Textile Industry

We explain what the textile industry is, its history and the sectors that make it up. Also, its development in Mexico and the world.

textile industry
The textile industry produces all types of fabrics, yarns and other associated items.

What is the textile industry?

The textile industry is the sector of the manufacturing industry dedicated to the production of fibers (natural and synthetic), fabrics, yarns and other products related to clothing and clothing. It usually covers the manufacture of clothing, clothing items and even shoes, and its work is carried out in textile factories or maquilas.

The textile industry It is one of the most important economic activities in the world whole. For this reason, it provides work to huge sectors of the population in each country, since its products are usually marketed at a constant and massive rate.

At the same time, it is a source of enormous controversies, given that its use of light machinery allows for constant geographic relocation, which sometimes translates into unworthy working and salary conditions.

On the other hand, we speak of textile sectors to refer to the different components or stations of textile production, which directly make up the industry. Such as:

  • Fiber production The obtaining by natural or artificial means of the raw material to produce textile products.
  • Spinning Fiber treatment stage and obtaining the basic threads for the manufacture of fabrics.
  • Weaving Process of making fabrics by weaving fiber threads.
  • Dry cleaner Stage in which the fabrics are dyed and their final finishing is carried out.
  • Dressmaking and sewing Sector in which the pieces of each garment are designed, cut and sewn, from already finished fabrics. It is divided into high and low fashion.
  • Nonwovens Sector for handling non-textile elements or manufacturing fabrics without requiring threads and fibers.
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See also: Light industry

History of the textile industry

textile industry history
The Industrial Revolution brought constant production workshops.

The textile industry, Traditionally, it was a field of female work that took place in their own homes and whose production was, in the best of cases, artisanal. The fabrics thus produced were then sent to a tailor or seamstress, in charge of manufacturing the pieces of clothing to suit the wealthy client, or of making regular pieces intended for the use of the common people.

The growth of the population and the economy during The early stages of the Industrial Revolution led to the establishment of workshops (looms) in which fabrics could be produced constantly, still using manual labor and a large number of textile workers.

These conditions changed radically when In the 18th century and especially the 19th century, the first industrial technological devices emerged aimed at streamlining and massifying textile production. These tools modernized the textile industry and allowed for the mass manufacturing of fabrics, although at the cost of reducing the number of workers.

There were reactions against the arrival of this technology, such as the violent Luddite demonstrations, but the advantages of the new mechanized industry were undeniable and ended up prevailing to this day.

In fact, The textile industry was the first of the industries to develop when John Kay's first flying shuttle emerged in 1733. Already in 1800 there were only about 350,000 textile workers in Great Britain, divided between spinning and weaving. At the beginning of the 19th century, 40% of this nation's exports consisted of fabrics.

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Textile machinery

The modern textile industry has important mechanical and even automated devices, which carry out production in a constant, continuous and massive manner. Among them stand out:

  • Openers and processors These are different machines that are used to open bales of cotton or other natural or synthetic raw materials, breaking them down and separating the useful material from the impurities. They often lead to a “softener”, which is a kind of press equipped with rotating rollers, which crush and soften the fibers, especially of rigid materials such as hemp; and various water extractors to avoid later complications with the fiber.
  • Spinners These are machines that receive the processed fibers ready for use, and proceed to make a thread with them. Currently this process occurs in a highly automated manner, but in the beginning the first spinning machines were devices equipped with bobbins and eight spools of fiber, known as Jenny spinning machines (and invented in 1770 by James Hargreaves).
  • Loom Modern version of the artifact formerly invented by textile artisans, the loom is a weaving machine, that is, transforming threads into fabrics. To do this, it intertwines two sets of threads: the warp and the weft, generally using a drum that allows the threads to intertwine following a certain set of guides, to the rhythm of the movement of a comb, whose back and forth pushes the thread, forming the weft. The result of this operation, today carried out by automated machines, is a piece of fabric of large proportions.

Countries with a strong textile industry

chinese textile industry
China is the largest textile producer and exporter in the world.

The textile industry is very robust in countries like China, the largest textile producer in the world and the main exporter of fabrics and finished garments.

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The United States and India are also highly developed, and since 2010 Morocco, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and South Korea have been added to the list, as well as Peru, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia, to a lesser extent.

Textile industry in Mexico

In the case of Mexico, The textile industry represents a significant portion of its GDP. Traditionally occupied by women, this sector developed continuously and unregulated until 2009, the year it entered into crisis, and was characterized by low salaries, minimal labor demands and no environmental protection.

However, thanks to this thriving industry Mexico is among the textile powers of the world especially in the synthetic fibers sector, of which it is the fifth supplier worldwide, exporting 4,695 million dollars annually.

Continue with: Heavy industry

References

  • “Textile industry” in Wikipedia.
  • “The textile industry in Mexico” at Ibercondor.
  • “Textile industry” at the University of Palermo (Argentina).
  • “15 Things you didn't know about the Textile Industry” (video) Alux.com.
  • “Textile” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.