Textile fibers

What is a fiber?

The Duden dictionary describes a fiber as a.. “fine, thin, thread-like structure consisting of a plant or animal raw material (fibrous material) or produced synthetically”. The fibers are the basic material for yarns, nonwovens or fiber composites.

Textile fibers can be roughly divided into two groups: Natural fibers (naturally occurring biogenic and mineral fibers) and man-made fibers (artificially created organic or inorganic fibers). The former can be further subdivided into

Most frequently occurring natural fibers in textiles
Frequently used natural fibers:

Fiber names Abbreviations Fiber group Origin
Cotton CO Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Gorse GI Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Hemp HA Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Jute JU Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Kapok KP Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Linen / Flax LI Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Silk SE Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Sisal SI Natural fiber Of vegetable origin
Animal hair different, depending on the hair Natural fiber Of animal origin
Wool WO Natural fiber Of vegetable origin

Fabrics made from natural fibers tend to shrink the first time they are washed. For this reason, many manufacturers nowadays have started to pre-wash the fabrics before processing in order to be able to neglect the so-called shrinkage factor when cutting and to avoid creating a shrinking effect for the customer when washing.

Frequently used man-made fiber:

Fiber names Abbreviations Fiber group Origin
acetate CA Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Alginate ALG Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Aramid AR Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Cupro CUP Man-made fiber Of vegetable origin
Spandex EL Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Elastodiene ED Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Elastolefin ELO Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Elastomultiester EME Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Fluorine fiber FL Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Glass fiber GF Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Lyocell CLY Man-made fiber Of vegetable origin
Melamine MF Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Modacrylic MAC Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Modal CMD Man-made fiber Of vegetable origin
Polyethylene PE Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Polyamide (nylon) PA Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
polyester PES Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Polypropylene PP Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Polyurethane PU Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Reg. protein fiber Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Silk SI Man-made fiber Synthetic origin (>85% acrylonitrile)
Trie acetate CTA Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Trivinyl TV Man-made fiber Synthetic origin
Viscose CV Man-made fiber Of vegetable origin

Fabrics made from natural fibers tend to shrink the first time they are washed. For this reason, many manufacturers nowadays have started to pre-wash the fabrics before processing in order to be able to neglect the so-called shrinkage factor when cutting and to avoid creating a shrinking effect for the customer when washing.

Natural or man-made fibers? Which is the better choice?

There is no general answer to this question. Both types of fiber have their advantages and disadvantages, because both types of fiber have different properties. You can choose according to the area of application or the desired properties, and in some cases, fiber blends often provide the required properties.

A detailed list of the fibers, the fiber abbreviations and their properties will soon be available here as a PDF document