Fabric Definitions — definitions of fabrics, cloths, laces and textile materials from Apparel Search
Burlap is a strong, coarse, loosely woven cloth made of fibers of jute, flax or hemp. It is used to make bags, to reinforce linoleum, and in interior decoration; a finer variety of similar material is used for curtains. It is usually unbleached, with a natural light brown color, and is also called Hessian cloth or simply Hessian.
Burlap is a strong, coarse, loosely-woven cloth made of fibers of jute, flax, or hemp. Burlap is used to make bags, to reinforce linoleum, and in interior decoration - also, a finer variety of similar material, used for curtains, etc. It is usually unbleached, with a natural light brown color.
Burlap is also called Hessian cloth or simply Hessian.
| Fashion Industry |
A Cloth Specified by Jobs, Not by FashionBurlap is one of the few textiles whose grades are defined entirely by work. Sack grades are woven to hold weight — coffee, potatoes, grain — while letting the contents breathe, and to be cheap enough to treat as packaging. Heavier, tighter weaves serve as backing and reinforcement: burlap reinforces linoleum, backs carpets, wraps tree roots for transplanting, and holds soil on slopes as an erosion-control mat that biodegrades after vegetation takes over. At the fine end, even-textured Hessian becomes a furnishing cloth — curtains, wall coverings, bulletin-board and rustic event decoration — where the natural light-brown color and visible weave are the decoration. One fiber and one simple weave cover that whole range; only the yarn size, density and finish change. Working Properties and LimitsBurlap's virtues in use are strength in proportion to cost, breathability and biodegradability; its limits are just as definite. The loose plain weave frays at every cut edge, so pieces for decoration are hemmed or sealed, and the cloth sheds short fibers and carries the earthy odor of jute until aired. It rots if stored damp, weakens in prolonged sunlight, and cannot be washed and expected to keep its shape — treatment is shaking, airing and spot cleaning. Those limits explain its position in the textile hierarchy: burlap never pretends to be an apparel cloth, and within its own territory of sacks, backing and rustic texture it has outlasted many finer materials because nothing cheaper does its jobs as well. Common QuestionsWhy is burlap also called Hessian?Hessian cloth takes its name from Hesse in Germany, whose soldiers — Hessians — historically wore uniforms associated with the fabric, and the name attached itself to the coarse jute cloth traded worldwide. In British and Commonwealth usage Hessian is the everyday word; in North American usage the same cloth is burlap. Why is burlap made from jute so inexpensive?Jute is a long bast fiber stripped from the stems of the jute plant, grown quickly in warm, wet conditions and processed with far less refinement than apparel fibers. Burlap's loose, plain weave uses that fiber nearly as it comes — unbleached, undyed, minimally finished — so cost stays in the growing, not the making. Can burlap be used for clothing?Ordinary sack-grade burlap is too coarse, stiff and skin-irritating for garments, and its loose weave frays and sheds fibers. Its clothing-adjacent uses are rustic decoration, costumes and accessories where the texture is the point and contact with skin is limited; fine Hessian grades are made for curtains and interiors instead. More to ExploreMore from Apparel Search: Fabric Definitions | Clothing Industry Glossary | Fashion Terms | Apparel Search Home
|