Ceramic Yarn- Clay's Journey From Pottery To Textile

You might have heard about ceramic art, ceramic pottery or bricks but have you heard about ceramic yarn? Yes, in fact, there is a yarn made of ceramic or clay which is used for making various textile products! These wonder ceramic fabrics are also used to protect NASA's space shuttles and satellites! They are incredibly strong, fireproof and excellent heat resistant fabrics.

Ceramic Yarn

Ceramic yarn is one of the man-made mineral fibers, popularly known as mineral wool. They are made from natural or synthetic minerals or metal oxides. Ceramic yarn is noted for its high temperature resistance above 1000°C. Textile made from ceramic fiber yarns have outstanding characteristics of lightweight, low thermal conductivity and chemical stability that can resist attack from most corrosive agents. The ceramic fiber yarns are used in high temperature sealing and in producing ceramic fiber tape, rope or fabrics. The ceramic fabrics are widely used in thermal insulation industry.

The Making of Ceramic Yarn
To make ceramic fibers, chemicals like silica are heated until they are molten, and then they are spun into hair-like strands. To make ceramic yarns, ceramic fibers are carded with a blend of organic fibers to make rovings. Rovings are soft strands of fiber that have been twisted, attenuated, and freed from foreign matters such as dust etc. before converting into yarn. Then a reinforcement of glass filament or steel wire is introduced to it. This combination is then spun to produce the ceramic yarns. In applications where tensile strength is significant, textiles manufactured from a glass filament reinforced yarn may be used up to 550ºC. Textiles manufactured from steel reinforced yarn may be used up to 1050°C. Where tensile strength is not so important, yarns and textiles may be used up to 1260ºC.


Industrial Applications of Ceramic Yarn Fabrics
Ceramic yarns and textiles are mainly applied to a wide range of high temperature sealing and insulating applications. It means that they are used in materials that come in contact of high temperatures so as to prevent or reduce the passage, transfer, or leakage of heat and electricity. A good example of this type of product is ceramic blankets. Ceramic fiber ropes are also used as heat insulation materials and a substitute for asbestos rope. NASA engineers had used ceramics for Shuttle tiles that could stand up to the heat of reentry. The fibers were used to fill gaps between orbiter tiles and were woven into insulation blankets, heat shields and other protective items.

General Uses of Ceramic Yarn Fabrics
Apart from being used in industries as insulating material, ceramic yarn is now also used for warm weather fashion clothing due to its cool nature. However, such fabrics have ceramic in very low percentage. For example, one of such ceramic fabrics is made up of 95% rayon & 5% ceramic. They keep the wearers cool and protect their skin from harmful UVA & UVB rays. They are, in fact, capable of dropping the surface skin temperature by at least 5 degrees. Due to their soft sheen, anti-static and washable qualities, they are gradually becoming a choice of fabric for babies & infant wear. Ceramic yarns are also fast becoming popular for knitting projects due to their same properties of being cool, soft and silky apart from UVA & UVB rays protective.

Nano-Camo: Chameleon-like Camouflage Outfits in the Offing

In the near future, just in five to ten years, the adventurous people can see some of their fantasies come true. They can own outfits that will turn blue when at sea and brown when in a desert environment. The same effect could be used in making everyday chic fashion clothing for fashionistas that automatically changes color to fit different visual settings. Sandia National Laboratories researchers have demonstrated that, in theory, they could cause synthetic materials to change color just like certain fish species which blend with their environment by changing color.

The Basic Principle Underlying Nano Camouflage Clothing
The researchers have followed the mechanism that the fish use to change colors. The power source for the whole process depends upon the basic cellular fuel called ATP, which releases energy as it breaks down. Around 50% of the power is absorbed by the motor proteins, the tiny molecular motors that can move along surfaces. When fish change colors, motor proteins aggregate and disperse skin pigment crystals carried in their “tails” as they walk with their “feet” along the microtubule skeleton of the cell. They rearrange the color display through this.

The on/off switch
The scientists are also introducing on/off switch to control the motion of the motor proteins. The effect is controllable, and even reversible. “We essentially reengineered the protein structure to introduce a switch into the motor,” says the principal investigator George Bachand. “So we can now turn our nanofluidic devices on and off.” Previous efforts at regulating motor activity have used fuel intake as a control mechanism which operated on the principle- the less the fuel, the slower the process. However, the Nano-camo switch operates independently of fuel changes, resembling the improvement in early automobile technologies when a simple ignition switch took over for more complicated rheostats.
So, just wait and watch for the amazing chameleon-like camouflage 'Nano-camo' for fashionistas and environmentalists.

