Moleskin is a heavy

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...

, woven and then

shorn Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (a sheep may be said to have been "shorn" or ...

to create a short, soft pile on one side. The feel and appearance of its nap is

suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was firs ...

-like, less

plush Plush (from French ) is a textile having a cut nap or pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was extended to describe luxury accommodation, or s ...

than

velour Velour, occasionally velours, is a plush, knits, knitted fabric or textile similar to velvet or velveteen. It is usually made from cotton, but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Often, it contains a percentage of ela ...

and more like felt or

chamois The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the R ...

. The word is also used for clothing made from this fabric. Clothing made from moleskin is noted for its softness and durability. Some variants of the cloth are so densely woven as to be windproof. Its name is due to the soft brushed hand of the fabric, similar to mole fur. Though mole pelts have been used to make fur clothing, they are not referred to as "moleskin", which is also a term for soft, dense adhesive pads stuck to the skin to prevent

blister A blister is a small pocket of body fluid ( lymph, serum, plasma, blood, or pus) within the upper layers of the skin, usually caused by forceful rubbing ( friction), burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled ...

Structure

Moleskin is woven of carded

yarn in a dense

weft Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is dra ...

-faced

satin A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...

weave. The surface is napped or shorn to "produce a suede-like finish".

Uses

Moleskin fabric is commonly used to make

trousers Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and ...

, also referred to as "moleskins", that are similar to

jeans Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", with copper-riveted pockets which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in 1871 and pa ...

in terms of cut and construction. They similarly started as working menswear, but are now also much more widely worn.

Medical

Moleskin-like fabric with an adhesive backing is used to prevent or treat

s, cut with a hole in the centre to provide relief to the affected skin. The thickness of the surrounding moleskin further protects the blister from additional friction.

Audiovisual productions

Moleskin is also commonly used in video and/or audio productions when using a lavalier microphone. When further concealment of a lavalier

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...

is needed in these types of productions, it can be worn underneath a layer or layers of the singer's clothing. This would normally cause the microphone to pick up the unwanted noises of the singer's clothing rubbing up against the body and top of the lavalier. Attaching a small strip of moleskin around the microphone body will dramatically reduce the amount of noise created by the singer's clothing and, consequently, reduces the amount of unwanted noise picked up by the lavalier microphone.

Military

West German Army uniforms from the 1960s until the early 1990s were made of "moleskin" fabric in a greyish

olive-drab Olive is a dark yellowish-green color, like that of unripe or green olives. As a color word in the English language, it appears in late Middle English. Shaded toward gray, it becomes olive drab. Variations Olivine Olivine is the typic ...

colour, but the German moleskin was not shorn and thus had a flat, smooth outer side. Nonetheless, it was a tough, densely woven material, strongly resistant to wind and abrasion. Military

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

s occasionally wrap the stocks of their rifles in moleskin to absorb sweat and prevent slippage.

Workwear

Trousers made from moleskin were popular with British workers during the end of the nineteenth century due to the insulating and windproof qualities of the fabric.

Variations

Cotton

sateen Sateen is a fabric made using a satin weave structure, but made with spun yarns instead of filament. The sheen and softer feel of sateen is produced through the satin weave structure. Warp yarns are floated over weft yarns, for example four ov ...

is a variant of moleskin. It utilises cheaper short-strand cotton to create a softer feeling fabric that is relatively fragile and wears quickly.

References

External links

* {{Fabric Pile fabrics