chintz
The term chintz ( English from Hindi ) originally describes a wax-coated, thin, shiny cotton fabric in a plain weave . Chintz is mainly used today as a decorative fabric. Today synthetic resins and friction calenders are used to achieve such a high-gloss effect with better durability of the fabric.
history
India has a very long tradition of growing cotton. As early as the 16th century, the Indian regions of Bengal , Punjab , Coromandel and Gujarat were centers of cotton processing. Gujarat was of particular importance, as its cotton products were traded through various trade routes to the centers of the Middle East. Around 1600 cotton was still a luxury item that was valued no less than silk . The reason for the high value was the high amount of work involved in processing. Removing the seed pods and the laborious carding of the fibers, which are very short compared to wool and silk, were particularly labor-intensive . It took 13 working days to produce a pound of processable cotton thread. In contrast, it only took six working days to obtain a comparable amount of silk, while it took two to five days for linen and one to two days for wool. Before 1750, English spinners were unable to spin cotton threads that were strong enough to make pure cotton fabrics. Pure cotton fabrics were only made in India. The British East India Company made chintz popular in England in the 17th century, which differed greatly from wool in terms of thickness and dyeing ability. By the end of the 17th century, chintz had already become popular as a clothing fabric in the wealthier English middle class, as it resembled the most expensive silks worn by the aristocracy.
Components and processing
Today, chintz is a plain weave, dense fabric made of cotton, polyester or mixed yarns and gets its strong shine from calendering, i.e. rolling and smoothing under high pressure and at high temperature. Chintz is mainly designed in one color or traditionally with floral motifs. Chintz looks similar to silk, but like linen, it tends to wrinkle and its simple form is not machine washable. For this reason, mixed fabrics based on polyester are now also being produced, which are washable but retain their typical chintz shine. For this purpose, the fabric is impregnated with synthetic resins from the group of thermosets, pre-dried, fractionated and finally post-cured.
See also
Web links
supporting documents
- ^ William Bernstein: A Splendid Exchange - How Trade Shaped the World , Atlantic Books, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-84354-803-4 , p. 253.
- ↑ Bernstein, p. 253.
- ↑ Bernstein, p. 253.
- ↑ Bernstein, p. 254.
- ↑ Bernstein, p. 254 and p. 255.
- ↑ Chintz in the furniture glossary ( Memento from September 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )