HNW - burn testing silk

[Lyn Greaves]

I have been told that silk will leave a white ash, and if you look closely,
the ember will follow the weave of the fabric (follow the thread- not burn
in a widening pattern)

Lyn Greaves
Lady Rosamund d'Alwareton
     OM, OTerp, OSalamander
Thorny Rose
- -----Original Message-----
From: Christina <magdlena at texas.net>
To: H-Needlework at Ansteorra.ORG <H-Needlework at Ansteorra.ORG>
Date: Friday, August 28, 1998 4:53 PM
Subject: Re: HNW - Medieval Dyes


>
>
>Dick Eney wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 28 Aug 1998, Ghislaine Fontanneau wrote:
>>
>> >Can someone
>> > give me advice on 1. finding out the fiber content of the material, 2.
>> > washing it/preping it to be dyed, etc.
>>
>> It all depends on the fiber content.  If it's slick and shiny, and a bit
>> stiff, it may be fiberglass - sorry.  If it's not fiberglass, you have a
>> better chance.  It's possible that using Color Remover would work.  That
>> supposedly removes almost all dyes.  At least it would fade them, and
>> sometimes that's enough to help.
>>
>> =Tamar
>
>You might also use the burn test to figure out the fiber content.  Take an
edge
>and light it with a match.  If the edges get blobby (like melted plastic),
then
>your fabric has some synthetic content.  If it smells like grass, it could
be
>either cotton or linen.  Wool will smell like burning hair.  I have no idea
>about silk.  I've never run across fabric with a fiberglass content.  How
does
>that work?  Anybody else know how fibeglass behaves when burnt?
>
>-Magdalena
>
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