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How to identify fabric???

874 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Belfrybat 
#1 ·
I just inherited some fabric and I'm stumped as to what some of it is. There is a lot of stuff that has tags on it that say "100% wool gabardine" and some even has the name of it woven into the selvedge edge. I wouldn't have guessed it to be wool, however, because it is so smooth and fine. That makes me think that some of the other stuff MIGHT be wool, too. There was a piece that said "Italian Challis, 100% wool", but again, it just looks like polyester to me!! How can I tell?

Also, I have a few pieces of silk. But they look and feel like unbleached muslin to me!!! Very rough. I always thought silk was smooth and shiny. The tag says "100% Silk Noil from China". So how can I identify other pieces that might be silk? I made a pheasant shirt from a piece of fabric that I thought was rough, knobby muslin, but now I'm wondering if it might have been a piece of that silk noil. It was very nice to work with...drapes wonderfully, etc., but frays horribly. I ended up doing every seam as a French seam.

Is there some sort of test to determine what is wool and what is silk? (I'd hate to use that cotton/poly looking stuff and not realize it was wool and then try to wash it!) Chemical? Burning? Suggestions??
 
#3 ·
Burn test is the best. The chart posted above is an excellent reference -- thank you SLFarm for posting it. If you have a piece of 100% cotton, burn it along with the fabric you have to see the difference. I can always tell wool by the burning odor -- it is very distinctive. Silk and cotton burn completely differently, hence my suggestion to compare the two.
 
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