#acid bath compatible resist | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thefinishpiece · 5 years ago

Text

Dance Of Exploding Eggs

The dead do not wash their feet.

Neither does not Nadia. She was still alive, still staring at the marks of peckish dirt encasing her feet like a spotted glaze. Yet, less appetizing.

Instead, she was reviled to find where her veins strutted up to form long, sinewy ridges—her usually clear complexion blemished in wildfires of tawny gunk.

Even her tiny hairs, which she regularly shaved, were now trees bristling in leaves of muddied bluster. In the clefts between her toes, little clans of grungy warriors built camps and lit fires, letting their filth fly freely, while fending off the fungal barbarians sure to be surrounding them any second now.

Her toenails fared no better, each one piling unto itself as a layered cake of dead cells. Hardened, deadened, sharp—soot-stricken orphans seeking shelter beneath the curves, shivering yet ordained by structure to never clog or obstruct the construction of new nail, which constantly builds outward as a bridge of flattened crystal-flesh. Until gravity clutches it and pulls it down, looping back into the very toe it tried to escape from, almost like a parasite that can’t quite leave the taste of its host behind.

And the stench from all this—pervading passed all bounds of invisible air, leaping up so fast and flourishing, by the time it reaches the nose it is a blossoming fist of smell, punching nostrils closed, knocking out any other aroma present.

How could any conscious being permit such an expanse of putridness to grow on itself?

Nadia did not have to ponder for long because she blamed herself supremely and solely. Just as well, since she blamed herself often and deeply.

“I have to wash my feet...” she muttered to herself. “A good soak is all they need.”

In her quiet inspection, she lamented the dead. For as they were, being deceased, their feet could deteriorate and decay all they like, because at six-feet-under earthly crust, no one can smell them or complain about them, and they themselves could not openly accuse themselves of being the opposite of hygienic and failing to hide natural odor from their own judgmental eyes. Because despite how natural the growth of dirtiness on feet seemed to be, it was still considered hideous to everyone—especially Nadia—and frowned upon by many in circles high above the very ground upon which these very feet walked on.

“There is fungus growing on these, I just know it.” Nadia assured herself.

But as she did, pinching the derelict spots in quiet contempt, her companion muddled platitudes of support, remarking how happy he would be to scrape off all those mushrooms on her feet and cook a nice dish with them—maybe a soup or pasta or something.

“Wild shrooms like that always have such an earthly taste you can’t find anywhere else!”

“Here then, have a taste yourself!” Nadia sneered, shoving her foot right into her companion’s face, her wilderness-blessed toes tapping classical melodies on his face.

He playfully grabbed her ankle and kissed her toes all over, licking his lips, wearing a face like a golden-tongued chef being asked by the gods to decide whose confection was best—was it the lemon-frosted cream-cake by Hekate, or perhaps the pineapple-pudding pie which Hermes made?

Nadia giggled, curling her toes, still concerned by her bothersome feet, but quite content to have someone overcome it for the sake of amusing her. And he did amuse her—in all ways. It is the only reason she even agreed to go on this trip—especially after what happened so long ago.

Otherwise, she would have stayed at home, soaking her feet to a wrinkled gleam.

And as she removed her foot from his face, returning her leg to a proper position, she was appropriately careful not to disturb the eggs on the dashboard, which were bundled together in a basket, with blots of cotton mixed in to keep them buoyant and prevent unintentional collision.

As they both quit laughing—his attention focusing in on the road ahead and Nadia suddenly forgetful of the plague wreaking havoc on her feet—the quiet hiss of the eggs could be heard. Whatever it was developing within them, it emitted this sullen spitting, penetrating through its shell at a volume just loud enough to hear in silence, but just silent enough to be swallowed by any mention of another sound (any other mention of sound).

Nadia gazed at the eggs, listening to them curse and whine, wondering if it was pain or hate that compelled them to make such sour tones.

“These things are so foul.” Nadia noted. Her companion nodded without looking. “Sure, but so are your feet.”

A smirk bit his face, and Nadia just shook her head smiling. At least she had him here. These eggs seemed rather harmless with him here.

|1|

The shells were golden, as if molded after myth and greed.

But why did they have to stay in the bathroom? On the sink, where they paired with their reflection to ensure a double flood of grotesque gold every time Nadia must floss her teeth or comb her hair? Why could they not be hidden somewhere out of sight—especially somewhere insulated so their acidic whispers could not be audible to anyone?

Especially to Nadia, who was in here simply to clean her feet, not hear the hissing of eggs she only agreed to transport because he had asked. No one else could have convinced her.

Her hope was that the droning drops of the bath faucet would wrestle the background noise to a comfortable hum, a soothing sensory song of automated splash and meditative whirl. Her plan functioned the way she intended—as soon as the metallic mouth started spraying its aquatic continuum, the noise of the eggs suddenly dispersed.

But they remained problematic in sight—they clung to her peripheral vision, a visual squid stretching its tentacles all around her attention.

Nadia prepared herself in front of the toilet rather than the mirror, quite resistant to being in the same reflection as these hideous eggs. Her companion rested in the adjacent room, a reasonably upheld hotel room which was lighted in decorative wallpapers depicting seashells and seahorses—a recently refurbished décor which imitated the appearance of something fancier than the price indicated.

But in spite of such comfortable accommodations, a thorn continued to reside in Nadia’s proverbial sides.

Those eggs, which strung such horrible tunes in the air and were plunged in equally offensive hue—a gold of unnatural paleness, something not gifted from heaven but from some otherworldly dimension where an affectionate spectrum does not exist, thus having to translate its previous color into one compatible with this reality, but without an actual frame of reference to consummate the translation. There was no color in this place that could suffice for these eggs. And the gold that they finally settled on was not even really matched to any credible source—it may have been a color you could recognize and possibly categorize, but only in a dissimilar demeanor, such as comparing the tides of ocean to the tides of flame.

