-
The Flying Shuttle
The flying shuttle was innovated by John Kay in order for weavers on looms to weave faster. -
Jacquard loom
The jacquard loom was first created by Jacques de Vaucanson, however it was further developed and improved by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1804-05 -
Spinning Jenny
The spinning jenny is a multi-spool spinning frame. It was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves in Stanhill. The device reduced the amount of work needed to produce yarn, with a worker able to work eight spools . As technology advanced and requirement pressured the industry, this rose to work with around 120 spools -
Spinning frame
Spinning frames were patented by Richard Arkwright in 1768, being the first water powered textile machine. Arkwright developed this idea and set up the first water-powered cotton mill at Cromford, Derbyshire, in 1771. -
Cotton gin
A machine which automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fibre, cotton gin, was designed and created by Eli Whitney in 1793. This invention had revolutionised the cotton and the textile industry in the United States -
Ring spinning
Ring spinning is the most widely used form of machine spinning with its significant advantages in the spinning process. Many further developments and alterations were applied to this process with its relevance in the industry -
Singer Sewing machine
Singer sewing corporation produced its first vibrating shuttle sewing machine in 1885, but the first locksmith sewing machine in 1851 with its establishment. -
Mauveine
Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was the first synthetic organic chemical dye, by William Henry Perkin. -
Cellulose Acetate
Although Cellulose was first prepared in 1865 by Paul Schützenberger, it was 29 years later when Charles Cross and Edward Bevan patented its manufacture. -
Hilaire de Cardonnet
Hilaire Bernigaud was a French chemist and industrialist who first developed and manufactured the first synthetic fibre, rayon. -
Sanforisation
Sanford Lockwood Cluett invented this textile process of Sanforisation in 1930. Saforisation is the treatment of cotton fabrics to reduce shrinkage that would otherwise occur after its first wash. -
Nylon
DuPont began the first commercial production of nylon in 1940 and it was first applied as sewing thread in parachute fabric and hoisery. -
Polyester
As Whinfield and Dickson patented Polyethylene terephthalate in 1941 and it became the basic for polyester. No wrinkles and wear after scrunch, pull and wash, became the iconic tagline for this new polyester fabric -
Microfibre
Microfibres are referred to the finest of synthetic fibres, often 1/100th the diametre of a human strand of hair and 1/20th a strand of silk. The most promising and sucessful experiments to make the finest fibres which were run in Japan during the 1960s by Dr. Miyoshi Okamoto. Okamoto's discoveries, together with those of Dr. Toyohiko Hikota, resulted in many industrial applications. -
Lyocell
Lyocell is a regenerated fibre made from bleached wood pulp, first manufactured for market development in the 1980s
