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Burn Test - CAUTION. WARNING. BE CAREFUL! |
COTTON
Cotton is a plant fiber. When ignited it
burns with a steady flame and smells
like burning leaves. The ash left is
easily crumbled. Small samples of
burning cotton can be blown out as you
would a candle. |
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LINEN
Linen is also a plant fiber but
different from cotton in that the
individual plant fibers which make up
the yarn are long where cotton fibers
are short. Linen takes longer to ignite.
The fabric closest to the ash is very
brittle. Linen is easily extinguished by
blowing on it as you would a candle. |
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SILK
Silk is a protein fiber and usually
burns readily, not necessarily with a
steady flame, and smells like burning
hair. The ash is easily crumbled. Silk
samples are not as easily extinguished
as cotton or linen. |
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WOOL
Wool is also a protein fiber but is
harder to ignite than silk as the
individual "hair" fibers are shorter
than silk and the weave of the fabrics
is generally looser than with silk. The
flame is steady but more difficult to
keep burning. The smell of burning wool
is like burning hair. |