These eggs had chosen a color that only pretended to be a color.

This imitative impression disgusted every sensibility Nadia possessed. But for whatever morbid condition ailing her, she could not bring herself to look away. And this only further repulsed her.

So, in response, she swathed a towel over the eggs, concealing them from view, then proceeded to peel herself bare and bathe. However, every once in a while, she still glanced at that mound of cerulean-cloth, knowing in her mind’s eye exactly what lay beneath, even though it had been deafened and buried. It was the power of a thought over a reality.

Nadia sighed. She desperately desired to change the course of her thoughts. She sunk into the porcelain tub, at first cold and crippling, awaiting its eventual completion.

The faucet drummed, and waves formed floor after floor of boiling bubbles, swirling in suds, molten layers of cleansing water swaying over her to and fro, steady and unhurried. The coldness was removed, replaced by rippling heat, almost as if blankets of temper were tenderly placed over her body, one after the other, building a tomb of liquid steam around her.

It was a reverse evaporation—the atmosphere condensation upon her, the dissolved now soluble again. Once free particles of hotness pinched from the sky and folded into pockets of wetness, spraying on Nadia’s body in a measured massage.

Finally, she was relaxing.

Her mind receded to memories—as a wandering mind is known to do. Instances made of time and place, proportioned to emotional heights, to moody lows, to kinetic propulsion of person and thing, interacting in a dream, where motion is unclear, and the most prominent aspect is how far away something so superbly significant can feel. That paradox of memory.

In hers, there was a beach.

On a day of stormy composition. Yet rain had held back, and a warm breeze flew swanlike across the scene. Deep hues of sapphire magma spiraling against the shore, not in rage but in prance.

How strange to see it cascading in the horizon, colliding with a sky of dreary steel, specks of blackened rust puncturing the clouds—much akin to dirt on feet. But it is not dark. Even through stormy screens, sunlight performs its duty and the world is visible in leaden beauty.

Nadia is there, in a dress.

A thing of red-clay converted to silk, with threaded jewels of turquoise. She is spinning in an unseen weaver’s wheel, their fingers rolling her around. But she is not dancing alone. For there is another, a man, joining her and twirling with her. His unbuttoned shirt is flurrying as he moves. Until at last, they spin into one another, joyous. They both laugh and tremble, collapsing onto the sand, their arms stuck together in a knot. And they lay there, tied together, unflinching, undisturbed—as if being made into a knot was their one true intention all along.

And these two human strings admire each other. So much so that when rain oscillates upon them, they do not even notice. In drenched, clustering sand, they reciprocate affection, lips lancing against each other, bodies tying together, their knot tightening ever more and more, until one has to wonder if you could ever untie them apart.

Nadia giggles. She remembers how unconcerned they were with ruining their respective garments. The clumps of damp sand encrusting both of their backs like the shells on a tortoise. But their torsos were untouched—so concerned with being wrapped so close to each other, no open space was possible. And the feeling of wet lips, uncaring to rain and sand, compressing themselves dry in the heat of faucet-fusion.

Then the deluge pours over, erupting across the smooth-sides, and Nadia jumps, startling herself.

In her delighted daydream, she had let the bath overfill, now overflowing onto bathroom tile. She leaps for the octagonal handle, carved of candied glass, halting the water and ending the storm.

Now she is alone again.

Except for that faint fuse, with its spark flickering forever. Though it never reaches its destination—it only barks continually, that sound of sparkling dust. Then Nadia’s state of dazed grace concludes abruptly, as she understands there is no dynamite-stick, but a collection of disgraceful eggs, unmuted. She wishes so much she could just boil them, get it over with.

Nadia loosens the drain, ignoring the eggs, her peaceful spa now tainted and confused.

Upset, she watches the water vanish piece by piece, until all that is, is a remainder of puddled past—a shallow spit of soap caught on the edge of indented drain. Reminiscent of gunk beneath toenails. Reminding her of scattered sand memories.

And those blasted eggs, hissing and hissing and hissing…

A space Nadia must escape.

She leaves the bathroom, still drenched but entombed by a bathrobe. She strides passed the bed where her companion remains asleep, his own body beneath a crypt of blankets and sheets, resting in infinite dreams in some unhurried afterlife. Snores ensuing.

Nadia has never quite contoured to his awful snoring, so steady and surly. She assumed after a certain period of time her ears would be accustomed to it, that she would barely notice his nasal belches as if they were blank booms. But this threshold proved unreachable, and every time Nadia hears it, she can never concentrate nor slumber.

Rain casts against the window. A shame because Nadia desires to peek outside, absorb the bounty of the natural world, refreshing and ravaging all at once. Storms have an unusual pull on the heart, which in turn, has an unusual way of peeling the body—unable to hide oneself anymore, becoming a spark of nude thunder.

Replacing one insensitive sound for another, Nadia crumbles in indolence, retreating to the bathroom, considering that she cannot smother her companion with a towel to stop his bleating, but she can at least inter the eggs to divisible hum. And from there, all she has to do is plead ignorance. So, back to the bathroom.

|2|

Back in the bathroom, Nadia is given a dress.

Even though she is still wet from the rain, she cannot reject such a gracious gesture, so she glues it to her skin to prevent it from slipping off. Then she is asked to dance.

“Are you sure? I don’t think I’m any good.” Nadia blushes. But it insists. “Okay—but only if you dance with me.”

Nadia extends her hand. She is taken by a presence and together they twirl and taper across the slippery tile. At first, they are sloppy, awkwardly jutting into corners or stepping over each other’s path. But eventually they adapt, they crease together, a makeshift rhythm developing between them, motion now momentum—bodies now ballet.

They dance ellipticals across the room, channeling each other’s orbits, certain not to collide, and certainly not to disrupt the beautiful gravity they have plumed. But Nadia, without intention or reason, happens to witness her feet, and by their gross gravitas, she plummets to the floor.

