cloth
A generic term for all of the fabrics employed in
bookbinding and conservation. Cloth is made by
weaving, felting, knitting, knotting, bonding, or
crocheting natural or synthetic fibers and
filaments, in various textures, finishes, and
weights. It may be plain, filled, coated, or
impregnated. Woven cloths, with the exceptions of
certain "double warp" cloths, have a warp (the
threads that run the length of the cloth over and
under the filling), and a filling, also called the
weft, running across the grain at right angles to
the warp. Both are generally expressed in number
of yarns per inch. Since the number of threads in
the warp is generally greater than the filling,
the strength of a cloth is greater in the
direction of the warp (or "grain" of the cloth).
Cloth is made from a wide variety of animal,
vegetable, and synthetic fibers. Animal fibers
include those obtained from animal hair—e.g.,
wool—and those obtained from insects, such as
silk. Vegetable fibers include vegetable hairs,
e.g., cotton; bast fibers from the stems of
plants, such as flax, hemp, jute, etc.; and fiber
bundles, such as sisal, esparto, straw, etc. The
fibers most often used in bookbinding are cotton,
flax, and silk. See also: BOOK CLOTH . (52 , 102 , 341 )
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