Evening star., 1939-04-08
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

ana StuOy
| BIZ Thomas r. Henry.
BALTIMORE, April THE chemist
is putting golden slippers and silver tin
sci evening dresses within reach Of
every stenographer.
| Both are far more servicable than
the real articles of fairy stories would
have been and are due to chemical in
genuity in devising coated fabrics, DR..
Dorman McBurney, Du Pont chemist,
told the American Chemical Society
at its meeting here.
by starting with cellophane," he said,
"a metallized sheet has been produced
which when slit into narrow widths
can be used in the production Of non-
furnishing tinsel fabrics. Among the
coated fabric products recently de-
veloped are some with brilliant, non
furnishing metallic finishes resembling
| gold and silver kid which have found
wide use in the shoe and slipper indus
try. They have made possible the pro-
duction of two dollar evening slippers
| closely Stimulating in appearance the
| genuine gold or silver article.
with the aid of synthetic materials
| both dull calf and patent leather finishes
on fabric base have been greatly i'm
proved and have found increasing use
in manufacture of pocketbooks and
| handbags selling in the dollar price
range. In the case of bookbinding ma
terialS, waterproof impregnated and
| coated fabrics have found increasing
use in place of the water sensitive ma
terials formerly employed. The prac-
| tlcal use of these materials in the bind
cry has been greatly facilitated through
| the use of inks employing synthetic
| resin vehicles.
Other applications of recently i'm
| proved coated fabric include washable
window shade material, and lacquered
fabric tablecloths which have outstand-
ing advantage in aging characteristics
over materials having drying oil type
| coatings
THE use of coated fabrics for opera
| tions involving laundering has stimu-
lated considerable development during
| the past few years and in this field
various synthetic resin coatings have
been employed. Thus the coated fabric
! industry may be viewed as in a posi-
| ton extending far beyond the produc-
ton OF artificial leather. to which it
used to be confined This results
largely from the availability of SYM
thetic coating compositions which per-
NIT the realization of properties not
| only advantageous but in many cases
| quite unlike anything which has been
previously realized"
! Other contributions of textile and
| plastic chemists to fashion were de-
| scribed by DR.. Kenneth H. Barnard of
Lawrence, Mass For years, he said,
| starch and vegetable gums have been
used for giving stiffness to cotton cloth,
oils and talloW for softness, and often
mixture Of clay to fill up a cheap
fabric and make it look like more
expensive one All these came out on
washing, leaving the cloth like limp
rag.
within the decade" he said, "chem-
lists have developed variety of water
white and crystal clear resins which
give a fabric any desired hand, or feel.
which may be demanded. These can
make the textile stiff, or soft anu
flexible. They can add weight, or bulk
or fullness The surface can be given
a high polish. or the natural luster OF a
fiber that is ordinarily shiny may De
reduced or flattened. All these effects
are permanent and will withstand re-
| peated normal washings without appre-
ciable change.
"One of the more important examples
of the use of resins in developing new
style trend is the addition of urea
formaldehyde to rayon suitings to give
added resiliency. This process has been
licensed in every textile center in the
world and in this country has been ap.
piled to hundreds of thousands of yards
of spun rayon and transparent velvetS.
The result has been that an inexpensive
cotton or rayon has taken on some OF
the anti-crease or non-crushing qualities
of expensive wool or silk cloth. Added
weight and doubling of the wet
strength in the case of rayon are inter-
esting by-products of the resin treatment.
Certain organic plastics properly ap-
piled to printed cambria result in
permanent chinz, that is a highly
glazed and lustrous surface which will
withstand washing without loss of luster
and still be strong and flexible. On
some prints the printing colors them
selves are fixed to the cloth with resin
adhesives. Here again starch and gums
are replaced with synthetic products
permitting sharper prints at higher
speeds and with less after treatment
usually required to develop or set the
colors'
New products are being found con-
stantly so that the entire subject of
resins and their application to textiles,
DR.. Barnard said, is marching ahead
and may even lead to the replacement
OF natural flbers, like cotton, silk or
wool, with newer resins This already
seems practical possibility, he said,
in the case of silk where the natural
fiber is high priced one.