No more dancing.

Nadia sighs. All the vapors have disappeared. The bathroom is cold again. Shivering, she looks around for a towel. But the only one is placed over the dreadful eggs she despises so much. It seems as if Nadia has condemned herself to a fate of lying naked on the floor forever.

“I hate these eggs!” Nadia shouts.

Nobody is disturbed. Not even her companion, who continues his hibernation uninterrupted. It is just Nadia, alone, with that menacing mumble, ceaseless yet contained, the eggs still whining even under their threaded prison.

She accepts her misfortune and adjusts her position to sitting on the toilet lid, her bottom crippling from the icy white, but she seems unbothered.

Nadia angles her legs up, her feet poised on the bathtub ledge. She grabs a complimentary sponge and starts scrubbing her feet, up and down every crevice and crack, across entire soles and ankles and toe-folds. Precise, she does not move too rapidly—she takes the time to ensure perfection on her mission of erasing every negative note from her two feet.

The procedure has become habit, and habit lends itself to repetition becoming daydream. Daydream which lends itself to becoming habit, and habit which turns into the rituals of reality that bind us to corporeal certainty, whether consciously or not.

And isn’t that such a curious thing how the brain tricks you into believing what it wants you to believe, what it thinks is best, what it thinks is real—strangely contradicting what your conscious view sees? What you truly want?

Nadia never quite comprehended how her mind could repel in two alternate directions, as if the thing inside her skull was nothing more than a mere magnet, positive and negative pulses, rippling against each other, stuck in marrow-molded bondage, forced to reconcile petty differences and levitate in static vibration; a feigned vibrancy where thought and imagination and curiosity can pretend to be things of their own, when truly they are products of electrical folly. Nervousness.

And she absolutely did not comprehend the track of time either, which seemed to have evaporated, along with a patch of her skin, as suddenly she was stabbed by a searing sensation on her foot.

Wincing, she examined the cause, seeing that in her furious daze she had rubbed too heavily with the sponge, scraping off a small surface of her foot, now catalyzed in blood. It did not bleed in a traditional way, but due to the nature of the wound, seeped out of the area in knitted dots, scarlet-putty pushing through a weave.

Nadia grabbed the towel and padded her foot, but in doing so, permitted those dastardly eggs to breathe once more, and their breaths were just as constant and corrosive as ever. All they did was hiss, hiss, hiss…

Waves.

From sound and light. Sneaking up Nadia’s skin like little spiders of clustered vibration.

Into the green she goes.

Eaten up by trees, her hair yearning to be a leaf on her head, vibrant and veiny, waving and curling in verdant wind. Along a road she goes, feet swimming across the mud, her body moving like a tidal wave against a shoreless beach. Escape.

At the zenith of her path—an overlook, decorated in tufts of earthy hair and nails, with strewn logs and sharp boulders. A view of the remaining wood, its belly lunging up and down in tectonic reflux, aligned with pine and bark and brush, each ridge and valley adorning itself in its own personal collection of green.

Nadia approaches the edge of this cliff, which oversees the forest it is a part of as if separate from it.

A table is set, draped in a pretend-petal curtain, where anxious porcelain cups hold its quiet magma, blessed of roots stripped and shaken and seared. Her companion is there, holding a bouquet, so full of rainbow passion, an assortment of flowery praise that only Aphrodite could deserve—yet it is for Nadia, of all things!

A surprise picnic at the end of the world.

Her companion offers her a seat, which she does not refuse. The sky is elaborate in shades of violet and azure, a strange suffusion of dark and bright—a peripheral sunrise stuck in perpetual sunset. But it is not a fiery sun so much as it is a sun of shadows; yet everything under it is visible and vibrant. Only in a dream.

But Nadia does not listen to such negative inclinations, her attention purely focused on her companion, who sits beside her, his arm nestling against her shoulders, warm and safe. They both grab a cup of tea, ascend to touch and tip their fortunes to each other, then lifting to their lips to swallow it to oblivion—how odd to have stomachs, our own personal abyss within our body.

It tastes like angel-bath, sweet and mentholating, warm and exasperate in faith—the faith that this feeling would last forever.

For Nadia, it might as well, because every other moment after was nothing but pale failure.

And, especially, when her companion gazes into her eyes, without breaking away, with an amount of longing and affection so deep and infusive, she finds herself trembling, even though sight is only sight.

But she stares back at him, his face crinkling together almost like a cone, pointed directly at her, as if no surrounding sensation could deter him from this view. Not the mountains; not the sky; not the dream of universe complete. Only her—Nadia—and her face, however dirty or seemingly normal it may seem to her, is a boundless source of inspiration to him. And she feels enslaved by it, put in a bondage that is pleasantly accepted—a surrender, a submission.

Then the purples fade.

And light of fairy-blood returns, swirling and maddening.

Suddenly, trees are bleeding viridian, and their natural hue strolls unto review. Back into the green again, as Nadia feels a kiss, and disappears forever in trees of passion pleased.

But something is sour.

She does not remember his kiss being so acerbic, cutting her, leaving her in bled-refrain. What sort of perverted spring is this?

It stings. She wipes his saliva from her lips, but it bubbles on her fingertips, to the point of boiling. She grimaces, wondering why there is pain. She looks up to see her lover’s eyes vanished, and alone on this precipice. Her entire jaw is sliced away, sliver by sliver, her bones crackling, her muscles spoiling. Her face falls like rotten fruit from its frame, the heaviness of mold and rot too much for romantic gravity to bear. So it drops her all the way to a tomb of disgrace. Buried beneath the earth, there is Nadia’s love—a displaced view.

Nadia awakes. Returned from the green.

She is holding one of the eggs to her lips, kissing it.

In her trance, her mind had found folly in trying to replace the imaginary with an effigy of the real. Disgusted, she flings the egg away from her face, splattering it on the bathroom mirror, its sizzling insides leaving a repulsive stain. So bitter.

