Difference Between Textile and Fabric

Textile vs Fabric
 

We make use of different types of fabrics depending upon weather such as woolen fabrics during winters and cotton ones during summers. To prevent us from becoming wet during rains, we make use of raincoats and umbrellas that are made using altogether different fabrics. So basically there are different fabrics with the different feel and requirements. However, there is another word used for fabrics called textiles that confuses many. This article attempts to find out the differences between textile and fabric.

Textile

The word textile comes from a Latin word texere that means to weave. The word has traditionally meant a woven fabric, and people equate it with cloth too. However, weaving is only one of the techniques used to make textiles as there are also knitting, knotting, and even crocheting. Today textiles are even being made by pressing of fabrics, which is a technique called felt. Fibers are the raw materials used to make textiles. Most of the fibers come from plant sources and are, therefore, natural. Some fibers are manmade in laboratories using chemicals and modern technology. In US, synthetic man-made fibers account for more than 2/3 of those used in the textile industry.

Fabric

Fabric refers to products made from fibers through techniques of knitting, weaving and crocheting. Fabric is the term used commonly when talking about the quality, color or texture of clothing. Thus, there is upholstery clothing or fabric for shirting. Dress material is another word used for fabrics these days to refer to different qualities of fabrics available in the market. Fabric is a word that has wider connotations as when we talk about fabricated products or fabric of society. However, all over the world, fabric refers mainly to the cloth that is used for making dresses.