Era Of Dangerous Competition For Woollen Goods

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 3, 2 October 1950, Page 8

Era Of Dangerous Competition For Woollen Goods

A new era of dangerous competition is ahead of the wool industry, in the opinion of many American industrial chemists. For the first time in its long and prosperous history, wool has already ceased to enjoy its former monopoly. In this article a special correspondent in New York describes the progress made by artificial wool-like fibres in the past ten years. Man-made, 'synthetic fibres are beginning to approach some of the outstanding qualities which . for thousands of years were associated with wool alone. “American chemists are dreaming big dreams,” said the head of a large New York textile research laboratory. “They dream of displacing wool. “Of course, wool is still a very fine fibre. It is still, on the whole, better than any of our synthetics. But remember, our research for the most part only started less than 10 years ago. “If we can match these achievements in the next 10 years, we’ll have fibres equal to wool, in some respects better than wool, and certainly a lot cheaper than wool.” Professor George D. Beal, assistant director' of the world-famous Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, states: “There is no reason why keratin, the basis of wool, should not be duplicated in the laboratory. In fact, I believe it has beein approached closely.” What, then, has chemistry achieved in the last decade? The answer can best be given by looking at some of the synthetic products launched by the great chemical concerns' of America and Great Britain —firms like E. L. du Pont de Nemours and Union Carbide and Carbon in the United States, and Imperial Chemical Industries in Britain. Some wool substitutes: —

Orion: Many experts consider du Pont’s orlon the miracle jof the synthetic textile world. It has excellent warmth at very light weights, amazing strength, complete resistance to moths, mildew, and many acids. On the debit side, orlon has several “bugs” which still need ironing out. It is not easy to spin. It has met undeniable dyeing problems. Dynel: Dynel, made by the Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, has many characteristics similar to orlon: light weight and good warmth, first-rate bulkiness, rej sistance to sunlight and chemicals, and washability. It is also said to be allergy-proof. Dynel is reputed to spin with greater facility than orlon, and has encountered fewer dyeing difficulties. Its principal defect, according to UCC, it that hot ironing would damage the fabric. “Heavy” Rayon: American rayon manufacturers, elated with their success in the summer “comfort” wear field, are out to imitate allyear finished and unfinished worsteds. t They have developed 14oz fabrics which, though lacking the resilience of orlon and dynel and inferior in many respects, will be many times cheaper than wool or the “quality” synthetics.

But it still resists the delicate colour shadings of wool and doesn’t quite match the feel and absorptive