Nadia immediately invokes the sink, splashing water onto her face, trying to remove the taint from her mouth, still smoldering in a sourness of demonic proportions. As she spits, there is blood—not fantastical illusion or fanciful daydream, but actual, fetid blood.

“I hate these fucking eggs!” Nadia screams, her throat convulsing in rage.

Nobody responds. Except, of course, the eggs, which hissed and hissed and hissed…

|3|

There once was a time when Nadia was loved.

The way a person should be loved. The way a foot is loved by the hand that cleans it. So thoroughly and carefully, so unpretentiously unconditional—just doing what it needs to do to make everything clear and happy again.

Whatever it takes, Nadia used to think. For the sake of clean feet.

Nadia snickered. That was not at all what she used to think. How could one remember so far away?

Those distant shores of memory, where every cleft of sand looks the same as every buried barnacle. Where is the savior ship come to rescue us from pity and pernicious regret?

Marooned on a beach of unused life, wallowing through our scorn like gulls picking through twigs, snapping and scuttling over branch and jewel, trying to find our prize, our possession of perfect scene and elation. That moment when our lives essentially defined themselves, and everything after relegated to the fade— our true revelation of this story we continue to scribe.

But Nadia, no matter how much she scoured, could not find this missing trinket, of which she thought for sure would finally unravel the mystery of Nadia.

Was it the first day of school when she threw up on the classroom floor, a nervous bile overtaking her when the teacher asked her to introduce herself?

It should have been a simple, ‘Hello, my name is Nadia.’

But instead, it was a terrible mosaic of gulp and gruel. So embarrassing.

No, surely, it was in her feet. The mark of her miraculous moment. When they were still young paws, so fresh from hatching they still had webbing on them...

Nadia wanted to be a ballerina.

One of those composed and captured creatures, ignoring the chaos of the world around them, performing a movement of perfected grace and graceful ritual. Every step a note on the composition’s line, leading a symphony of shape and swerve, never letting itself become consumed by any emotion or nonsense which would disrupt its willful path.

An offering to the gods of geometry, aligning your feet in a poise more perfect than constellation, moving in the same seasonal march of ebb and flow—repeating, repeating, repeating. This is the dance of no-dance. A motion of purpose.

Until it is over.

Until a cormorant appears, and Nadia, too far gone in her ellipsis, trips right over the flurried thing, spiraling through the air, over the side of edible stage. Now, she is drifting into the black, gravity’s charms dispersed, composer’s graciousness displeased.

Until suddenly, she emerges from the black unto the blue—a crystal shore she has seen before, the only sound being that of pant and wave. And there is the feathered imp, whose beak is whistling to her demise, as she pours onto the beach.

“If only you could fly...” the cormorant says.

Nadia scoops herself up from the sand, wincing. “Must be nice.”

The cormorant fluffs its wings then takes to flight, soaring high above the earth it mocks.

Nadia’s foot vibrates in pain, every muscle and tendon and ligament ringing a rapacious storm of ache. Before she can soothe her pain, however, Nadia’s mother comes and grabs her hand, leading her away.

Nadia cringes with every step, her left foot refusing to touch ground, her right one barely stable and straining as it is dragged along.

“Your father’s gone—not that he was ever here...”

Nadia’s mother puffs a cigarette. There are no other kids in the hospital room. Only passed and broken people. Corpses.

Nadia rubs her toes, trying to allay the bristling numbness in them. She thinks perhaps her mother should be holding her in her arms or something, nestling her into motherly bosom, patting her on the head with lips and whispering how everything will be alright and the pain will go away.

But Nadia looks up and sees her mother puffing a cigarette, watching the wall, complaining how much of a waste of time it is they have to be here. Then she looks at Nadia, scowling.

“This all your fault. You should have been paying attention—you’re never paying enough attention, Nadia!”

And maybe she was right—because Nadia suddenly realized she had been standing on the bathroom tile for far too long.

The inner scars of her feet began to flare up again, so she took a seat on the toilet and lifted her left leg, her hands desperately massaging her flesh, trying to ameliorate an old wound. The eggs watched her, and she despised how they lay witness to her weakness. Now they knew her fiercest flaw. They would probably use it against her—if they could.

But they were just eggs, right? Just eggs that only hiss and hiss and—

Nadia called for her companion but there was no response. She desired to deign him to fetch a bucket of ice for her from down the hall. Was he still sleeping?

Nadia shouted again. And again, he did not reply.

The eggs grew louder, as if trying to answer in his place, and Nadia spat at them out of spite. Then she gripped onto the sink and raised herself up, limping out into the room. But it was empty.

“Where the hell did he go?” Nadia muttered aloud. Then she sighed.

There was once a time when Nadia was loved.

When he cared enough to always be called. To be there for whatever she needed.

During a period of a particularly grisly flare-up, he would rub cooling ointment on her feet every night, his fingers unafraid to peel into every hidden spot, pushing her bones and blood to comfortable stasis. He always knew how to subside her pain—he never protested to coddling her feet either.

After he left, Nadia had to mend her own feet. Her youthful damage both unforgiving and never forgetful. No agony was greater than when her companion departed, however. A cut on the physical self is nothing compared to a rending of the heart—the unseen epicenter of all feeling and worth.

With him, she had felt like she had value. Without him, she was nothing but dirty feet. How hard it was to have herself be heartbroken by him. To find him the way he was—she stopped herself.

Nadia did not want to return to this feeling. Now that he was returned, she would do anything to keep it that way. Even if meant dealing with those ghastly eggs—that’s why she had said yes.

And Nadia exceptionally loathed those damned eggs.

She staggered through the door into a hallway, which peeked both ways in endless doors and floor, none of them unique, enslaved by pattern. She was concerned where he had gone, but she also knew her primary focus was to end the unease throbbing in her left hoof.

