The beauty and value of silk stimulated many early scientists to attempt to develop fiber resembling the thread of the silkworm. In 1664 the English scientist Robert Hooke suggested the possibility of synthesizing a glutinous substance similar to the fluid secreted by the silkworm when it spins its cocoon. Not until 200 years later, however, was the commercial production of manufactured fibers, originally named artificial silk, launched by the French scientist Count Hilaire de Chardonnet. His process, which followed the principle suggested by earlier chemists, consisted of forcing a viscous fluid through small thimblelike nozzles called spinnerets and hardening the fluid into thread by coagulation in a chemical bath. This process continues to be the basic method that is used for the production of synthetic textile fibers.
In 1924 the term artificial silk was replaced by the more definitive name rayon, which in 1937 was officially recognized in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission as the generic term for the new fiber. Subsequently, two major processes used in rayon production led to the classification of rayons into two distinct categories, viscose rayon and acetate rayon.
Nylon was introduced in the 1930s. Stronger than silk, this fiber is used extensively in the production of clothing, hosiery, parachute fabric, and rope. After 1940 many other synthetic fibers achieved importance in the textile industry, including the polyesters, sometimes called dacrons, polyvinyls, polyethylenes, acrylics, and olefins. A silklike nylon known as Qiana was introduced in 1968. Fabrics made of Qiana resist wrinkles, retain creases and pleats, and have good color clarity and stability when dyed.
The use of synthetic fibers brought many changes in the textile economy, because production methods and the physical characteristics of these fibers could be adjusted to suit specific requirements. Highly industrialized nations that previously had been forced to import cotton and wool as raw materials for textiles were able to manufacture their own fibers from such readily available resources as coal, petroleum, and wood pulp. The development of synthetic fibers led to the production of new types of durable and easily cared-for fabrics.