High Performance Technical Textiles

Any textile that is used for its functional characteristics is known as technical textile. The appearance and aesthetics of technical textiles are secondary and their functionality is primary factor for their usage. They are high performance fabrics that are primarily used for non-consumer applications. As such, industrial fabrics are essentially technical textile.

Various types of raw materials are used by technical textiles industry which include metals, like steel; minerals, like asbestos and glass; synthetic polymers, like PES, PA, PAN, PP etc.;
regenerated fibers like rayon fibers and acetate fibers; natural fibers like cotton fibers, jute fibers, wool fibers etc. Also, various processes are employed for manufacturing technical textiles that range from processes like weaving and knitting to stitch bonding, chemical, thermal bonding, needle punching and many more.

Technical textiles made from so many different types of raw materials and processes can be classified into many categories based upon their end uses.

Agrotech: or Agro-textiles are used in agricultural applications concerned with growing and harvesting of crops and animals.
Buildtech: or Construction textiles are used in construction and architectural applications, such as for concrete reinforcement, insulation, air conditioning, noise prevention etc. which are extensively used in football stadia, airports and hotels.
Clothtech: or Clothing textiles are all those textile products that represent functional components, of clothing and footwear such as interlinings, sewing thread, insulating fibrefill and waddings.
Geotech: or Geotextiles are woven, nonwoven and knit fabric used for civil and coastal engineering, earth and road construction, dam engineering, soil sealing and in drainage systems etc.
Hometech: or Domestic textiles are used in many hoHigh Performance Technical TextilesHigh Performance Technical Textilesme furnishing fabrics including carpet backings, curtains, wall coverings, etc.
Indutech: or Industrial Textiles have wide applications in many industries for activities like separating and purifying industrial products, cleaning gases and effluents, transporting materials between processes etc. Nets, brushes and conveyor belts are good examples of industrial textile.

Medtech: or Medical textiles are the medical fabrics used in health and hygiHigh Performance Technical Textilesene applications generally in bandages and High Performance Technical Textilessutures eHigh Performance Technical Textilestc.

Mobiltech: are the textiles used in transport industry for construction purposes in automobiles, railways, ships etc. Truck covers, ropes, tarpaulins, seat covers, seat belts, parachutes, inflatable boats, air balloons are all examples of mobiltech.

Oekotech: or Eco-friendly fabrics are mostly used in environmental protection applications - floor sealing, erosion protection, air cleaning, prevention of water pollution, water cleaning, waste treatment/recycling along with making clothing, home furnishings etc. Eco- friendly fibers are fast becoming popular due to their low impact on environment.

Packtech: or Packaging textiles are used for packaging and range from heavyweight woven fabrics used for bags, packaging sacks etc. to the lightweight nonwovens used as durable papers, tea bags and other food and industrial product wrappings.

Protech: or Protective textiles are used in the manufacturing of protective clothing that provide protection against heat, radiation, molten metals etc. to the industrial workers. Bullet proof jackets, astronauts suits etc. are the examples of protective clothing.

Sporttech: or Sports textiles are used for making sports wear and other sports accessories. Synthetic fibers and coatings have largely replaced traditional cotton fabrics and other natural fibers in the production of sports textile.

New Eco- friendly Fibers Developed from Water Lily

In the series of Eco- friendly fibers, the new water lily textile fibers have made way into the textile industry. After the successful development and commercialization of abaca, pineapple fibers and banana fibers for making Philippine tropical fabrics, the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) has now developed water hyacinth or water lily as the new fiber source.
Water lilies grow almost everywhere. Although, it is a welcome scene for many, the abundance of waterlilies had been posing a problem to the river ecosystem of the areas where they grow. They block waterways and kill aquatic life in rivers and lakes. Coupled with this problem there had been other issues before the Philippines government to tackle with, such as sliding textile industry owing to stiff competition from China, cheaper fabrics from other countries, imported raw materials, local labor unrest, higher production costs etc. All these led the government to come up with this novel solution in the form of water lily fibers that preserve the ecosystem as well as provide a viable source of income to the local residents.