Nadia peered right, assuming the ice-machine was down there, because she recalled that is where the elevator had been, so other amenities must be nearby.

She leaned against the wall, wobbling along, careful not to bang into someone else’s door, for fear they would wake, that they would appear and harass her in marvelous temper. But she also took care not to apply pressure to her left foot, where the injury was sourced and had been most severe.

Her right was still strong in many ways, although its largest toe had been shattered then in her youth as well. So now she walked awkwardly so as not to upset it and reawaken its hindered might.

Altogether, Nadia looked like quite the circus clown stumbling down the hallway. Almost falling on herself every other hinge, wafting through diluted air like a dumb cloud, constantly astray. How did it come to this?

There was a time once when Nadia was loved.

When she did not have to wrestle with hallways. When the earth did not stifle beneath her feet. When lovers brought ice—when she had a lover at all. She stops, leaning against the wall with one arm. Panting. Suddenly, a familiar sound—though not a friendly one. A stretching sound. Sinister and expanding. Slithering between her legs and beneath her body. On and on until the entire hallway is swimming in it. Nadia, fearful, almost falls down. It feels like walls around her are shivering, a stinging chill. Viscous vibrations inundate her. Even the waves in the air become feverish. And then there it is—hallways hissing. Nadia, totally shattered, but saved by a flight of energy, lets her pain sprout into wings and compel her forward on its frenetic wind. She begins scrambling, wobbling in a frenzy, arm rowing against the wall and her one good leg hopping heavy steps. Edges of light behind can be seen scattering in its shadows ahead of her, silhouetted in the form of an unfathomable thing, a body of a beast so terrifying just its reflection pierces Nadia’s heart every step forward she takes. What horrible thing has hatched in this place? Suddenly, another familiar sound—the mellow notes of an ancient folk song, which Nadia happens to know the melody of. Like it is playing just for her. But the rest of the memory still clouded. She recognizes it; quickens her pace toward it. Anything to deafen out that hiss of eternal doom. That splintering of soul that follows her everywhere she goes, enveloping itself in her flesh, in her very being, until she is shrouded by it. A cloak of gore. Dissolution. There it is—that open door, pink and blue light casting out from it in the ever darker and blurrier hallway. Just like she remembers. Into it she goes—into an underworld of nostalgic void. Standing in the doorway entrance, now entered, she closes the door to the hallway. No more hissing. That gentle folk vocal weaves in. Those sweet strums of mountain love and lake calm. A natural hymn. Alluring. Nadia gazes at the pink and blue light now painting her body. Both familiar shades. She looks up to see the pane of a room, and a shadowed corner blocking her vision. Next to her, a dark and empty bathroom. This hotel room—I remember this room, Nadia thinks. Curiously wistful. The pain her foot still retaining, but fainter. She lags closer, every inch expanding her view of the room and diminishing the shadow of the corner of the wall. An oak table, three used glasses full of wine stains, beside a half-bled bottle. A chair with a cushion, assorted strips of clothing strewn about it. Then the corners of a bed, sheets sundering. Nadia inches nearer and nearer, breath draining into back of her throat as if preparing a gasp in anticipation. So, for what? Finally, she turns around the corner, and sees her horror. There he is—her loving, devoted companion—slathering over another woman, angel-faced demon of blonde desire, the both of them naked and engaged in erotic trance. Nadia screams. Her companion does not notice her, his head buried in the other woman’s tomb—but she looks up, stares at Nadia and smiles, blows a kiss while winking. Then she returns to moaning and fawning all over him, like a deer trapped underneath a boulder. A spider weaving its prey in sweaty web. Hissing in his ear. Nadia runs out of the room. Back into the hallway, ambushed by an eruption of hissing, those damn eggs blistering into her mind in inescapable flashes. She clasps her head with her hands, frantically stumbling toward her room, all her previous pain nullified by needles of adrenaline. Turning her head inside out. She can’t even hear her own screaming over the sound of this hissing. Nadia collapses into her room, shattering into the bathroom, seeing those dreadful eggs sitting there in punishing flames. Despite all the rippling nerves in her body, she grabs the basket of eggs, takes it out into the bedroom, and slings them out the bedroom window, letting gravity grasp them and crush them far down upon its immediate earth. Destroyed forever. Exploding on the concrete in a dance of denouement. Nadia unleashes the cry of a bat, shrieking. Then she falls onto the bed, whole body entangled by pain, her foot so swollen its bubbling and bursting in blood. Crying. Over now. Nothing hisses. Only the sound of her sobbing. Of heartbeat in crescendo, then descending to crippling silence. And it languishes on, for what seems like hours but is only fragments of a little time, not quite mature enough to constitute a length of being. There is Nadia—just Nadia. Breathing. Emptied of tears. Aftershocks of pain dragging but dwindling. But she doesn’t stay alone forever. After this while, she realized her mistake. What will he say when he comes back—when he sees I got rid of the eggs? How could she ever explain herself? Would he understand and forgive her? Her mind was controlled by these thoughts—panic, paranoia compulsive loathing. She had to assure herself what she just saw was only an illusion—a product of those damned eggs. He would never do that again—her companion had repented, and she had forgiven him. Devotion was all she could see! She’d do whatever it takes she told herself. Whatever he wanted—forget what she wanted. She’d give up being Nadia. There was once a time when Nadia had desires of her own, but the loneliness had scared that out of her a long time ago. And the brokenness had cursed her to obey only doom. She would never make another mistake again—he’d never have another reason to leave again. Not like last time. He could put a blade in her hand and push it up to her throat, tell her to pull it at the snap of his fingers, and she’d do that magic trick a million times over if she could. Anything to keep away the hissing. Anything to be loved. Anything to have him hold her up again, carry her every limb if he has to, and dance with her one last time—forever.

