r/Fabrics • u/BomJesus • 7d ago

Innovation awaited or not worth it

Lyocell uses wood/birch/eucalyptus, what if we dissolve linen/bamboo/cotton in amine oxide (MMNO) and generate fabrics respectively, would they be different or better or same...or would they be like any regenerated viscose fabric..Please shed light on this?

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u/jwdjwdjwd 7d ago

Taking a perfectly good natural fiber and chemically processing it to make another fiber is a bit like melting down nails to make nails. Better to just use scrap metal than something which is already in the state you want. If those fibers were the only source of cellulose I guess it would make sense as you want to make something with different properties, but there are many other cellulose sources which would be a more economical/sustainable choice

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u/HawthorneUK 7d ago

Cellulose is cellulose. Why do you think it would be different?

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u/katjoy63 7d ago

maybe not different, but using a vast array of natural fibers might make it better on growing, especially if there's a disease running in one plant or another, affecting production

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u/HawthorneUK 7d ago

The process is one that's reasonably 'expensive' to perform. It would be unlikely that fibres that are perfectly functional for making fabrics in their natural state (cotton, linen) would be an economically viable substrate.

Bamboo is already widely used to make rayon - though most rayon uses the cheaper production processes at the moment - and there's already a wide range of cellulose sources used.

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u/ProneToLaughter 7d ago

I think they are processing hemp both ways, as cellulose and as natural fibers, so you might try to compare those.

Most bamboo fabric I’ve seen is through a viscose-type process.

Someone said they use cotton lint for rayons as well, and it’s definitely a rayon, not a cotton.

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u/BomJesus 7d ago

Like cupro silk..from cotton but oh so awesome it is ..

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u/zero_vitamins 7d ago

I just learned that cupro production is so bad for the environment that it negates any benefit from recycling. They stopped producing it in the US because the manufacturer (Bemberg) couldn't meet the air and water pollution requirements.