Camlets, English (Woollen).—This fabric is described under Camlets, Dutch. A typical sample of English-made Woollen Camlets showed the fabric to be a plain, all-wool, fairly loosely plain-woven fabric dyed a bright vermilion. Both warp and weft are of worsted yarn, and hence it is a somewhat lustrous fabric, averaging 30 to 31 inches in width and 60 to 61 yards in length. Average value of the quality generally imported into China was for the 10 years 1904-14 40s. 5d. per piece. Somewhat harsh of handle, it resembles a fine Bunting with the stiff feel of an Alpaca.
The earliest mention of English Camlets is to be found in Camden's "Brittania," 1610, where, speaking of Coventry, it is said: "Its wealth, arising in the last age from the woollen and camblet manufacture, made it the only mart of this part." In the next century those of Brussels are said to exceed all other Camlets for beauty and quality, those of England being reputed second.
Caniche.—Name given to a curled wool fabric showing the effect of the coat of the caniche, or French poodle.
Canton Flannel.—This term is used to designate an all-cotton flannel, first made for and exported to Canton. Canton Flannel will be found more fully described under "Cotton Flannel." It is a narrow heavy fabric, twill woven, showing twill on one side and having a long, soft, raised nap on the other. Woven as a four-shaft twill for winter weights and as a three-shaft twill for the summer weight. Width from 27 to 30 inches. Canton Flannel is taken direct from the loom, measured, napped, and folded, and packed for shipment. The yarn used to make this class of cloth is spun from low-grade cotton of from three-fourths to 1 inch in length of staple, generally dyed in bright colours.
Canvas.—Canvas is a coarse plain-weave fabric woven from yarn which is hard twisted. It is often woven from folded yarn, and this may readily be seen in what is known as embroidery canvas. Canvas used for sails is generally a stout strong-built cloth woven with "double warp coarse flax yarns." A term applied to heavy, plain, unbleached, dyed or yarn-dyed fabric, of different grades or weights properly made of ply yarns, although the term more frequently applies to fabrics of such similar appearance made without or partially of ply yarn. Various sorts of Canvases are known in different trades, such as Embroidery Canvas, Duck, Dress Canvas, Mercerised Canvas, etc. Dress fabrics, the principal part of which are of such a construction, are still termed Canvas in the distributing trade when they contain stripes or fancy effects of other weaves.
Carbonising.—All-wool cloths and even raw wool very often contain a certain amount of vegetable matter, such as burrs, the chemical composition of which is similar to that of cotton, and as it is at times very desirable to extract this vegetable matter, the cloth or fibre is for this purpose subjected to a process known as carbonising. The material is passed through a bath containing sulphuric acid of a suitable strength and temperature. Upon drying, the acid concentrates upon the vegetable matter, converting it into hydrocellulose, which, being in the form of a powder, is easily removed, while the wool, not being acted upon by the acid to any considerable extent, remains intact. This system would be employed to test the percentage of cotton in any union fabric: by carefully weighing the sample prior to treatment and again after all the vegetable matter had been carbonised the proportion of cotton to wool can readily be ascertained.
Casement cloth.—A plain-woven fabric used for casement window curtains and usually white or cream-coloured. Casement Cloth is made from either mohair, alpaca, or cotton. The cotton variety is made from high-class yarns, well woven, and is mercerised before bleaching or dyeing.
Cashmere.—A cloth made from the hair of the Cashmere goat. The face of the fabric is twilled, the twills or diagonal lines being uneven and irregular owing to the unevenness of the yarn. Cashmere was originally made from hand-spun yarn. In the knitted goods trade the word Cashmere, when applied to hosiery or underwear, means goods made of fine worsted yarns spun from Saxony or other soft wools.