Narrative: American Eagle Outfitters
Blue and white striped sweater
Small
Made in China
50% cotton, 20% rayon, 20% nylon, 10% angora rabbit hair

The cotton process demands cultivators rip out weeds and grass that may compete with the cotton. Land is plowed under and soil is broken up and formed into rows. Cottonseed is planted. The boll matures in a period that ranges from 55 to 80 days. Ten weeks after flowers first appeared, fibers split the boll apart, and cotton pushes forth. The process includes seeding, picking, ginning, and baling. Samples are taken from the bales to determine the quality of the cotton. At this point the cotton plant is defoliated if it is to be machine harvested. Defoliation is often accomplished by spraying the plant with a chemical. At a mill the bale is broken, the fibers are opened by a comb-like device, mixed together, and cleaned. The cleaned cotton fibers are called laps. The laps are fed into a carding machine that separates the fibers. Further cleaning, combing, and sorting readies the fibers for processing into thread.

Actually a generic name to a class of polymers called alphaic polymers. Nylon is a synthetic fiber of a class of synthetic polymers developed in early to mid 1900’s. It was the world’s true first synthetic fiber. It is formally attributed to DuPont and Dr. Wallace Carouthers deemed the father of polymers. It is made by repeating bonds and is frequently referred to as a polymide. Nylon fibers specifically are made in a process known as “melt spinning”; syrupy polymer (adipic acid and hexamethylene diamine) solution produced then extruded through a spinneret. When fiber strings emerge they are cooled by air and stretched over rollers to stabilize molecular chains and strengthen the fibers. It was intended to replace silk and substituted for it in WWII including parachutes, flak vests, and vehicle parts including tires and that initiative enhanced speed of research and development.  Currently joins rank with polyester in inexpensive mass manufacturing of goods – in 2010 & 2011 the global consumption of nylon was 4 Billion tons annually in filament yarn as well as fibers.

This sweather was given to me as a gift in December 2007 from my sister. It's traveled with me from Queens to the Waterpod to Manhattan to Brooklyn.