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Flax Fiber

The document discusses the production process of flax fiber. It begins with the cultivation of flax plants, which are sown in spring and harvested after 100 days when the stalks turn yellow. After harvesting, the fibers are prepared through processes like rippling to remove seeds and leaves, and retting to decompose surrounding tissue using water. The fibers are then broken, scutched, and hackled to further separate them from woody matter. Spinning is the final stage to make yarn from the prepared flax fibers.

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Anila Aftab
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265 views6 pages

Flax Fiber

The document discusses the production process of flax fiber. It begins with the cultivation of flax plants, which are sown in spring and harvested after 100 days when the stalks turn yellow. After harvesting, the fibers are prepared through processes like rippling to remove seeds and leaves, and retting to decompose surrounding tissue using water. The fibers are then broken, scutched, and hackled to further separate them from woody matter. Spinning is the final stage to make yarn from the prepared flax fibers.

Uploaded by

Anila Aftab
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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NAME Aneela Aftab

CMS ID 49583

SEMESTER SECOND

SUBJECT TRM II

SUBMITTED TO DR.Muhammad Qasim

DATED 8 oct 2020


FLAX FIBER
Flax fiber is obtained from flax plant (flax family: LINACEAE) .it is a BAST FIBER (obtained from
stem of a plant LINUM USITATISSIMUM). Flax fiber has medicinal as well as textile uses. Flax fiber is
a natural fiber. It has been used since ancient time as the fiber for LINEN. The plant grows in temperate,
moderately moist climates. for example in Belgium,france,Ireland,itlay and Russia .the stem of plant is
used for fiber, the seed for oil, and leaves and flowers for drugs .

 MANUFACTURIN OF FLAX FIBER


1. Cultivation
Flax plant is sown in March or April Has very short growing period (100 days) They produces less
branches and longer finer fiber When plants have flowered and seeds are ripened, crop is pulled by root.
Farming flax requires few fertilizer or pesticides. Within eight weeks of sowing, the plant can reach 10-
15cm (3.9-5.9inches) in height reaching 70-80cm (28-31inches) within 50days

The flax plant grows in the temperate climate where there is sufficient moisture. There are two types of
flax plants—seed flax and fiber flax. Flax is grown both for its seeds and for its fibres. Fiber flax is
optimized for the production of thin strong fibers. Seed flax gives coarser fibers, but far more linseed,
since this plant does not have one straight stem, but the stem divides towards various flower heads.
Various parts of the plant have been used to make fabric, dye, paper, medicines, fishing nets and soap. It
is also grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.

2. Harvesting
Flax will grow to about a meter high and it is ready to harvest at about 30 to 35 days after flowering,
when the stalks are turning yellow but there is still some green in them. From sowing the seed to harvest
takes approximately 100 days. The longer you leave the flax plants, the coarser the fibre. Conversely, if
you harvest a few days after flowering you will get very fine flax fibre. Harvesting should be done on a
warm, sunny day

When your flax is ready, just pull the plants, keeping all the seed pods in one direction and the roots in
another. Tie the flax in bundles, called stooks, and leave then upright to dry. You might need to tie them
around a pyramid of 3 bamboo canes to keep them upright. About 1.5m by 5 m patch of flax produces
about 350 grams of flax fibre. Harvesting can be done both by manual and mechanical methods

3. Preparation of the fibers


Preparation of fibers involve two processes
 Rippling
 Retting
o Rippling: rippling is the first stage after harvesting .where the seeds and leaves are
removed from the stems.
In this, the top end of the bundle of stem are pulled through a ripple , a comb like tool
consisting of 20-30 vertical steel pins .

o Retting: retting is the next step which involves steeping the bundles of the plants in
water so that the tissue or woody bark surrounding flax fiber will decompose.
- It only loosens the woody bark
- If the flax is not fully ratted, the stalk of the plant cannot be separated from the
fiber without injuring the fiber.
OR
Retting Process Retting is the process that softens and separates the fibrous core of
the plant from the outer layer which is composed of woody matter. Retting is carried
out in the following four ways
1. Dam Retting
2. Dew Retting
3. Tank Retting
4. Chemical Retting. (Retting can be carried out chemically by treating the flax
straw with the solutions of: • Caustic Soda • Sodium Carbonate • Acids • Soap •
Cottonization Process)
4. Breaking and Scutching Process 

Breaking: The flax straw is passed between fluted rollers in a breaking machine, so that the
woody core is broken into fragments without damaging the fibers running through the stem.
Scutching: The broken straw is then subjected to the process known as “Scutching” which
separates the unwanted woody matter from the fiber. This is done by beating the straw with blunt
wooden or metal blades.

Hackling Process
Hackling separates the long line fibers from the shorter tow. A hackle is a bed of pins, which are
usually used to comb the fibers for drawing and aligning purposes .

 SPINNING OF FLAX FIBER

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