Blending natural and synthetic fibers for durability and comfortBefore the industrialization era, groups of humans kept warm with animal skins.Organized societies made clothes with yarn made with fibers extracted from plants.The oldest fabric was made of linen. Cotton became one of the foundations of the British Empire in the 18 and 19 centuries…....along with the slave trade. After the introduction of domestication, wool and even hairs from some animals were twisted into yarns. Insects were also put to good use and contributed silk, one of the many treasures discovered by Marco Polo while in China. Natural fiber yarns are widely used today. The advantages of natural fibers over artificial fibers, such as acetate, polyester, polyamide or polyurethane are their capacity to absorb water, one of the three pillars of comfort. Of all clothing layers, the underwear is most likely to be made with cotton because of its proximity to the skin. Often a percentage of a synthetic fiber will be added to increase the durability of the product given that the underwear is typically washed often. Textile technology has found a way to approach fairly closely the natural sensation of cotton with a process called "texturizing". This process involves the introduction of an air stream into the yarn to make it fluffier. When this technique is combined to surface brushing, the yarn is pulled creating numerous mini filaments which act as micro hairs. The resulting touch is amazingly close to what one experiences with cotton or other natural fibers.
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