When buying artesanal textiles from foreign contries or on ebay, it is often hard to know the actual fiber content, sometimes there is no tag and sometimes the information on the tag is not reliable. Here is a way to tell what a textile fiber is: The burn test.

This test is safer done outdoors on a fireproof surface.

Pick a few strand from the hem or the back of the piece you want to test, hold it with twizzers and approach it to a flame, as soon as it catches on fire pull it away,

  The smell of the burning fibers is an indicator of their origin

 Cotton: vegetal origin will smell like burning paper

  Wool :animal origin like  will smell like burned hair or feathers

  Synthetic ;man made origin  will smell like chemicals

 

The appearance of the remnants of your strand is also an indicator of its origin.

  Cotton fibers will turn into soft fine ashes

  Wool  fibers will turn to brittle burnt fragments.

  Synthetic  fibers will shrivel and form a small hard ball at the end and emit a plume of black smoke.