#danceofexplodingeggs #thefinishpiece #dilonzeres #prose #fiction #story #irrealism

1 note · View note

pollyindustries · 2 years ago

Text

Chemical Finishing of Textiles

As we know textile finishing determines the final appearance and aesthetic qualities of the fabric. Finishing processes include processes designed to change the optical, tactile, and mechanical strength properties of the textile. This involves the application of chemical compounds or finishing auxiliaries to a textile material to achieve the desired fabric property. Textile finishing is the final stage in changing the quality of fabric. It is done in terms of appearance, handling, and functionality by mechanical and chemical means. This sector comprises operations such as the textile industry’s processing unit, which is a high-cost, energy-intensive, and hazardous chemical-demanding process.

Here sustainability is a critical aspect. It addresses many problems provided by the textile industry in terms of regulating the use of water, electricity, hazardous chemicals, and so on. Chemical finishing in a sustainable manner may be accomplished using environmentally friendly techniques. Finishing Techniques that are Eco-Friendly:

1. Antimicrobial finish derived from natural ingredients.

2. Plasma completing processing.

3. Nanotechnology implementation.

4. Ultrasound-based finishing.

5. Sustainable UV technology.

Traditional textile chemical finishing processes have a harmful impact on the environment. So, the need for long-term solutions is growing by the day. Most environmentally friendly techniques, such as plasma technology, nanotechnology, and UV technology, are being used in the textile sector.

As a result, with the developing idea of sustainability, sustainable dyeing and finishing techniques in the textile industry have received a lot of attention.

Here we go through a Polyester dyeing. Polyester fiber is hydrophobic in nature, and it is characterized by a compact physical structure. Water-soluble dyes are not suitable for dyeing polyester. Dyes of low molecular weight are suitable. Disperse dyes are only suitable for dyeing polyester. Disperse dyes have substantivity for one or more hydrophobic fibers e.g., cellulose acetate, nylon, polyester, acrylic, and other synthetic fibers. Polly Industries provides customers with a wide range of polyester dyeing chemicals:

1. Polly-DFT - It is a versatile Non-Ionic Dispersing Agent which imparts anti-static properties to the polyester/polyester blends. It is also an excellent emulsifier and has various applications in the dyeing process.

2. Polly-DHTP- It is a Non-Ionic Auxiliary for Level Dyeing of Disperse Dyes. It is useful at high temperatures and imparts excellent emulsifying (for oleic, stearine, and oils and waxes of both mineral and vegetable oils). It has detergency and anti-static properties. It prevents limestone formation. It has fiber lubrication properties. It is miscible with common vegetable and mineral oils, stable to hard water and metallic ions; compatible with weak alkalis, and hydrolyzed by strong acids.

3. Polly-AIO - It is an all-in-one Reduction Clearing Agent. It keeps the dyeing mixture at acidic pH. It also imparts excellent dyeing, an excellent reductive effect in acidic dye baths during the cooling stage. It removes unfixed dispersed dyes from polyester, nylon, wool, natural silk, and cellulosic fibers.

4. Polly-DAN - It is a modified condensation product based on sulphonic acid salts. Anionic in nature. High-performance non-staining. Dispersing agent. High-temperature resistance in exhaust dyeing systems; boasts of in-built dispersing action on polyester oligomer by eliminating lower rub-fastness in package dyeing and simultaneously clears oligomer residues in machines. It is stable under a wide pH range and also ensures optimum brightness and color clarity in pale shades with fluorescent optical whiteners. It maintains high dispersing efficiency. It is suitable for one-bath polyester-cellulosic and polyester-wool blends. It is low foaming and effective at low concentrations.

5. Polly-GSL- It is a cost-effective green substitute of Acetic Acid used for providing an efficient pH system in all stages of wet processing and neutralization of 100% cotton. It also enhances hard water stability etc.

#chemical industry #textile industry #textile finish #clearing agent #cotton #wool

0 notes

yearstar · 3 years ago

Text

Features of polyester mesh lift sling

The nursing care of a paralyzed patient is complicated. For example, in the face of the displacement of the patient, it often consumes the energy of the nursing staff, and at least two people are required to lift the patient. The use of patient lifting equipment can solve this situation very well. The patient lift sling is a key component of the patient lift system. The fabric of the lift sling is important as it affects patient safety, comfort and hygiene. Many medical professionals choose to use a polyester mesh lift sling. What are the characteristics of the polyester mesh lift sling?

Features of polyester mesh lift sling:

1. Good breathability

The mesh design of the sling allows air to pass easily, making it exceptionally breathable and safe for exposure to moisture, ideal for bathing patients. The mesh design allows the sling to be used even in the shower or bath chair and does not need to be removed during the bath.

Even if the patient needs to wear the polyester mesh lift sling for an extended period of time, it can dissipate heat, reducing the risk of moisture accumulation and preventing the possibility of ulcers and other discomfort.

The fabric of the polyester mesh lift sling is gentle and non-irritating to protect patients with sensitive skin while preventing the patient from sliding.

Polyester fabrics are hydrophobic, i.e. tend to repel water, and polyester mesh suspenders have good moisture-wicking properties.

2. Strong compatibility

The polyester mesh lift sling with four reinforced attachment points works with most floor stryle and ceiling patient lifts.

It is suitable for fully or partially paralyzed patients, obese people, and patients with limited head and lower limb control. The polyester mesh lift sling provides full head, neck and thigh support, allowing the caregiver to reposition the patient in a wheelchair, chair, toilet or bed easily.

3. Safety

The chainless design protects the patient's skin and hair from pinching or injury from the chain.

4. Easy to use

The polyester mesh lift sling is washable, the fabric of the polyester mesh lift sling is breathable and easy to dry, and it is very easy to clean.

5. Durability

Polyester mesh fabrics have high strength, so polyester mesh lift slings are inherently resistant to damage by acid and alkaline chemicals. polyester mesh lift sling is durable, wrinkle-resistant, non-iron, and non-sticky.