The Water lily weaving center was launched way back in October 1995 that provided training for basket weaving and also marketed the finished products. However the textile fiber from water lily was unveiled by PTRI this year, along with saluyot and maguey fibers, at the International Year of Natural Fibers launching on January 22 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
According to Nora Mangalindan, the head of research and development at the PTRI, “Substituting just a fourth of imported textile with local tropical fabrics means foreign exchange savings of US$156.72 million. The world textile industry has been devoid of new natural textiles for quite some time now and it is a great opportunity for tropical fibers coming from the Philippines.”
Fibers from water lilies make good home textile like curtains, upholstery, table runners, table napkins and handicrafts.

Facts Behind the Eco-Friendly Fibers

Everyone these days seem to be talking about eco-friendly products. Textile industry too has become aware of the trend and has introduced many eco-friendly fibers for manufacturing eco-friendly fabrics. There is a common understanding among the masses that all natural fibers are eco-friendly and the man- made fibers are not. However, There are certain if's and but's regarding this general theory. Let's know what the actual meaning of eco-friendly fibers is!

What are Eco- friendly Fibers

All natural fibers are not eco-friendly. If there is extensive application of harmful pesticides or insecticides while cultivating, say, cotton- it doesn't remain eco friendly. Also the textile chemicals applied during the finishing and other processes of textile production goes to kill the eco friendly character of these fibers. However, if it's an organic cultivation without any pesticides etc. and if they are processed with mechanical or other ways without any chemicals then only a fabric can be termed as eco-friendly. The same is true for animal fibers like wool where pesticides are used in sheep dips and harmful drugs are given to cure animal diseases but then organic wool is there which is eco-friendly fiber.

As far as man made fibers are concerned, they too can be eco friendly. These are regenerated fibers. They are of two types- having protein origin and having cellulose origin. Protein origin regenerated fibers are obtained from plant protein like corn, soy, peanut etc. or from animal protein like casein from milk. Regenerated fibers of cellulose origin are derived from cellulose of wood pulp or leaves such as rayon fiber. If manufactured in environmental friendly way, they can be very well put into the category of eco friendly fibers.

Some Eco- Friendly Fibers

There are many eco- friendly fibers that are gaining popularity these days. Stinging nettle fiber comes from the Brennessel plant, naturally resistant to vermin and parasites and can be grown without pesticides, herbicides and with very little fertilizers. They are often blended with organic cotton to make a very eco-friendly fiber. It is stronger than cotton and finer than linen having fine weft and glossy look. Then there is eco-friendly pineapple fiber, the pina fiber made from pineapple leaves. The pineapple fabrics are lightweight, soft, transparent and a little stiff fabric with glossy appearance.

Milk yarn derived from milk protein fiber is yet another eco- friendly fiber that goes into making skin friendly, antibacterial, antifungal, and highly absorbent fabric. Bamboo fiber, the cellulose fiber- mechanically processed from bamboo plant, makes smooth, soft, antibacterial and luxurious fabric which has become very popular in present day fashion circles. Yet another eco- friendly, strong, shiny, lightweight and bio-degradable banana fiber is used extensively for fashion clothing and home furnishings.

Pineapple Fiber- For Healthy Eco-Friendly Dresses

Man has always been innovative. When talking of textile fibers, man has made natural fibers many plants. One of such inventions is Piña, a textile fiber obtained from pineapple leaves for making fabrics. This time it happened in the Philippines, many many years ago, tracing to Hispanic times. The people there used to extract fibers from pineapple leaves and through hand spinning, made a soft, sheer and a little stiff fabric- the piña fabric. It's regal and exotic!

Characteristics of Pina Fabrics

Pina fabric is lightweight, easy to care for and elegant in appearance similar to linen fabric. It is also blended with other fibers such as cotton, silk and polyester to make fabrics having maximum qualities. Pineapple silk is, in fact, considered the queen of Philippine fabrics.

• Naturally glossy.

• Sheer but stiff so that creative works like embroidery can be easily done on it.

• Lightweight.

• Blend very efficiently with other fibers.

• Very soft, even softer than hemp.

• Very good texture, even better than silk.

• Easily cared for.

• It is eco- friendly like other plant fibers such as banana fibers, bamboo fibers etc.

Uses of Pina Fabrics

The most wide application of pina fabrics is in making traditional dresses of the Philippines, the Barong Tagalog, wedding attire for men, and blouses for women. Other dresses such as kimonos, panuelos, gowns etc. are also made from it. Apart from clothing, handkerchiefs, table linen, mats, fans, bags are also made from different varieties of piña fabrics.

