Atlas is a beautiful fabric made from silk fibers. At the same time, due to its natural composition, the satin material has unique properties that are highly valued in the textile industry.
Origin of the atlas
The name of the satin fabric comes from the Arabic word atlas, which can be translated as “smooth”. At the same time, in the Russian language there is a word that is the same in spelling with the designation of this fabric, but differs from it in stress. Therefore, it is extremely important to pronounce this name correctly, placing emphasis on the second syllable.
Atlas is a type of fabric that boasts an exceptionally long history. For the first time, a fabric of this kind was made several hundred years ago in China: even then, craftsmen used the so-called satin method of weaving threads, in which the weft simultaneously passes through five or more warp threads, which gives the finished fabric exceptional smoothness, since only warp threads.
Due to this property, the atlas has become widespread. At the same time, the countries that initially mastered its production using the technology of Chinese masters were the states located near the Great Silk Road, in Central Asia and the Middle East. Then this technology was mastered in European countries. In Russia, atlas also gained popularity and was actively used for the production of clothing for wealthy people.
Atlas properties
Today, the production technology of satin allows you to create a variety of types of this fabric: its range is no longer limited to plain-dyed material, but also includes patterned, embroidered or dyed fabric in several colors.
At the same time, however, all types of atlases differ in common properties, which include a high ability to absorb moisture with a fairly rapid subsequent drying, the ability to stretch and drape beautifully. At the same time, the atlas is a natural material, and therefore does not cause allergies and does not become electrified. Insects are almost never found in products made from satin fabrics, such as bedding.
However, today a wide variety of products are produced from satin, including underwear, shirts and blouses, elegant dresses and other types of clothing. In addition, atlas is actively used as a material for the production of interior textiles. It should be borne in mind that to give it additional properties, various synthetic materials are often added to the atlas, which are on the market along with natural atlas. The finished product must be properly cared for, therefore, to find out which types of processing are suitable for a particular type of fabric, you need to carefully study the label.
