Preliminary Practice

Hair and Fibers

For this lab, we analyzed different hairs and fibers under a microscope, recording attributes as we went. Here are the samples and their analysis: 

·      Caucasian hair

o     Heavy railroad tracking

o     Split end

o     Color treated

·      Asian Hair

o     Almost one solid color

o     Minor railroad tracks

o     End cut diagonally

·      African American Hair

o     Scaling pattern

o     Minor railroad tracks

o     Frayed

·      Cat Hair

o     Layered scales

o     Ends in a point

o     No railroad tracks

·      Dog Hair

o     Smooth (no scaling)

o     Small amounts of railroad tracking

o     Tip cut

·      Artificial Hair

o     Solid color

o     Smooth

o     End almost looked melted

·      Cotton

o     Helix shape

o     Frayed

o     Thin and interwoven

·      Wool

o     Dense and thick

o     Frayed

o     Woven together

·      Nylon

o     Smooth and straight

o     Woven in loops

o     Ends fan out

·      Silk

o     Neatly woven

o     Straight fibers, but irregular in width

o     Strung in parallel