Duck Cloth: A Popular Choice For Apparels And Home Décor Items

Cotton duck is one of the most versatile fabrics known to mankind. This also makes it a popular work wear fabric. Going by its name, it has nothing to do with the water fowl. It gets its name from the Dutch word, doek which means linen cloth. Due to its versatility, the fabric sees its application in a number of products ranging from apparels to home décor and surgical gloves to cement bags. This versatility makes it a popular choice of fabric. But other than this, there are numerous other features that can be associated with it. Let us have a look at the things that make it a popular fabric to work with.M

Apart from work wear, it is used to make shoes, wall tents, sand bags, and many other products. It is mainly demanded in colors like shades of green, khaki, brown and tan. This is primarily because these colors hide dirt well.

The Duck Cloth offers many benefits that include the following:

• It has relatively smoother surface that do not snag and tear.
• It can also withstand the effects of the environmental factors.
• Unlike synthetics, it is comparatively safer to wear as it does not catch fire or burn that easily like the polyesters and blends.
• Initially, it may be stiff and uncomfortable to use. But, after washing, it becomes soft and comfortable.

The cotton duck is differentiated by its weave. It has a weft and weaves pattern that is tighter and hold stronger. It has a plain weave pattern. In addition to this, the fabric is categorized according to its weight as well. It is numbered from 1 to 12. The fabric with number 1 is the thickest and the duck with number 12 is the thinnest. Their uses also vary according to their weave and weight.

This can be understood as the 12-8 numbered duck is the lighter and is mainly used to make light clothes, work wear, shower curtains, heavy work clothes etc. The #6 - #3 are used to make boat covers, sea bags, heavy duty bags, #2 and 1 are used to make hatch paulins, sand bags, cots and hammocks.

There are other various uses that can be associated with the cotton duck fabric. The fabric offers flexibility of use. It is easy to sew and dye. This makes it popular to manufacture items like hats, canvas shoes, mats, rugs, table covers etc. It is an inexpensive fabric and relatively easy to maintain. It does not require heavy maintenance. It is a natural fabric and can also be made organically. This makes it environmental- friendly as well.

All these qualities of the cotton duck fabric can be related to its popularity and wide spread use.

There was a need to have a lighter fabric which possesses all the qualities and can be durable. An army duck canvas fabric is a good example of it which used in army specifications.