Change is the only constant. In a world where even the climate changes at an alarming rate, how can fashion fall behind? Handlooms that were once the bread and butter of families have now paved way to power looms and become valuable relics themselves. Machine dying has replaced the cumbersome hand dying, making textile production easy. This has taken the world by storm and has left behind a competitive market, empowering the sales of fake and cheap textiles.
Change is constant but not all change is desirable.
Cotton has weaved its way into our lives ages ago and has stitched its importance through desirable qualities like being sustainable, anti-allergenic and breathable! These qualities come with their own expenses. Cotton or any other natural fiber is hard to produce and take a lot of effort. But since a lot of people prefer using cotton, the production of fake / imitation cotton has increased in the market. Polyester is made to look exactly like cotton and sold for a cheaper price and most people cannot tell the difference!!
So how can one recognize pure cotton? Through the burn test!!
Cut a small piece from the blouse side of the saree and burn it.
100% pure cotton reduces to a smooth grey ash after burning and has the odor of burning wood or paper.
In case of polyester, the residue after burning is hard like plastic. This burn technique can be used for all your other fabric qualities too.
Certain times the saree/clothing might consist of a blend of cotton and another fibre. To identify that, one has to carefully remove the warp and weft yarns and then do the burn test separately for those yarns. This method is being used in the fashion industry from ages. It is the most accurate way to recognise a fibre.
WEFT ARE THE YARNS THAT RUN PARPENDICULAR TO THE SELVEDGE.
At times, genuine sellers will actually do this little experiment right in front of you to prove that their products are genuine.
Do give this a try and always be careful while buying natural fiber sarees!!