiber taken from the stalk of the plant. It is the strongest of the
vegetable fibers and has 2 to 3 times the strength of cotton. However, it is seldom used for
upholstery because it lacks resilience, flexibility, and is susceptible to abrasion. In addition,
it does not take printed dyes very well.
• Silk is a natural protein fiber, taken from the cocoon of the silkworm. It is very strong and
has good resilience and flexibility. The finish and luster of silk are generally highly valued,
but it is very expensive and is weakened by sunlight and perspiration.
• Acetate fiber is a manufactured cellulose fiber made from wood pulp—a natural, renewable
resource—and acetic acid. It is a regenerated cellulose fiber that is flammable and
288 S p a c e P l a n n i n g f o r Commerce i a l a n d R e s i d e n t i a l I n t e r i o r s
does not wear well. Like rayon, in its unmodified state it has poor sunlight resistance. Both
light and flame resistance can be improved by treating the fiber. Improved formulations
(for example, the incorporation of antimicrobial ingredient to inhibit the growth of bacteria,
mold, mildew and fungi in products) include: Celandine, Celebrate, Micro safe.
• Nylon is one of the most popular synthetic fibers. It has exceptional durability and tear
strength, with high resiliency and elasticity. Nylon is lightweight, and resistant to many
chemicals,water, and microorganisms. Some of the first nylons were not resistant to sunlight
and had a shiny appearance, but these problems can now be compensated for by
chemical formulations. Nylon works well solo or in combination with other popular synthetic
or natural fibers to obtain the superior advantages of both. Prime nylon producers
include: Allied Signal, BASE Corp., Cook son Fibers, DuPont, and Solution's.
• Acrylic is often used as a replacement for wool because of its appearance. It has moderately
good strength and resilience and is very resistant to sunlight but can be flammable.
Mod acrylics have similar properties but have much greater resistance to heat and flame.
Due to its lower specific gravity, acrylic fiber also produces fabrics having more bulk without
extra weight. A recently introduced acrylic fiber is Weather Bloc™ which has many
interesting properties; it is weather resistant, tough enough for fabrics which must perform
out-of-doors, impervious to UV light degradation, excellent print base, withstands mold
and mildew, remains brightly colorfast, and produces fabrics which sew easily,make up
beautifully and possess excellent dimensional stability. Some of the better known trademarks
are: ) is inexpensive and is highly resistant to chemicals,
mildew, and microorganisms. It has good color retention and is highly resilient and nonabsorbent.
Its desirable qualities make it useful for carpeting and carpet backing, but its low
resistance to sunlight, heat, and flame makes it undesirable for most upholstery fabrics.
Some of the better know trademarks include:
• Polyester has many desirable qualities including good resilience and elasticity, high resistance
to solvents and other chemicals, and good resistance to sunlight. Its lack-luster
burning properties, can be remedied by treatment to make it more flame-resistance. It
also tends to absorb and hold oily materials. DuPont is one of the prime manufacturers of
polyester fiber; others include Cook son Fibers,Bellman, and Kora.
• Rayon is the result of efforts to create a cheaper substitute for the precious and expensive
silk fiber. Even though rayon is considered a manufactured fiber, it is made from tree cellulose.
It has poor resistance to sunlight and poor resiliency. It is also flammable which is why
it is not often used for upholstery. One common trade name for rayon is Modal®. Rayon is
highly absorbent, soft and comfortable, easy to dye and drapes well. Rayon is commonly
blended with other fibers to obtain the best characteristics from each fiber.
 By
  Vijayalakshmi N. M.Sc, M.Ed.

JACQUARD WEAVE

                                                                    JACQUARD WEAVE

Jacquard is a style of "figure weaving." It can be used to create elaborate designs and detailed images of objects such as flowers and birds. This is done on a Jacquard loom, a device invented in Lyons, France by Joseph-Marie Charles Jacquard in the early 1800s. Before that time, figure weaves could only be made by more labor-intensive techniques such as tapestry, adding extra yarns to the surface of another weaving by hand (supplementary weft), using different sizes of yarns to make parts of the pattern stand out (dobby weaving), or by using a draw loom.

Jacquard loom punched card

Draw looms were invented more than two thousand years ago in China and are operated by two people. The weaver sits at the front of the loom, adds the filling yarns, and beats them in place. An assistant sits at the side of the loom and lifts combinations of dozens (or even hundreds) of harnesses. These are frames with "heddles" that hold one or more yarns in place. Joseph-Marie Jacquard modified the draw loom by replacing harnesses with individual heddles attached to small weights. He also used a series of metal punch cards that could tell the loom the order and number of heddles to lift, replacing the need for a human assistant. Until the invention of computers, Jacquard looms were the most complicated pieces of machinery in the world. In fact, the punch cards used by early computers were based on the Jacquard system. In a reversal of fortune, Jacquard looms now use computers instead of cards to keep track of the pattern.

APPEARANCE AND USE

Jacquard fabrics have a distinct front and backside. The front shows the design in crisp detail, but the back is covered with long "floats." These floats are yarns that were carried on the back of the fabric whenever they were not needed to form the design. Because the floats are easily snagged, the back of a jacquard fabric must be lined or hidden. An easy place to see floats is on the back of a clothing label-labels that are not printed are generally jacquard weavings.

As the design becomes more complex and the number of colors increases, more and more yarns have to be carried on the backside. This can make the cloth very heavy. For this reason, many jacquard fabrics are restricted for use in home furnishings. Brocade, made from silk or a synthetic material such as polyester, is one of the few figure weaves light enough for clothing. Although the mechanization of jacquard weaving has made it much less expensive to produce, brocade is still worn primarily for special occasions. Other figure weaves used in clothing, such as piqué and waffle weave, have a small textured pattern created by using a series of different yarn sizes. These patterns are less complicated than brocade and do not necessarily require a Jacquard loom.

