Monday, December 28, 2009
Viscose, or wearing a tree
I have been seeing a lot more fabrics and clothing with viscose so I did a little research. I had no idea that viscose and rayon are synonymous and that viscose is touted as a "green" fabric. I actually thought that rayon was a synthetic (i.e. plastic) fabric. Viscose is a natural polymer made from wood pulp, patented 1892.
Because the cellulose has a very high viscosity, it was named “viscose”.
The cellulose is formed into sheets that are saturated with a solution of caustic soda. Sort of like making paper!