Caring for Pina Fabrics

Fabrics made from pineapple fibers are very easily cared for. They are completely washable and there's no need of dry cleaning them. Following steps can be taken to keep them as new forever.

1. Mix a little amount of mild detergent in warm water.

2. Soak the pina garment or other item to make it free from dirt and stains, then gently hand wash. If the fabric has yellowed, add vinegar to the water and soak overnight.

3. To take off stubborn dirt, always use a soft toothbrush and never scrub the embroidery on it.

4. Rinse in an up & down dipping motion. There's no need to twist or wring.

5. Hang on a hanger and shape to drip dry or lay flat to dry.

6. Iron on low to medium setting while still damp.

   • never pull fabric to straighten

   • Spray starch can be applied to make it more stiffer.

   • iron the back side where embroidered

   • hang carefully

7. Store hanging and coved with some dark & breathable fabric to prevent discoloration.

Recycle Textile Waste-Be Eco-friendly

What can be more noble than turning our waste into another person’s resource. Just think over for a while, what do you do with your old clothing? Are they still stacked on your cupboard rack or have they ended up in landfill or incinerator? You'll be amazed to know that around 11.9 million tons of textile waste or 4.7% of total municipal solid waste (MSW) was generated in 2007 in the USA! What happens to this textile waste? There's a full fledged textile recycling industry that takes care of this waste.

Textile Wastes and Their Recycling

There are two types of textile wastes. The apparel, clothing & garments and other forms of textiles coming from household sources is the post-consumer waste and the textile waste arising during yarns and fabric manufacturing or apparel-making processes is the post-industrial waste. The post-consumer waste is collected by many nonprofit organizations through door-to-door pickup within or otherwise municipal or county programs. Few people also go out of their way to make a drop off at the charitable organizations. Some counties collect used textiles with curbside recyclables pickup at regular intervals. Clothes are often given to the homeless, sold in charity shops or in developing countries. The un-wearable items are sold to merchants to be recycled and used as wiping cloths. Unsold and un-wearable clothing is sold as raw materials to textile recycling plants. Post industrial waste is generally reprocessed inhouse. Clippings from apparel manufacture are also used by fiber reclaimers to make garments, felts and blankets. Fashion designers also sometimes use recovered items for making garments and bags but this is on a very small scale.

Benefits of Textile Recycling
Textile recycling gives both, environmental and economic benefits. It avoids pollution occurring from energy intensive processes used to make textiles from new raw materials. Also the need for landfill space is reduced as also the pressure on new resources. Fibers are locally available so they don't have to be transported from abroad thus reducing pollution and saving energy once again. The textile waste doesn't have to be re-dyed or scoured and as such there is reduced consumption of chemicals and energy. Additionally waste water is also reduced as they don't have to be thoroughly washed with large volumes of water.

Contribute to Textile Recycling
Donate clothes to a textile bank or charitable organizations working for textile recycling. You can also take used clothing to local charity shops. Give old clothes, shoes, curtains, handbags etc. to jumble sales. Remember to tie shoes together. Buy second-hand clothes, preferably from a charity shop. Buy items that you are likely to wear for a long time – you need not sacrifice fashion, just choose carefully. Look for recycled contents in the apparels you buy. See the label. Buy wiping cloths instead of disposable paper products as it can be used repeatedly.

Flame Retardants: Making Textile Safer to Wear

With highly specialty focused environment everywhere- in office, home, hotels, hospitals, everywhere- the need of protective clothes have increased like never before. Textile is highly prone to fire but we can't, in any way, do away with them. They are needed to make garments, as home furnishings, and for making other textile products. What can be done, at the maximum, is to make them lesser prone to fire, that is to say, to make the clothes flame resistant. Flame retardants are used by the fabric manufacturers for achieving this aim.

flame retardants are materials that inhibit or resist the spread of fire usually through three methods- by using inorganic materials such as asbestos, glass etc; by chemically treating the textile with flame retardant chemicals; and by modifying the polymer. They can be categorized as Brominated flame retardants, Chlorinated flame retardants, Phosphorous-containing flame retardants, Nitrogen-containing flame retardants, and Inorganic flame retardants.
The flame retardant chemicals, applied to fabrics, inhibit or suppress the combustion process at different stages like during heating, decomposition, ignition or spreading of flame. They can act physically and/or chemically for resisting fire. This is done through various mechanisms such as by cooling endothermic processes triggered by the flame retardants, by forming a protective layer, by diluting the fuel in the solid and gaseous phases by reacting in the gas phase, or by reacting in the solid phase through breakdown of polymers. The flame retardants are applied to fabrics through conventional padding and many other methods.
Whatever the process followed for making flame resistant fabrics, it is true that if they were not there, the risks to our lives would have increased manyfolds. However, nowadays, everybody seems to be concerned about whether flame retardants are harmful toxins or not? Many flame retardants have been banned for use in many parts of the world. Textile industry is continuously engaged in research for finding more and more environmental and health friendly flame retardants.