MODERN TAPESTRY

Damask is a one-color, relatively lightweight cotton or linen jacquard fabric (originally produced on a draw loom) that is used for elegant curtains and tablecloths. Small floats on the surface are ironed or pounded flat (in a process called beetling) to make the cloth very smooth and lustrous. Heavier jacquard fabrics are used for upholstery and accessories such as shoes and handbags. Although these are sometimes called "tapestry," real tapestries are extremely expensive and are made by a very different process.

QUALITIES

Fabrics with a jacquard weave are generally stronger and more resilient than those with basic weaves. They are also usually lustrous (depending on the fibre type) with intricate patterns and designs.

FABRICS WOVEN IN JACQUARD WEAVE

Brocade, brocatelle, damask, jacquard taffeta, lampas, pashmina.

Preferences for the Work Triangles of the Selected Households

Preferences of the work triangles in the kitchen

One of the most studied areas for increasing the performance of interior design is the kitchen. The reason for this it is being most important area of work triangle and work compared to other areas from which high performance in many criteria is expected such as functionality, durability, and hygiene. Increasing the performance of kitchen design is divided into two groups. First group consists of work triangle and performance of the work surfaces and basic design performance. There is no study to establishing. Relation between ‘’basic design rules and user requirements in a performance in obtained resources. The goals based upon the kitchen work triangle are to place the three most common work sites the most efficient distance apart and to minimize traffic through the work zone. The work triangle still remains the core of the design for an individual in order to efficiently complete preparation of meals. However, it must expand and reconfigure for multiple cooks. This may be accomplished by designating task areas within the work flow thus creating a circular flow of the meal processes from storing to prepping to cooking to serving to cleaning-up and re-storing. At last, researcher concludes that the concept of Kitchen work triangle still works well for small kitchens, but there too only the individual’s lifestyle can decide what kind of kitchen they want to have in your home.

The house grew out of man’s need for shelter and also out of his ability to symbolize his need for identity. The divergent origins of the house distinguish “house” from “home”. “House” refers to an object, possession or measureable space, while “home,” describes an “emotionally based and meaningful relationship between dwellers and their dwelling places.” The important of housing cannot be sufficiently emphasized. The home can make or mark one’s well-being. Homes remained a place from peace and quiet, this made people to realize that the form of residences can be improved to an ideal home.

The kitchen is a very important room in the house, because on the cleanliness and the quality of the food that is prepared there in depends the health, comfort and happiness of the family. The kitchen remained largely unaffected by architectural advances. Kitchen is the major part of the house around which several home activities revolve. Every homemaker’s motto is a space for everything and everything in its place. The kitchen is the major part of the work area of the average home. An Indian homemaker spends about five to six hours a day in the kitchen, which may amount to approximately one-fourth of her lifespan. A well organized home is determined by the quality of kitchen. It is a place where a homemaker spends large part of her day. Hence it is the most lived in room and the most expensive room in the house.

Today more and more women are working outside of the home. Women in India work more than 14 hours a way, much harder than men on variety of tasks. Research has shown that an average woman spends about 3 ½ hours every day in the kitchen. Within inflexible standards to meet both at home and at work place the working women always are chasing an impossible ideal. New life styles, new concepts of planning and technological advances all play a role in transforming kitchens from dull and sterile work areas to cheerful, colorful centers for me loused charm, kitchen should reflect the taste and character of its owners.

The kitchen work triangle’s taken a flogging in recent years by many kitchen designers who say it’s now more or less irrelevant. It’s easy to see how the changes in the way one uses the kitchen have given fuel to the mounting arguments against the relevance of the kitchen work triangle as the main guiding principle in kitchen design. The types of foods cooked nowadays are different and require very different preparation. The tools used to cook and prepare them are completely different too, as are today’s meal and junk filled eating patterns in general.

The work triangle's as close as it gets to a 'one size fits all' way to design kitchens, but it's by no means the only design consideration that should be taken into account. Modern designers plan kitchen as utility rooms where in the kitchen not just provides a space for cooking but for the three main areas of work like cooking, laundry and serving in addition to storage of equipment. Kitchens are thus expected to do a lot of work in a little space.

Thumb rule is that, no single leg of the triangle shorter than 4 feet or  longer than 9 feet. Efficiency is the triangle's main goal, as it keeps all the major work stations near the cook, without placing them so close that the kitchen becomes cramped. The work triangle is also designed to minimize traffic within the kitchen so the cook isn't interrupted or interfered with. It was welcoming to note that about 38%, 52% and 39% of the investigated household kitchen were close to recommended work leg dimensions in average between 6’-7’ and 7’-8’ for suitable measurement that ranged in sequence of 8’, 6.5’ and 8’ each. The work triangle isn't without its flaws though. The table above illustrates one of its problems: It assumes that a kitchen will only have three major work stations and one person cooking. As kitchens grow in size, and feature more than three work spaces, the regular work triangle isn't always practical. And in many households today, two or more people share cooking duties. Because of these issues, designers do not always play by the triangle's rules when it comes to drafting kitchen plans.

          The work triangle still remains the core of the design for an individual in order to efficiently complete preparation of meals. However, it must expand and reconfigure for multiple cooks. This may be accomplished by designating task areas within the work flow thus creating a circular flow of the meal processes from storing to prepping to cooking to serving to cleaning-up and re-storing.

BY

GEETHA.N

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

                                                                     DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR DESIGN AND DECOR