Buckram is a stiff fabric made with a cotton or linen base, used to mold, shape, or stiffen products such as hats, draperies, purses, and book covers. It comes in various grades, thicknesses, and colors, and is primarily stiffened with a liquid substance. The derivation of the word is unclear.
Buckram is a stiff, heavy stock fabric typically made with a cotton base. It is used in the production of many everyday items to allow them to stand upright and straight or maintain a rigid silhouette. Various methods have been used in the production of buckram, although modern buckram cloth is primarily stiffened with a liquid, void-filling substance. Typically found in the drapery section of a fabric or craft store, the material is quite inexpensive.
The cloth has several names. Occasionally, stiff cloth is called a book crinoline, book binding, or book cloth, although several types of book cloth exist. Because of its rigidity, buckram is used to mold, shape, or stiffen products such as hats, draperies, purses, and book covers.
When used in book production, bookbinding buckram, not to be confused with milling buckram, is acrylic coated. What started out as a primarily cotton-based fabric was thickened by acrylic. The result is a thicker and more resistant product. This thick material has historically been used in the manufacture of widely used library, church or school books. Binding material is available in a few grades or thicknesses.
Although cotton is the most common base, there are also varieties of linen. Linen-based material is generally, though not always, thinner. As with cotton buckram, the linen variety is made by weaving the materials together and filling the gaps with a thick, sticky liquid substance. The space filler is often pyroxylin, although clay and starch forms are also used.
The Millinery buckram is slightly different from the rest. It is used to make accessories such as hats and bags. The fabric is saturated with starch and molded into the desired shape. Once thick fabric dries and stiffens, it stays in the desired shape. It comes in three weights: single layer, double layer, and baby. Baby weight is typically used for baby clothing and accessories.
Buckram also comes in a large number of shades. Color swatches can often be found at bookbinding facilities, as well as fabric or craft stores. The material can be manufactured as opaque or glossy.
The derivation of the word buckram is unclear. As it was first used in Bukhara in Uzbekistan, historians and textile experts believe that the term “buckram” may have resulted from the name of the city. Others believe that the etymology is a result of the term “bokeram”, which was a fine, fine cloth used in the Middle Ages.
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