First sample of 100% spun 'terylene' yarn
- Made:
- 1949 in Manchester
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LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
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LicenseFirst sample of 100% spun "Terylene" yarn
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
First sample of 100% spun "Terylene" yarn
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
First sample of 100% spun "Terylene" yarn
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
First sample of 100% spun "Terylene" yarn
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
First sample of 100% spun "Terylene" yarn
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
First sample of 100% spun "Terylene" yarn
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The first sample of 100 per cent spun Terylene yarn, c 1949.
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The first sample of 100 per cent spun Terylene yarn, c 1949.
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
First sample of 100% spun "Terylene" yarn, produced at the Shirley Institute, c. 1949
In 1941 chemists John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson discovered polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Britain’s first synthetic fibre. PET was developed and commercialised by Imperial Chemical Industries under the name Terylene. The textile industry continued to use equipment designed for manipulating natural materials; this Terylene spool was made on a cotton
spinning machine. Clothes made from synthetic fibres were appealing, being hard-wearing, quick-drying and crease-resistant. At a time when clothes were still generally very expensive, Terylene quickly found public favour as an alternative to wool and cotton. Once heralded as wonder materials, man-made textiles have left us with a damaging environmental legacy: polluted water supplies and widely dispersed microplastics.
Details
- Category:
- Plastics and Modern Materials
- Object Number:
- 1977-285
- Measurements:
-
overall: 265 mm x 45 mm
- type:
- terylene yarn
- credit:
- ICI Ltd. (Fibres Division)
