Determining donated yarn fiber content

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Determining donated yarn fiber content

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1meerka
Jul 26, 2007, 7:38 pm

The library was given several large lawn bags of yarn by older community members who were certain they'd never knit up all their stash. Lots are without labels. Short of asking my dad to break out the microscope and his textile reference books, I've come up with two plans.

1) Knit a swatch and see how much it shrinks after a cycle through the washer.

2) Start playing with kool aid.

Does this sound reasonable or are there any other testing possibilities?

2ranaverde
Jul 26, 2007, 9:56 pm

You can do a burn test. Probably you can google the exact details, but if I recall correctly, burning hair smell = wool or wool blend, burnt paper smell = cotton or cellulose fibers, plasticky smell = acrylics and such. The appearance of the ash also helps - the artificial fibers usually form a hard melted bead, as opposed to the charred ash of natural fibers.

I'm trying to remember which books I've read it in... maybe one of Stephanie Pearl McPhee's, or Alden Amos's Big Book of Handspinning?

3oregonobsessionz
Jul 27, 2007, 2:41 am

Here are some sources of information on burn tests.

This one is specific for yarn:
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~handspin/inlay8.htm

These are for fabric, but the general information still applies:
http://www.fabrics.net/fabricsr.asp
http://griffindyeworks.com/faqs/burntest.html
http://www.fabriclink.com/University/BurnTest.cfm

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