Flax

Submitted by-
Lili
M.Sc (C.T) 3rd sem.
 Textile classification-

 The flax fiber is classified, as a natural, cellulose, bast,

multi-cellular fiber. it is considered to be a heavy
fiber, for this reason that most linen textile
materials are of light construction. Thick linen
textile materials would be uncomfortably heavy to
wear.
 Fiber morphology-
 The macro-structure of flax-
 The flax fiber is a thick, regular fiber with a subdued
luster.

 It ranges in length from about 10cm to 100 cm, averaging

about 50cm in length.

 As the flax fiber is a strand of cells, it thickness depends

upon the number of these cells, about 3-6 cells
constitute a fiber cross section.

 The flax cells are about 25mm long and 10µm to 20µm
thick.This would be give an average fiber thickness
ranging from about 40µm to 80µm.
 Its fiber length to breadth ratio is 15000:1 for the
longest and the best flax and 1500:1 for Short flax
fibers .

 The color of flax varies from light blond to grey

blond, the particular shade resulting from the
agricultural and climatic conditions under which it
was grown and the quality of retting.

 The subdued luster of flax is due to its long regular

fiber surface, which is coated with a film wax. This
enables a significant amount of the incident light to
be reflected, resulting in the subdued luster.
 There may be up to 80 nodes in a single flax
fiber cell. The length of the node indicates the
width or thickness of the fiber cell.

 Where ever a node occurs, it indicates a change

in the spiral direction of the fibrils which
constitute the cell walls.

 Such spiraling imparts strength to the cell and,

hence, to the flax fiber
 Microscopic appearance of flax-
 The cross markings, known as nodes, on flax fibers
give them their characteristic microscopic
appearance.
 The micro-structure of flax-
 The flax fiber cell is covered with a wax film.

 The cell walls of flax are constructed of spiraling

fibrils composed of cellulose polymers.

 On the whole, the flax cell is more sturdily

constructed then the cotton cell, as indicated by the
former’s thicker cell walls.

 This explains, in part, the greater tenacity of flax

compared with cotton.
 The polymer system-
 The flax polymer and its polymer system-
 it has a degree of polymerization of about 18000.

 This means the flax polymer is about 18000nm long, and about
0.8nm thick.

 The polymer system of flax is more crystalline , because of its

longer polymers, spirals about each other at approximately 6°
to the fiber axis, thereby contributing towards the tenacity and
durability of fiber.

 The greater crystallinity of flax fibers is demonstrate by the fact

that they are stronger, crisper and stiffer to handle, and textile
materials wrinkle more readily than those of cotton fibers.
 Physical properties-
 Tenacity-
 Flax is a very strong fiber because it’s very crystalline polymer
system permits its extremely long polymers to form more
hydrogen bonds than cotton polymers.

 Elastic-plastic nature-
 The very inelastic nature is due to very crystalline polymer
system.

 It tends to lock its polymers into position with the aid of the
countless hydrogen bonds which form between the polymers.

 Flax will resist being flexed or bent,. When these are bent or
flexed, their polymers are liable to break leading to fractures
in the polymer system.
 Hygroscopic nature-
 Flax fiber is very absorbent,

 Owing to the countless polar –OH groups in its

polymers, these attract water molecules, which are also
polar.

 Aqueous swelling of the flax fiber is due to a

separation or forcing apart of polymers by the water
molecules in the amorphous regions only.

 The polarity of the water molecules, attracted to the

hydroxyl groups on the polymers, dissipates any static
charge which might develop.
 Thermal properties-

 Flax has the best heat resistance and conductivity of

all the commonly used textile fibers. No satisfactory
explanation can be offered for this.

 Excessive application of heat energy causes the flax

fiber to scouch, char and burn, This is an indication
that flax is not thermoplastic,

 which may be attributed to the extremely long fiber

polymers and the countless hydrogen bonds they
form.
 Chemical properties-
 Effect of acids
 flax fibers are weakened and destroyed by acids.

