New "wool" fabric made from wood - Journal of Chemical Education

New "wool" fabric made from wood. J. Chem. Educ. , 1926, 3 (1), p 40. DOI: 10.1021/ed003p40.1. Publication Date: January 1926. Cite this:J. Chem. Educ...
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that ornament of the English Nation, the great Mr. Boyle, my k i d master and the generous promoter of my fortune, whose memory shall ever be dear to me." It will be recalled that the discovery of phosphorus was credited to Robert Boyle, yet there were many who opposed this thought. Evidently Boyle must have known something about phosphorus, otherwise his pupil, Ambrose Godfrey, would hardly have written the above lines.

New "Wool" Fabric Made from Wood. A new yarn, with the warm soft feel of lamb's wool, is now heing made from the waste product of the artificial silk industry. IT. S. Department of Commerce officials hold out a great future for the new fabric, which is already heing manufactured in the United States as well as being imported from Italy, where it started. The new "wool" is shi-mmery and dyes in beautiful colors. Combined with real wool in making serge and other goods, it improves its appearance, as silk does. I t is not as strong as sheep's wool, and like artificial silk, does not wash as well. This is not a serious drawback for its use in textiles, as only a part of the strength of materials is necessary in clothing. Chemically, the new y s m is the same as artificial silk, or rayon, for it is either made from its scraps, or directly from cellulose or wood fiber hy the identical process. In the making of artificial silk, the viscose, or dissolved cellulose, is spun into a continuous thread like real silk from the cocoons of silkworms. The fihers used in the making of this artificial "wool" are short pieces from two t o six inches in length, which are worked into yam like sheep's wool. he price of the fiber wool yarn will he from fifty cents to a dollar a pound, as compared with two dollars a pound for the real wool yarn, Department ofCommerce officials say.Science Senice American Chemists Make Many New Dyes. American chemists aremaking marked progress in the manufacture of dyes that rival the best imported from Germany before the war. The U. S. Tariff Commission reports that over sixty new coal tar dyes, most of which have never been made in this country on a commercial scale before, are now on the market. These are the dyes that have been imported in largest quantity up t o last year. Many coloring materials of high fastness for cotton, wool, and silk, that have been in great demand, were among those produced. The severe treatment which cotton clothes and other goods receive in the modem laundry has created a great demand for very fast cotton dyes. They are exceedingly complex and hard t o make, and the patents were largely in the hands of the Germans. At the present time the American chemical manufacturer makes 95 w r cent of all the dyes that are used in American textile industries. In the year 1924, nearly 70,000,000 pounds of coal tar dyes were produced by 78 firms, while before the World W a r cut off the German market, seven 6rms were in operation and they made less than 7,000,000 pounds in a year. Over 3,000,000 pounds of synthetic dyes were imparted last year. Of these, anehalf came from Germany, a third from Switzerland, and the remainder mostly from France and England.-Science Senice