Choosing a suitable polyester mesh lift sling is very important for patient comfort and safety. If you choose a sling that is not suitable for the patient's physical condition, it will cause the patient's pain, and may even risk the patient's weightless fall. Patient lift slings are an integral assistive tool in many hospitals, enabling caregivers to provide safe, comfortable and manageable support to patients.

0 notes

canvardpackagingbottle · 3 years ago

Text

Donot miss 7 types of plastic material when selecting high-quality container packaging

Nowadays, there are various types of plastic bottles on the market. Consumers are dazzled. Some customers worry about the compatibility of bottles for their products, and some customers worry about the environmental protection of plastic bottles.

As the company’s sense of social responsibility increases, Many brands require or only accept recyclable plastic bottle packaging, so how to choose a high-quality plastic bottle that suits you is worth studying. Now I will provide you with several methods for your reference.

📷

what does these number means?

In the first step, we first look at the material of the bottle. The material is very particular. Different materials can hold different products, and there are certain compatibility issues. Usually there is a label framed by a triangle symbol on the bottom of the bottle. The triangle formed by the three arrows means that the material of the bottle is ‘recyclable’, but this does not mean that it can be reused. Each bottle has its corresponding plastic bottle material type label, which is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and each number represents a type of material. If the product is made of several different materials, then what is marked is its main material. Identifying different numbers is to facilitate classification and recycling, and has nothing to do with the “safety” of the bottle. So what does this number mean?

Meaning of number 1, PET

📷

The number 1 in the triangle at the bottom of the plastic bottle: PET polyethylene terephthalate, commonly used for mineral water bottles, carbonated beverage bottles, shampoo bottles, shower gel bottles, alcohol disinfectant bottles, etc. It is well known that beverage bottles made of this material cannot be filled with hot water. They are only suitable for warm or frozen drinks. The bottle is easily deformed if it is filled with high-temperature liquid, and releases harmful substances to the human body. It is not suitable Long-term repeated use or containing acidic substances.

Meaning of number 2, HDPE

The number 2 in the triangle at the bottom of the plastic bottle: HDPE high-density polyethylene, common used for medicine bottles, cleaning bottles, laundry detergent bottles, body wash bottles, shampoo bottles, disinfection bottles, plastic bags, etc.,It can withstand 110 ℃ high temperature. Plastic containers containing cleaning and bath products can be used after careful cleaning, but they are often not easy to clean and leave residues, thus becoming a breeding ground for bacteria, so it is not recommended to use them repeatedly for a long time.

Meaning of number 3, PVC

📷

The number 3 in the triangle at the bottom of the plastic bottle: PVC polyvinyl chloride, common used for raincoats, building materials, plastic film, plastic boxes, pesticide bottles, etc., this kind of material has excellent plasticity and is cheap, so it is more commonly used. However, their heat-resistant temperature is low, and harmful substances may be released during high-temperature decomposition. They are even released during the manufacturing process. After toxic substances enter the human body with food, they may cause breast cancer, birth defects and other diseases in newborns. At present, containers of this material have been less used for packaging food.

Meaning of number 4, LDPE

📷

The number 4 in the triangle at the bottom of the plastic bottle: LDPE polyethylene low-density polyethylene, common used for cling film, etc. Do not wrap the cling film on the surface of the food and put it into the microwave because its heat resistance is not strong. Usually, qualified PE cling film is encountered when the temperature exceeds 110°C, hot melting will occur, leaving some plastic preparations that cannot be decomposed by the human body. In addition, when food is wrapped with plastic wrap and heated, the fat in the food can easily dissolve harmful substances in the plastic wrap. Therefore, when food is put into the microwave oven, the wrapped plastic wrap must be removed first.

Meaning of number 5, PP

📷

The number 5 in the triangle at the bottom of the plastic bottle: PP polypropylene, common ly used for soy milk bottles, yogurt bottles, juice drink bottles, microwave lunch boxes. With a melting point of 167°C, it is the only plastic box that can be placed in a microwave oven and can be reused after careful cleaning. It should be noted that some microwave lunch boxes, the box body is made of No. 5 PP, but the lid is not made of No. 5 PP, so it cannot be put into the microwave together with the box body. To be safe, remove the lid of the container before putting it in the microwave.

Meaning of number 6, PS

📷

The number 6 in the triangle at the bottom of the plastic bottle: PS polystyrene, commonly used for bowls of instant noodle boxes and fast food boxes. Do not put it in a microwave oven to avoid the release of chemicals due to high temperature. After loading acids (such as orange juice) and alkaline substances, carcinogens will be decomposed. Avoid using fast food boxes to pack hot food. Don’t use the microwave to cook instant noodles in a bowl.

Meaning of number 7, PC

📷

The number 7 in the triangle at the bottom of the plastic bottle: PC or other types, commonly used for water bottles, space cups, and baby bottles.It is easy to release the toxic substance bisphenol A, which is harmful to the human body. The water bottle marked with 7 must see whether there is a mark of BPA free (BPA free). Generally, merchants will mark it as a selling point. Found on the body or bottom of the bottle. Do not heat it when using it, and do not expose it to direct sunlight. The common drinking water plastic bottles on the market have been tested by the state and can be used safely.

📷

In summary, Consumers should try to avoid repeated use of aging and easily deteriorated plastic utensils, and it is best not to reuse beverage bottles for multiple times, otherwise bacteria will easily breed and there will be health risks. Canvard Packaging Factory reminds consumers that when using plastic containers, they must read the numbers marked in the triangle at the bottom of the bottle. Only when they understand the properties of the materials can they be used in a suitable environment. What is especially important is that Plastic waste is returned to the furnace and recycled products.

