Different sorts of natural fibers were used by people of all nations around the world for ages and various fabric weaving techniques allowed them to have different sorts of textile for making clothes. Later, with the development of chemical technologies the number of available materials has ballooned. In fact, new interesting materials are being developed now, so their number is constantly increasing. The production of manmade fibers is more cost effective than that of natural fibers, which is why synthetic fibers are in such great demand in the textile industry. There are two basic types of synthetic material. The first one contains cellulose (it forms cell walls in each plant; cellulose is mainly obtained from wood) like acetate silk, for example, while the other one does not contain any cellulose and is made entirely of chemical substances. And both types of fibers are made in more or less similar way. First of all, the components that are used to form fiber are turned into liquid form by means of solvents. Then this liquid is being squeezed through the very narrow device which is called a spinner. And at the same time thread, that is formed, is treated with special substances to be moulded into solid state. It is a rather uncomplicated process that allows reducing the price of fibers significantly. But still there are certain qualities of natural fibers that synthetic material is deprived of. The simple solution here is blending. Different synthetic materials can be combined with natural material and, thus, fabric will have qualities of both natural and synthetic fibers. Improving quality of fibers is probably the main purpose of blending. However, while most natural fibers can be used as they are, synthetic threads are too long for handling. So, to be used for blending they have to be cut into shorter pieces. These small filaments are called "staple fibers". Smaller length of staple fibers allows intertwining them easily with short natural fibers (wool or cotton, for example). Depending on the area of application, the length of staple fibers can vary from 2 to 20 cm. The sort of material for blending is also very important because not all materials can be mixed together. Wrong combinations can result in shrinkage or very weak structure of fabric. Today, the most widely used combination is polyester with cotton. The fabric made of these materials is durable and very easy to handle. You do not need anything special for cleaning such clothes, machine washing with almost any sort of detergents works fine. A mixture of polyester with wool is also very marketable. Fabric made of this combination feels just like wool but as long as polyester is present this fabric becomes much more durable than natural wool. The combination of materials and percentage of each material is marked on a special label that is attached to every piece of clothing. And knowing what material is contained in the garments that you wear, you will be able to choose the best way to treat it.