World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of May 10, 1999:
Our question this week comes from Rosemarie Ganassin
Is there some way to tell if a fabric is 100% cotton, or
if it contains polyester?
deryn pittar :
Crunch the fabric up in your hand. Polyester doesnt crease as much as cotton. Also it feels smoother. If dyed the polyester threads remain pale or undyed as synthetics take the dye differently than natural fibres. This would not apply to pigment paints, just to fibre reactive dyes.
Paula J. Burr :
Take a small snip of the fabric and light it with a match. If the fabric gets a thick ridge at the flamed edge, it has some plastic or polyester in it. If it is very flat and a charcoal-like substance breaks easily off of it, it is 100% cotton.
Norma :
use a match and burn a few of the threads , cotton will leave nothing but ashes if there is polyester in it there will be hard pices left .
Jana from Washington :
If you hold a piece about one inch from the flame of a candle, the cotton will leave a ash residue. If there is polyester you will feel little melting bumps on the edge.
dorothy wood :
take a small scrap of fabric and light it with a match. If it has poly in it, it will melt.
scrappykat :
I can always tell buy cutting a small corner off and lighting a match and burn the material - if curls up and hard, (like plastic)this is poly and if the ash is soft and delicate this is a natural fiber. of course one can not do this in the store but if you bought a piece and brought it home and wasn't sure! this is the way I can test fabric. Sometimes just the feel by running my fingernails across the fabric
can give me a clue and the feel.
quilticat@yahoo.com :
Polycotton smells when it is touched with a hot iron. The more poly the "stinkier" it gets. The second way to tell is by burning a small strip of the fabric. I usually use a candle, cut a piece of fabric about 1/4" by about 2" and burn the end. IF it is cotton it will turn to ASH. If it is polycotton it will bead (turn hard)...the more poly the bigger the bead.
Ruthanne Rocha :
Yes, try burning it. Hold the piece of fabric with a pair of tongs over water in a sink or pan
and light it with a match. If it is all cotton, it will flake off and have a sweet smell. If it contains polyester,
it will smell chemical and hold a red glow. If enough polyester is in it, it will feel hard when cool. Be
careful and do not touch it too soon as it can give a nasty burn.
Nancy :
You can use the burn test. Over an ashtray, burn a small piece of the fabric (hold it with a tweezers). If it produces an ash (like paper would) it's a natural fabric. If it gets hard on the edges it has synthetic in it.
Megan :
Do the 'crease' test. If fabric does not crease easily between finger nails then it contains polyester.
Vicki :
You could do the burn test. Unravel one or two
threads from the fabric. Hold the loosened
fibers in a pair of tweezers and move them
toward a flame. If they do not shrink away
as they approach the flame, and ignite on contact
and burn quickly it is cotton. They smell
similar to burning paper and leave a light feathery
residue, light to charcole gray in color.
Polyester on the other hand, when approaching
flame will fuse, melt and shrink away from
the flame. In the flame they burn slowly and continue
to melt. The melting fibers drip and have
a chemical odor. They will self-extinguish when
removed from the flame, but the residue left
is a hard, tough, gray or tawny bead.
World Wide Quilting Page * Question of the Week