 Acidic conditions hydrolyze the flax polymer at the

glycoside oxygen atom, which links the two glucose
units to form the cellobiose unit.

 Mineral or inorganic acids, being stronger that

organic acids, will hydrolyze the flax polymer more
rapidly.
 linen textile materials are not mercerized .

 Normal laundering will result in alkaline

hydrolysis of the waxes and gums bonding the
cells forming the flax fiber together. This results
in cell ends projecting above the surface of
linen textile materials, and is referred to as
cottonising of linen.

 Several cottonising will cause a noticeable

weakening of the linen textile material.
 Effect of bleaches-
 The most common bleaches used on flax textile
materials are sodium hypochlorite and sodium per
borate.

 These two bleaches are examples of oxidizing

bleaches, which is mostly used for flax textile
materials. Oxidizing bleaches are so called because
they liberate oxygen which does the actual
bleaching.
 Manufacture of Linen
1. Collection of plants- when the
stems of the plant turns yellow at the
seeds turn green to pale brown.The
plants are pulled out by the roots.
These are tied into bunches.
2. Drying and rippling- after pulling the
Flax, plant is tied in bundles and left to dry for few
days. The leaves and seeds are removed from
the stems by a process called Rippling. For this,
the head of the stem is passed through coarse
comb. After the removal of leaves and seeds, the
stems are again tied up in bundles. Seeds are
used for the production of Linseed oil.
 3.Retting- this is an important process. The fleshy
part of the stem is rotted by contact with water.
Retting is a ferment process where the Pectin
Ovurum(Pectin eater) bacteria eat the gum(pectin)
which bind the fiber to the stem. There are 5
method of retting-

 A. Dew retting-
 stems are spread out in fields and are exposed to
rain, sun and dew for several weeks, until, the stalk
begins to separate from the fiber. It takes around
15-30 days. Because of long exposure to the sun
and other natural conditions, causes to
discoloration of the fiber.
B. Water retting- the bundle of
the stems are kept in running or
segmented water for about 2
weeks . Swift running of water
carries away the bacteria and
thus slow down the fermentation. The stem bundles
are covered with straw and stones are put on the
straw to give extra weight. After 2 weeks the stalks
(upper portion of stem) separates out from the fiber
and the bundles are taken out of the water and left to
dry.
 C. Wooden vat retting- the stems are steeped in
water at the controlled temperatur75°-90° in a Vat
or in a container until the stems get soft. This is a
fast process and the easiest method of retting and
the quality of the fibers are good from this process.
 D.Chemical retting- in this process the stems are
treated with mild/dilute conc. Acid and alkalis then
the fibers are easily removed from the stems.
 E.Enzyme retting- enzyme retting is the safest
and fastest process of retting, in this process the
fibers can be taken out from the stems within few
houres.
 4.Breaking and scutching- when
the stems are completely dry linen fiber
are separated from these stems when
the decomposed woody tissue is dry.
It is crushable by passing through iron
Rollers. The breaking operation break
the outer stalk. It reduces the stalk
to small pieces of bark called slivers. Scutching is
done with the help of scutching machine which
removes the broken slivers by means of rotating
wooden peddles, thus releasing the flax fiber from
the stem or it separates the fibers from woody
stalk
 5. Hackling or combing and spinning- during this process
series of iron combs are used, ranging from coarse to fine. Fibers are
pulled through the teeth of combs, beginning with the coarse one.
The short fibers break off used for inferior quality Lenin called Tow
linen. Then the spinning process is carried out-
Tow-lines Long staple or line
Carding Carding
Card Card
Slivering Slivering
Sliver Sliver
Spinning Drawints Raning
Coarse yarn(linen) Rove
Spinning
fine yarn (linen)
 6.weaving, finishing & dyeing- bleaching is
given to the yarn and later on dyeing is done.
The reason being the Linen yarn is in natural
color i.e. grey or yellowish grey. Dyeing can not
be done directly because it is not white in color.
That is why bleaching is done before dyeing.
Thank
you