What is Wax Cord ?
As the generic name indicates, these are cords made using cotton
fibre and are processed in order to give an aesthetic look. The
basic application of this product is in the artificial jewelry segment
as a string which anchors all the artificial components. Conventionally,
the industry used to use the Leather waste by twisting and making
a string called Leather Cord or String. Two basic draw-backs in
the product were that being a leather waste produce the same did
not possess the requisite strength and also being a leather product
when it came in contact with the sweat it would lead to pungent
odour.
In order to overcome the two draw-backs enlisted above the textile
industry came up with cords made out of natural fibre namely cotton,
which has the required strength for the purpose and also overcomes
the odour problem as cotton is sweat absorbent. Added advantages
are that the product can be had in any colour as dyeing of cotton
cords is much cheaper and easier than that of leather.
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Wax cord is made using the yarn and then processing it through
various stages. These stages are
- Braiding
- The yarn is processed thorough braiding machines, where
multiple yarns are combined in a specific pattern to yield
a composite string, which is much stronger than the yarns.
Braids are textile compositions made with yarn thread crossing
in diagonal direction. Each thread intertwines the diagonal
threads it crosses one from above and one from below. Braiding
machines are used for such constructions. Strength of braids
and time of braiding shows the quality of the braiding machines.
Primarily there are two kinds of braids : Round Braids and
Flat Braids, depending on their construction.
- Dyeing
- In order to impart the desired colors, the strings are
then dyed using various non hazardous dyes.
- Chemical Treatment
- The strings are treated with special formulations of chemicals,
which are non hazardous and at the same time impart colour
fastness and improve the properties of strings, as per the
intended usage.
- Polishing
- Finally, the processed strings are polished. In the conventional
process, it used to undergo through coating. The coated
strings had certain drawbacks, for example - cracking of
coating at lower temperature. We have developed the indigenous
process of polishing, which eliminates the drawbacks of
coatings, yet imparting desirable finish and water / moisture
resistance to the finished strings.
The final product is known as Wax Cord
or Leather Look Cord. |
Comparison of Wax Cord and Leather Cords
| Properties |
Leather Cord |
Leather Look Cord or
Wax Cord |
| Raw Material |
Leather Waste |
Fresh yarn |
| Strength |
Less - due to Raw material |
Stronger than Leather Cord (which is made of leather waste) |
| Roundness |
Less uniformly round |
More uniformly round |
| Colors |
Limited (Say 5-6) |
More than 41 shades of various colors available with us |
| Nature |
Hazardous to skin due on contact with skin perspiration |
Non-hazardous to skin |
| Odor |
Pungent on contact with skin perspiration |
Odorless |
| Price |
Expensive |
Cheaper |
| Production |
Less being manual |
More as mechanical |
| Animal Killing |
May require |
Does not require |
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