Pure Silk Plush.—A pile fabric, not often met with woven entirely from silk, i.e., having both pile face and back warp threads of silk. Woven as a Velvet but with a somewhat longer pile. Most branches of the trade consider a Pure Silk Plush to be a fabric having an all-silk pile, irrespective of whether the foundation fabric is silk or not.
Paul H. Nystrom, in his book, "Textiles," states that Velvets and Plushes are so generally part cotton that a Silk Velvet or a Silk Plush should be considered as having a cotton back unless it is definitely stated that it is "silk backed." The term "pure silk" when applied to a plush qualifies the pile of the fabric and not the fabric as a whole; it does not mean that the fabric is composed entirely of silk.
Pure Silk Velvet.—An all-silk pile fabric, not often met with woven entirely from silk, similar to an all-silk Plush, from which it differs only in length of pile. The pile of Velvet is shorter than that of Plush. A Pure Silk Velvet is generally understood to be a pile fabric having an all-silk pile, irrespective of the nature of the foundation fabric. Velvets are so generally part cotton that a Silk Velvet should be considered as having a cotton back unless it is definitely stated that it is "silk backed." "Silk," or "pure silk," refers to the pile and the pile only, in the general acceptance of the trade, and not to the fabric as a whole; it does not mean a fabric composed entirely of silk.
Raised Back Cloths.—Fabrics requiring a "raised back" are usually warp faced and weft backed. By constructing the cloth in this manner, the raising machine, in the subsequent processes, partially disintegrates the weft fibres and gives that soft and woolly feel which one is accustomed to in such cloths as Swansdown, Cotton Trouserings, and some classes of fabrics used for dressing-gowns, pyjamas, etc.
Raised Cotton Cloth.—Any material woven in all cotton and having either one or both sides "raised " or "napped" would be a Raised Cotton Cloth. The "raising" or "napping" of the cloth is a process which the fabric is put through with the view of giving it a soft "woolly" feel. By passing the fabric, whilst it is tightly stretched, over a revolving cylinder which has its surface covered with small steel hooks or teasels, the surface of the fabric is scratched and the short fibres of the yarn used in the weaving are opened up and raised, resulting in a nap covering the whole of the surface. Raised Cotton Cloths allow of the use of coarse inferior yarns and are better looking than had they not been raised. The raising hides defects of weave and produces a warmer, better-looking cloth than could be produced by any other process at the price. Raised Cloths, like certain Flannelettes, are sometimes chemically rendered "fireproof."
Ramie, Rhea, China Grass.—A fibre obtained from a plant of the nettle family which grows in India and China. The fibre is strong and lustrous and lends itself to the weaving of various materials, especially underclothing, and it is used also in the manufacture of incandescent gas mantles.
The diameter of ramie and china grass fibres is from two to three times that of flax. Ramie and china grass are not absolutely identical, the latter containing 78 per cent. of cellulose as compared with 66 per cent. in ramie. When spun into threads they produce a lustrous effect. Effects resembling silk-woven textures are produced with the finest yarns, and when dyed in delicate shades they give a brilliancy comparable with silk.