Science: Cloth Without Looms

Masslinn (for mass of lint) is a new cotton cloth which looks, feels and launders much like any other cotton cloth, but conceals this fundamental difference: it is made without a spindle or a loom. Cotton web oozing softly from the carding machine is treated with an adhesive (still an unpatented secret), fed back into machinery resembling a paper mill, from which it emerges as a low-cost cotton cloth capable of giving other cotton goods some formidable competition.

Few manufacturers, merchants or housewives have yet heard of Masslinn. Last week its proud maker, Johnson & Johnson (surgical dressings), explained why: the wonder baby had literally been snatched from the cradle and hastened off to war. Eighteen months ago it made a modest debut in Chux, a disposable diaper; before it could appear in sheets, window draperies, table cloths, wall paper, wire insulation, Masslinn was abruptly withdrawn from the market and production (now running about 800,000 yards per month) converted totally to Army & Navy needs.

Exactly what roles Masslinn is playing in the war effort, J. & J. cannot reveal. But numerous possibilities are implied in its numerous merits; it is: 1) light— 14-16 yards per lb., against woven cotton's 6¼ yards; 2) cheap—basic price about 4¢ a yard (comparable to the price of gauze); 3) easily sterilized, highly absorbent, stronger when wet than dry; 4) easy to produce—can be turned out ten times faster than loomed yardage; 5) better than the finest-weave fabric as a vehicle for acid-resistant, waterproof or fireproof coatings—because it contains no interstices at all. Where Masslinn will fit into the post war cotton-goods market is any man's guess. Robert Harper, manager of J. & J.'s Masslinn Division, disclaims any designs on the apparel field, says that Masslinn's present tensile strength makes it unsuitable for clothing or merchandise that must wear for a long time.