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Archive for May, 2010

Guide to Prepare for a Career in Textiles

Monday, May 24th, 2010

The textile industry is an industry that deals with the manufacturing and selling of materials and clothes. However, there is much more to knowing how to sew or make materials. A lot of learning and working is needed to be able to work in the textile industry.

Some schools classify textiles in fashion while others classify textiles as engineering. This is because both aspects of textiles are important. Some schools require classes in both aspects of textile courses while there are other schools that allow a certain concentration.

The first thing to know is that anybody working in the textile industry needs to have the basic classes any college student would take. They have to have English, math, history, science, and the other base classes in order to be educated. Other classes in the requirements can also be taken. The titles of the courses differ from school to school, but they are most likely the same course material.

When it comes to the fashion aspect of textiles, many fashion courses must be taken. There are fashion sketching courses, clothing construction courses, pattern drafting courses, design courses, and fashion trend predicting courses. Other classes that are probably going to be required are color theory courses, fashion history courses, and entrepreneurship courses.

When it comes to the production of textiles, some of the same courses will be required, such as color theory since textiles will be made with colors and some of the fashion courses because the printed colors and patterns will be used for clothes. However, there will most likely be more classes that focus on the science and production of textiles.

No matter which area of concentration, there is usually a time for an internship and sometimes even a pre-internship. This internship is usually held at a fairly local company and it is probably not paid, either. It will help with the career, though. It gives experience and helps learn about the trade.

Once schooling is finished, it is most likely time to start looking for a job. When it comes to textile jobs, the pay varies greatly. There are a few that start paying the minimum wage per hour for new employees. They are not very well respected, but at least you get experience and can hopefully move to another company if you are not enjoying the one that you are at.

A few other “textile” jobs are manufacturing metals for automobiles or other transportation as well as building. These are most likely going to require engineering classes and usually have higher staring pay rates than the ones mentioned about material, though sometimes they also start at minimum wage.

It is important to know what type of textile work you want to go into before graduating from college. You can always change your major while in college if you do not enjoy the coursework that you are taking. It is a great challenge to find what you like and dislike. College is often the time to do such a thing. Just keep all of these things in mind when first declaring a major.

A Brief History of Adhesives

Monday, May 24th, 2010

The usage of adhesives goes back a long time, many historians would vouch for the presence of the sticky substance capable of holding things firmly in place way back into the past. The world has been shown repeatedly how in those early days of life, many potteries and broken vessels were glued to each other with the help of something sticky. Many people think ancient adhesives were made from tree saps however, early sap was actually animal glue made purely out of animal by products like bone, hair and even teeth. Archaeologists have retrieved many clay pots and artifacts repaired with this kind of glue or sap.

Some historians claim that the earliest known traces of the usage of adhesive were found in and around the caves of the Dead Sea going back to 8000 years ago. These adhesives were made out of animal hides. Archaeologists stumbled upon a 6,000-year-old ceramic work which shows clear evidence of adhesive use. This Babylonian artifact which dates from as early as 4000 BC proves that the process of gluing and fixing was commonplace in the Babylonian culture. Many historic evidences also point to the statues recovered from the Babylonian ruins where damaged body parts used to be casually fixed with the help of adhesives. In the era of the Babylonians it was something called tar that was used in order to fix things or statues.

Egyptians made glue pretty much out of the same ingredients as the Babylonians but the application differed. They used the glue more in cases of adhering something to a base or a surface. They also used glue to attach or adhere anything on ivory or paper. History proves that during the period of 1500-1000 BC glue or adhesives had become a really important means of putting things together.

Greeks and Romans have also made judicious use of adhesives. Masters at marquetry and veneering, the Greeks and Romans commonly used glue and adhesives in all their works. Many damaged and broken parts of the temples and the ivory statues have been put together with the help of adhesives. Many early carvings and handiworks have revealed that glue was used in order to put things in place. It is from them that the concept of modifying raw adhesive arrived. Animal glue now got refined and modified into egg white glues and others. Adhesives were also prepared from other raw materials like blood, bones and milk. Early mentions of the existence and usage of glue can be found in special works of literature dating from around 200 B.C.

Between 1500 and 1700 A.D. adhesives were mostly used in the manufacturing or building of any kind of furniture. The first ever glue factory was created in Holland in the beginning of the 1700s. The United States produced many adhesives factories in the year 1900. The most important fact about previously manufactured adhesives was that they were all made from natural products and raw materials. The coming together of synthetic polymer in the 1900s finally led to this dip in business for the natural adhesives and the 1920s and 1930s saw many new plastic and synthetically produced adhesives being churned out from the factories thanks to technological advancements in adhesive making, ever since there has been no change in the scenario.

Synthetic adhesives are here to stay for a long time. Raw animal glue soon got metamorphosed into a well-refined adhesive made out of other alternative ingredients such as fish starch and casein. Modern times have given adhesives a complete facelift. Natural adhesives are well on their way out as the market has been completely taken over by synthetic or artificial adhesives. The refinement in adhesives has not only come from the ingredients but also in terms of resistance and toughness. Nowadays, the market offers a wide variety of adhesives to all consumers. Some are natural, some synthetic, some for every-day use and some for specialist projects. All these adhesives are applied for different purposes.