The Eco-Friendly Banana Fiber

There are many natural fibers that are liked for their comfortability and looks. With the increasing environmental awareness, these natural fibers have gained unimaginable importance. Now, many raw materials that were not traditionally used for making fabrics, at least not commonly, are there to make fabrics from. One such raw material comes from banana plant- the banana fiber. Although banana fiber have been used for making textile in some parts of the world such as Japan and Nepal since very early ages yet their application in many industries has gained momentum only in the recent past.

A native plant of Southeast Asia, banana is now grown extensively in all tropical countries for fruit, fiber or foliage. Generally, banana fiber extraction is done by hand stripping and decortication. While hand stripping, a narrow strip of banana leaf sheath is placed under a serrated knife with pressure. Fiber is then extracted by pulling the leaf sheath by hand. Decortication is a mechanized process in which, cut stalks are first crushed by roller and fibers are scraped by means of revolving wheels with knives.

The fiber extracted from banana plant is brownish, somewhat flat and darker in shade. It appears like bamboo and ramie fiber, but is fine and spins better than them. It is considerably strong and also has shiny appearance. It can absorb moisture very well and is bio- degradable, thus eco- friendly.

In Japan, the traditional dresses like kimono and kamishimo are made from banana fiber and are liked especially as summer wear. The Banana silk fiber yarns are used to make traditional rugs by Nepalese women. Banana fiber is also used to make fine cushion covers, ties, bags, table cloths, curtains and many other items all over the world. Due to the growing popularity of items made from banana fibers, many manufacturers are engaged in research to come up with cost effective and fast methods of making banana fiber. One such innovation has been made in India where a Banana Fiber Separator Machine has been developed. This machine uses the agriculture waste of banana harvests to produce silk grade fiber which is widely used by handicrafts and textile industry.

Eco-Fashion: Clothing with Style and Concern

We are the children of nature and just like we have some responsibility towards our parents, we do have some towards earth and its environment too. The least we can do to show our concern is to go green while living our life. One of the most widely used daily items are our clothing. While we cannot dictate the terms to apparel, clothing and garments companies about manufacturing their products yet we can contribute in changing their minds about using eco- friendly raw materials and processes. We can go for green apparels!

While going green, do we have to sacrifice style and wear whatever is available? No! Today, many fashion designers have also become responsible and are adopting eco- friendly clothing lines. So, now we can get fashion clothing that is environmental friendly too! But do the tags saying “Eco- Clothing” are enough to identify such garments? Are there other facts too that can be known and checked while going for eco- fashion? Of course there are! Here are some ways to make a green wardrobe.

Earth-Friendly Fabrics: There are three categories of such fabrics. One, fabrics made from recycled materials such as fleece that is made from used plastic bottles. Two, the natural fabrics but natural is not enough, they have to be organic or renewable too. If you opt for traditional cotton, it is grown with tons of pesticides and processed with even more chemicals. Organic cotton can be the answer to this. Other natural fabrics like wool, linen, and silk that are renewed with organic makeover so as to make them less toxic to the environment, can also be used. Third, Renewable fabrics, in the sense that the source of such fabrics can be replenished easily, such as bamboo, jute, soy or corn fabrics. Fabrics like polyester or nylon are not renewable as their source, petroleum and its products, take millions of years to get created.

Eco- friendly laundering: Researches have shown that the fault does not, so much, lies with the construction and distribution of garments but the way they are cleaned. Washing clothes can consume a lot of water, energy and chemicals. Go for green threads, the one that can be cold washed and line dried. Learn how to eco- laundry.

New Smart Fabrics for New Year

Fresh and New Year 2009 is here! I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year! New is always charming, always better from the old. Something new is being developed at every moment- a new life, a new song, a new dish, a new cloth! From being made from natural fibers like cotton, jute and wool, the fabric companies introduced new clothes made of synthetic fibers. Then these synthetic fabrics were improvised upon and introduced with new features for comfort in all seasons- warm fabrics for winters, cool fabrics for summer and water repellent fabrics for rainy season. Now with all its research and development, textile industry has introduced new and innovative smart fabrics- the hi- tech textile. Let's have a look on some of the new textiles in this new year!

