Abstract

Angora (rabbit) fibre - commonly known as Angora Wool - is extremely fine, warm, soft and silky to touch. It is a slippery fibre difficult to spin and requires excessive twist to hold the fibres firmly in yarn. Therefore, the Angora fibre is blended with superfine wool, mohair, silk or with alpaca for ease in processing. In order to overcome the problems that arise during the mechanical processing of Angora fibre, an eco-friendly 'Atmospheric Plasma Processing System' was developed by NID and IPR for surface modification of fibres to enhance friction and cohesion between them. The System has been successfully established in the Angora industry at Kullu. It has facilitated mill spinning and hand spinning of 100% Angora yarn and subsequent weaving on handloom for developing value added fabrics to generate more income for rural people. As the Angora fibre is lightweight and good thermal insulator, it has also been used in the development of High Altitude Clothing for soldiers. This shows how a high-tech like plasma can help a cottage industry like Angora for enhancing its competitiveness.

Keywords: Angora fibre, Atmospheric plasma, Handloom, High altitude clothing

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About the Authors:

P.B. Jhala is associated with National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad at John Bissell Research Chair. S. K. Nema is Scientist-SE, FCIPT and S. Mukherjee is the Head, FCIPT at Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, respectively.