Hair Manufactures. In this article the various kinds of hair (except wool) used in manufactures are noticed, together with the different fabrics or articles made from them. Remarks on a few of these will be found under ALPACA, BRISTLES, BRUSH, and FIBROUS SUBSTANCES. For sheep's wool, which like fur is modified hair, and the similar animal fibres mohair and alpaca, see WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. Fur-covered skins used for articles of dress in their natural condition, with just sufficient treatment to preserve them, are described under FUR; while the employment of wool, fur, and hair in the manufacture of felted goods is noticed under the headings FELT and HAT.
Human Hair.—The trade in Britain in this is considerable, supplies of it being chiefly obtained from continental Europe, India, and China. The hair shipped from Asiatic countries is coarse, that from Germany and Scandinavia is light-coloured, and that collected in Italy and southern France is dark. In former years an occasional supply of good quality was got from Ireland. Hair 8 inches long is worth about 1s. per ounce, while such as extends to the length of 3 feet sometimes reaches as high a price as 30s. per ounce. Certain colours, such as pure golden, are of greater value than more common kinds, and hair from the living subject is much better than dead hair. Human hair is worked up into watch-guards, brooches, bracelets, and other personal ornaments, the patterns of which are often very beautiful. In the article WIG this and other imitations in hair of the natural covering of the head are noticed.
Horse-hair.—The comparatively small quantity of this hair obtained in England is got from the combings of tails and manes, but it is of excellent quality. Horse-hair is imported from Russia, Germany, Belgium, South America, and Australia; the imports for the five years ending 1888 averaging nearly 20,000 cwt. annually. The United States import hair to the value of from 2½ to 2¾ million dollars annually; exporting a value of from 350,000 to 420,000 dollars. Hair combed from the tails of horses is the most valuable, that from the mane being of inferior quality. The former is designated 'hard,' and the latter 'soft,' while the hair is further distinguished by the terms 'live' and 'dead,' according as it has been taken from the animal before or after death. 'Live' hair commands the highest price. White is the most valuable kind as regards colour, as it is suitable for dyeing bright tints, and the best hair is obtained from wild horses.
Horse-hair undergoes three sortings—viz. into sorts according to length, into different colours, and into various qualities. After this the hair is washed generally in warm soap baths and in water slightly heated, to which lime or potash has been added. The hair, except the white sort, which is to be bleached, is, after cleaning passed through a dye bath in which logwood is the chief ingredient. Short hair being used for stuffing in upholstery work, and long hair chiefly for the manufacture of haircloth, the two kinds after the above treatment undergo different processes.
Short horse-hair, although best for the purpose when used alone, is nevertheless mixed with cow and pig hair for stuffing chairs, sofas, and the like. Different blends of these are made, and the three kinds thoroughly incorporated by suitable machines, after which the mixture is beaten and screened to clear it of dust. Then follows the 'curling' process, by which the hair is first spun into ropes, which are next twisted into much shorter lengths, and by a third operation further twisted till they get into a convolute shape. The curl thus given requires to be fixed by placing the hair in cold water for several hours, and afterwards in an oven, where it is kept for some time at a high temperature. This baking also destroys the eggs of obnoxious insects. The hair in this rope form requires to be teased up for use. For inferior stuffing vegetable fibres are now mixed with hair.
Hairecloth.—Long horse-hair is combed on steel combs, and separated into different lengths and thicknesses, about 3 feet being the longest size. The chief application of long hair is in the manufacture of haircloth, which is generally though not always black. Even when naturally black the hair is dyed to give it a uniform colour. White hair is bleached and dyed different colours. The length of the hair determines the width of the cloth, since the weft is formed of single hairs. Strong linen or cotton twist commonly form the warp. Up to the middle of the 19th century a child at one side of a handloom supplied a hair to the weaver for each throw of the shuttle, to which the hair was hooked. A subsequent invention made it practicable to dispense with the child or server, the weaver by means of a treadle working both the hook-shuttle for drawing through, and the batten for driving home, the weft hairs; and at the same time supplying these hairs with his or her own hands.
The power-loom, invented by Mr Isaac Lindsley, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was the first successful attempt to supersede the hand-loom in the weaving of haircloth. In it the end of an arm or rod, made to operate like a finger and thumb, grasps the hairs as they are presented to it by a picker which takes up a single hair from a bunch, and this hair is then carried by the rod through the shed of the warp. This loom has been extensively used in the manufacture of haircloth. In some more recent ones, however, the working parts have been simplified, and an important arrangement introduced by which the thin and the thick ends of the hair are taken up by the picker alternately.
Haircloth is so woven that only the hair portion is seen on the surface, the linen or cotton warp being hidden. Most of what is made in England is plain, but some haircloth damasks, both black and coloured, are woven; so also are striped pieces of various colours. These ornamental kinds, which are well suited for elegant furniture in tropical regions, are largely made on the Continent. In some special kinds of fabric both warp and weft are of horse-hair. Among these are sieve-bottoms for cooks, chemists, and powder manufacturers. Other examples are press-cloths used in making cider, and tailors' ironing cloths. Horse-hair is worked up into ornamental cord-like or braid-like forms (crinoline) for ladies' bonnets, into borders and cords for carriages, into material for cigar-cases and similar articles, and into fishing-lines.
'Brussels' carpet of horse-hair was introduced by Mr E. Webb of Worcester. Several kinds of carpet partly or wholly composed of this material are now made. In these tissues the hair is not woven in the same way as it is in ordinary haircloth, but as a yarn for which short hair, sometimes mixed with the hair of other animals, is generally used. The material is carded, spun, and twisted. Some carpets have both warp and weft of hair; others have only a plain warp of hair with a weft of jute; others again have a backing and weft of hemp, jute, or cotton, and the pile warp of horse-hair. These carpets are extremely durable, and therefore well suited for offices and other rooms in which there is much traffic.
Cow-hair is consumed in considerable quantities by plasterers to bind the plaster put on the internal walls of houses. As already stated, it is mixed with horse-hair for stuffing purposes, and with wool for common blankets, carpets, rugs, and other articles. Cow-hair is also used in the manufacture of roofing and other felts. This kind of hair is obtained in considerable quantities from tanneries. The imports of it in 1888 amounted to 95,000 cwt.
Camel-hair is obtained from the legs, the neck, and the humps of both species of Camel (q.v.). The hair of the Arabian camel is fine and light-coloured; that from the Bactrian camel is coarser, and of a darker shade. It, however, varies in degree of fineness according to the age of the animals, young ones yielding the finest kind. In Tartary, Persia, Arabia, and other eastern countries camel-hair is woven into a soft, warm, and durable cloth for personal wear. It is also made into carpets, tent- coverings, and other articles. Since 1860 a good deal of this hair has been sent to Europe and America for weaving into carpets and for mixing with wool; in the case of the finer kinds, for warm clothing. The so-called camel-hair brushes are made from the tail of the sable or of some kinds of squirrel.
Goat-hair.—The hair of the common goat is used for the manufacture of cheap carpets and for other purposes, but that of the Angora or mohair goat is now a very important material in our textile industries. This mohair, as it is called, is described under WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES, and the fine wool forming part of the fleece of the Cashmere or shawl goat is noticed under CASHMERE GOAT, SHAWL.
Pig-hair or Bristles.—Some pig-hair is mixed with other kinds for stuffing. The principal use of this material, however, is for making brushes. See BRISTLES and BRUSHES.
Elephant's Hair.—The strong hair of the elephant's tail is occasionally turned to some use. For example, a native bracelet is employed by some of the tribes in Nyassaland, which consists simply of two such hairs plaited.