TEXTILES

A textile is any kind of woven, knitted, or tufted cloth, or a non-woven fabric (a cloth made of fibers that have been bonded into a fabric, e.g. felt).
Textile also refers to the yarns, threads and wools that can be spun, woven, tufted, tied and otherwise used to manufacture cloth. The production of textiles is an ancient art, whose speed and scale of production has been altered almost beyond recognition by mass-production and the introduction of modern manufacturing techniques. An ancient Roman weaver would have no problem recognizing a plain weave, twill, or satin.
Many textiles have been in use for millennia, while others use artificial fibers and are recent inventions. The range of fibers has increased in the last 100 years. The first synthetics were made in the 1920s and 1930s.
Commonly used natural (deriving from plant or animal) fibers and textiles include:
Wool fiber
Felt cloth
Cotton fiber
Linen fabric, made from flax fiber
Silk
Some examples of artificial (polymer-based) textiles are:
Acrylic fiber
Lurex
Spandex, tactel, lycra and other 'stretch' fabrics
Nylon fiber
Polyester fiber
Polypropylene (comes under various common trade names such as Olefin or Herculon)
Rayon fiber
Velvet is a fabric can be made from either natural (eg, silk) or artificial (eg, rayon) fibres.
Applications of cloth
Arts and crafts
Carpet
Clothing
Cleaning cloth
Curtain
Dish-cloth
Flag
Floor-cloth
Handkerchief
Parachute
Projection screen
Tablecloth
Tarpaulin
Tea-cloth
Tent
Towel
Wall tapestry
Washing glove
Windscreen