New Electronic Wearables

Health Smart fabrics: Fabrics enriched with vitamins, algae or nutrients spare us from taking them orally. Electrical wearable are also there for tracking heart rate, ECG & body temperature or warn against allergy causing elements. This is not all, smart bras can detect breast cancer at early stages. Now these doctors in form of fabrics can be with us all the time! Some fabric companies are researching for sensors which can measure conductivity, electrolyte level, temperature and pH of the users' sweat, so very useful for sportswear.

Heat Modifying Textiles: No need of different clothes for different seasons now. Heat Modifying fabrics can make the heat pass out when body gets hot and as it gets cold, they keep back the heat. Some of them are made with electric wiring to regulate the body temperature. Researches are on for Inherently Conductive Polymers (ICP) so that fabric can make the body warm or cold without any electrical wiring, lets see whether we can wear it in 2009!

Interesting Smart Wearables: Forget those anti bacterial ointments and powders, just wear underpants treated with silver for permanent anti-bacterial treatments and also get rid from odor. If you have that common embarrassing problem of emitting gas, then wear underpants that filter out the smell of emitted gas through a triangular pocket strategically placed over the bottom containing carbon for filtering out smelly gases.

Progress is not only made in the field of electronic wearables, smart products too are there for your convenience. Get a new smart fabric keyboard this year and roll up to keep it in your pocket. Use it with your pocket PC or blueberry. Now your office moves with you! Are you a music enthusiast, get a bag made of smart fabric and operate your MP3 in bag through its straps, keep your hands free for other works! There are many more smart fabric products for your use. So, what are you getting this new year!

Experimenting with New Fibers

With luxurious and fancy clothing, we do feel like a king or a queen! However, sometimes when we pay more attention to the appearance and feel of the fabric, we somehow neglect its comfort aspect. While selecting any fabric for our clothings, we must therefore keep in mind whether it is comfortable to wear or not, especially when we are going to attend a large gathering like the holiday season parties and of course, the grand Christmas party! Comfort can only make you enjoy these parties with full enthusiasm. But this doesn't, in any ways, mean that our dresses should not be luxurious or soft and attention seekers! There are many new textile fibers that are both, luxurious and comfortable, and many of them are environmentally sustainable too!

Bamboo fiber: The revolutionary fabric made of bamboo fiber, which is extracted from bamboo, is four times softer than cotton and has sheen like silk and cashmere. It feels like satin and drapes like silk. It is a breathable fabric with superior absorption quality and due to its anti-bacterial property, it keeps you odor free. If you have a sensitive skin then you can well rely on this fiber as it is anti-allergic too! It also keeps you warmer in winter and cooler in summer. So now wear a dress made of bamboo fiber fabric and dance without bothering yourself of anything else! And yes you'll be contributing positively towards environment too as it is eco-friendly. Great! Isn't it

Banana fiber: This plant fiber, banana fiber, is extracted from the bark of banana tree. Its appearance is very much similar to bamboo fiber fabric and is truly very fine having luster, light weight, strong and fast moisture absorption and release and yes it provides environmental protection too. Due to its higher capacity of water absorption, banana fiber clothing is very cool. As these banana fiber fabrics have a very good drape, you can convert them into garments of your choice and then enjoy the fruity events!

Polypropylene fiber: If you are going for a cool fabric, like the banana fiber, for this party season then you'll need an outer dress also that can keep you warm! If your dress is accompanied by some woolen garment then it's all right. But if not, then you'll require something like polypropylene, which is a synthetic, plastic-based fiber often used for the layer of clothing which is directly in contact with skin. It stays dry and thus keeps your body warmer. The lightweight and hydrophobic polypropylene yarns keep the moisture vapor away from skin. Now you know how to keep yourself warm while even showing off your beautiful dress!

Tencel fiber: Also known as Lyocell, tencel fiber is made from cellulose in wood pulp. This luxurious and refined fiber is soft, breathable, lightweight & comfortable and is similar to rayon in feel. It is an exceptionally strong fiber, along with being economical and makes fully biodegradable fabric. Tencel fiber fabric is often used for making garments, such as pants, shirts, suits, skirts and leggings but no one has stopped you from experimenting with it for making trendy party wear!