Chinchilla cloth can be a confusing name for a fabric, given that it contains no chinchilla fur or fur fiber. A friend of mine speculated that it is called chinchilla cloth because chinchillas would rather you wear it than their fur! The real reason for the name? Read on...
Constructed like fleece with a long nap, chinchilla cloth is given a machine finish which rubs the nap into nubs. It is made of wool or wool blends, and the warp may be cotton for strength. The town of Chinchilla, Spain, is where the present fabric was first made.
Uses: Coats, hats
See also:
Fleece
Chinchilla cloth in ads from 1928
1935 (the fabric seems to have been used for children's clothing quite a lot). It is known for being soft and hard-wearing. The nap isn't easily worn down.
1939
1949
1954
1962
Searching on newspapers.com, you can find 1970s ads for chinchilla cloth coats, and then a single mention in the 1980s (1987). Then the fabric doesn't come up.
This is my own late 1960s chinchilla cloth coat
This 1950s coat I sold some time ago.
(That “100% Sheeps Wool” might be directed at the confusion possible with the fabric’s name.)
Another friend of mine had a different idea for why it is called chinchilla cloth. Say chinchillachinchillachinchillachinchilla. He says that's what the machine that makes the nubby nap sounds like in action.
Constructed like fleece with a long nap, chinchilla cloth is given a machine finish which rubs the nap into nubs. It is made of wool or wool blends, and the warp may be cotton for strength. The town of Chinchilla, Spain, is where the present fabric was first made.
Uses: Coats, hats
See also:
Fleece
Chinchilla cloth in ads from 1928
1935 (the fabric seems to have been used for children's clothing quite a lot). It is known for being soft and hard-wearing. The nap isn't easily worn down.
1939
1949
1954
1962
Searching on newspapers.com, you can find 1970s ads for chinchilla cloth coats, and then a single mention in the 1980s (1987). Then the fabric doesn't come up.
This is my own late 1960s chinchilla cloth coat
This 1950s coat I sold some time ago.
(That “100% Sheeps Wool” might be directed at the confusion possible with the fabric’s name.)
Another friend of mine had a different idea for why it is called chinchilla cloth. Say chinchillachinchillachinchillachinchilla. He says that's what the machine that makes the nubby nap sounds like in action.
