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He might look a little
bit like Alexander Graham Bell, but don't be
fooled. The "father" of Rayon was a Frenchman
named Hilaire de Chardonnet. Like many
people, de Chardonnet was after something entirely
different when he stumbled upon the idea for
Rayon in 1884.
One anecdotal history
claims that de Chardonnet was working to find
a cure for a disease that was attacking French
silkworms. He was in the lab one day when
he accidentally knocked over a bottle of something
called "collodion" -- a solution that was made
out of cotton wool and was used to protect wounds
while they were healing (it was painted over
the wound like a plaster.) de Chardonnet
wasn't paying attention to the spilled bottle,
and when he went back to clean it up later,
he saw that the collodion had partially dried
and formed thread-like fibers.
Since he had silk on
the brain at that time, somehow he made the
leap of ingenuity to stop working on curing
the silkworm disease and instead create an artificial
silk. (Quite a leap, and sounds like he'd
been breathing lab air too long.) What
he eventually called Rayon is actually made
by taking cellulose, which is found in the walls
of all plant cells, and is the main substance
in wood. Our intuitive Frenchman subjected
cellulose to chemicals until it yielded a viscous
liquid that could be pushed through a spinneret
and spun into fibers.
Hilaire de Chardonnet
called his invention "artificial silk" since
it had the same sheen and feel as the much more
expensive genuine silk. Unfortunately,
the original permutations of the fabric were
highly flammable, as well, because it had a
high nitrogen content. This led to its
less-favorable nickname: "mother-in-law
silk."
From that shaky beginning
blossomed the most popular synthetic fiber of
our day, accounting for nearly 70% of the national
US synthetic market in the 1990s. Because
Rayon fibers by themselves are not very stable
or long-wearing, it is frequently combined with
other fibers like cotton, wool or polyester,
to add the positive properties of these fibers
to the Rayon.
Is
it Natural or Isn't It?
If you're asking that
question, you're not alone in your confusion.
In reality, Rayon is made up of a
natural polymer, just like everything else on
earth. That polymer is cellulose, which
is the most abundant of all naturally occurring
organic compounds. Though Rayon is composed
of naturally occurring elements, the way those
elements come together is precisely controlled
by human intervention. This makes the
fabric fall into the "synthetic" or "man-made"
category.
Why
We Love It
There's something about
the look of Rayon that's so distinctive you
can spot it across a room. Though not
a long-wearing fiber like wool or cotton, it
has its own special appeal.
- Rayon is soft, absorbent,
and comfortable to wear
- Rayon is non-static
- It drapes very nicely
and flatters many figure types
- It takes dye well,
though it may not retain it.
To
Wash At Home or Dryclean?
You know what we're
going to say next: Read the care label
carefully. The manufacturer of the garments
is required to list at least one method by which
the garment can be successfully serviced.
That doesn't mean it's the only method,
but one that is supposed to work.
Rayon frequently has
a body-enhancing sizing added to it. When
this protectant gets wet -- and that means by
dumping your tea on your lap, getting caught
in the rain, or just sweating -- it may be disturbed,
causing changes in coloration over areas of
the garment. Sometimes this can be corrected,
sometimes it can't. Manufacturers also
tend to over-dye Rayon (and other fabrics, as
well) so there may be dye bleeding when it is
washed at home.
We will test a hidden
seam area of your garment to assess its ability
to withstand our cleaning process. And,
of course, there's nothing like professional
pressing to make that favorite outfit look smashing
again.
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