Viscose Top

Viscose Top is the first "synthetic" fiber invented. It was made as the new fiber to replace silk and is sometimes called artificial silk. As a manufactured cellulose fiber, it is neither truly natural (like cotton, wool or silk) nor truly synthetic (like nylon or polyester) - it falls somewhere in between. Viscose has the luster and hand feel of silk.

Viscose Top fiber was discovered in 1891 by English scientists, Cross and Bevan. It was heralded as the new fiber to replace silk and is sometimes called artificial silk. This fiber has been produced widely all over the world, usually in countries which have a plentiful supply of trees, as it is this which provides the raw material for the fiber. The raw material is actually wood pulp, but also short cotton fiber, unusable for spinning, is also a raw material. The first commercial production in America was opened in 1910 by the American Viscose Company and the fiber became known as viscose rayon, with other producers following suit.

The first use for the fiber was in car tires as reinforcing. Massive volumes for the fiber were never achieved due to the invention of other cheaper fibers, such as Polyester and Nylon. Wood is pulped into sheets of cellulose and steeped in an alkali solution. After this process the sheets are shredded into cellulose crumbs and treated with carbon disulphide, which changes the chemical structure of the cellulose. This is then dissolved in a solution of sodium hydroxide, to make a thick solution (hence the name viscose). This solution is then machine forced through spinnerets, to produce viscose fiber in a wet spun process. The resulting fiber is then dried, crimped and cut to the required length.

Fiber: Viscose
Top/Roving Length: 4 meters per 100g
Top/Roving Width: 1 inch