#canvardpackaging #plasticcontainer #cosmeticpackaging #plasticbottle #emptybottle #foam pumpbottle

0 notes

certainmiraclefun · 3 years ago

Text

How Three Revolutionary Fabrics Are Greening the Industry

If the holiday sales are tempting you to refresh your wardrobe, consider the environmental footprint of buying a new jacket and throwing away your old one. Today, about 80 billion new pieces of clothing are made each year—400 percent more than 20 years ago, while the world’s population only grew about 30 percent. That growth has a huge environmental cost. The Danish Fashion Institute named fashion “one of the most resource-intensive industries in the world, both in terms of natural resources and human resources.” Designer Eileen Fisher has called it “the second largest polluter in the world… second only to the oil industry,” and while that fact has been disputed, a 2010 research paper found that the industry is responsible for almost 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Moreover, once clothes have been made and worn for a short while, they’re thrown away. A new report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that cumulatively around the world a truckload of clothes gets dumped every second. The average American tosses about 82 pounds of textiles a year, much of which ends up in landfills or incinerated. Of the clothing that reaches second-hand stores like Goodwill—only 15 percent of all discards—some is recycled into shoddy (filling for cheap furniture) or upcycled into things like denim insulation, but most of it is shipped to poorer countries. However, they too have limits—African countries including South Africa and Nigeria recently banned Western castoffs, which have overwhelmed their markets, causing the decline of their local fashion business.

Replacing Old stock fabrics With New Biopolymers

Two types of textiles—petroleum-made polyester and field-grown cotton, often woven together—have been the fashion industry’s darlings for decades. “Much of [what we wear now] is a blend of PET, a petroleum-based fiber, and cotton fiber,” says Ramani Narayan, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Michigan State University. But these hipora fabric have their issues. Cotton, which makes over 30 percent of our clothes’ yarns, is a natural material, but it’s a thirsty crop that siphons 3 percent of the fresh water, and accounts for almost 20 percent of pesticides and 25 percent of the insecticides used in agriculture worldwide, before it’s even picked. Processing cotton—knitting, weaving, and dyeing—also takes water and energy, yielding more pollution. The production of polyester, the demand for which has doubled in the last 15 years, is an energy intensive process that requires a lot of oil and generates harmful emissions, including volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, and acid gases, like hydrogen chloride, all of which contribute to respiratory disease. “Adding PET to a textile gives you better performance—it makes taffeta fabrics more moisture-resistant and gives them more washability,” says Narayan, but these textiles don’t break down naturally, and instead fill up our landfills and oceans. Polyester threads discarded from washing machines have recently been found in fish, including some species we eat. Unless PET threads are decoupled from cotton and recycled, they don’t decompose, but separating fibers is very difficult.

That’s where biopolymers come in. Biopolymers are macromolecules—long chains of smaller molecular units strung together. These basic units can be amino acids, nucleotides, and monosaccharaides. The most common biopolymer is cellulose, which makes up one third of all plant material on earth. Cotton is 90 percent cellulose, but there are other, less polluting alternatives.

Biopolymers can be grown or harvested from other plants like kelp or from living organisms like bacteria or yeast, which produce biopolymers as part of their lifecycle. The resulting fibers can be woven into a variety of textiles akin to polyester, leather, or a cellulose-like yarn. To a certain extent, these materials can sequester carbon from the atmosphere, acting as wearable carbon sinks. And when they’re thrown away, these biopolymers will decompose. Just as a cotton t-shirt will break down in a compost heap after a few years, so will any biopolymer-based textile.

“Obviously it’s better to use plants and biomass to make products,” says Narayan, “because then the plants fix the carbon and when you make a product from that you have removed carbon dioxide from the environment.” Using biopolymers in clothing can reduce energy and freshwater use and may help mitigate climate change resources. Plus, as the following examples show, some biopolymers can take the creativity of fashion design process in a whole new direction.

Seining Sweaters from the Sea

AlgiKnit uses kelp, a type of seaweed, to produce a biopolymer called alginate, which is then used for textile production. Kelp grows all over the world, forming offshore kelp forests. Some kelp species grow quicker than the fastest-growing terrestrial plant, bamboo, and are inexpensive to farm. As it sprouts, kelp cleans water too—absorbing phosphorous, nitrogen, and five times more carbon dioxide than land plants—so farming it near seaside cities can improve polluted local waters. Like any plant, kelp absorbs carbon to grow, so when used in durable materials, it is also a carbon sink.

AlgiKnit extracts alginate from kelp by adding certain salts to the seaweed base. After the so-called “salt bath” pulls the alginate from the kelp’s cell walls, the biopolymer is extracted from the seaweed residue, dried into a powder and fused into a yarn that can be turned into a variety of stretch fabric types. “The process is similar to that of synthetic materials, where one long continuous strand is produced,” says Tessa Callaghan, the co-founder of AlgiKnit. “The filament can be plied and twisted to increase strength, or cut into short fibers for other purposes.” AlgiKnit won National Geographic’s Chasing Genius Competition for developing this technology.

The team’s big challenge has been to get their end fiber to be strong and flexible enough for use on an industrial knitting machine. It took a lot of experimentation to ensure compatibility between yarns and machines, but one of the team’s goals is to be able to use the yarn in the existing fiber and textile infrastructure, to streamline the new material’s acceptance, Callaghan says.

Modern Meadow’s yeast-produced collagen is another biopolymer that is about to make its runway debut in a form of a leather product named Zoa. The New Jersey-based company designs DNA that can yield collagen, the protein that makes up leather. These specially constructed DNA strands are inserted into the yeast cells. As the yeast cells grow and multiply, they produce collagen and other proteins essential in forming leather, which then cluster together to make a triple-helix collagen molecule. The resulting molecules form bundles that are “cooked” in Modern Meadow’s “secret sauce,” resulting in a leather-like material. “We design DNA that can make collagen, the main building block of leather, then we purify it, and then use an assembly process to turn it into leather,” says Susan Schofer, vice president of business development at Modern Meadow.

Compared to traditional leather industries, Zoa’s production has a lower environmental impact and more fashion design opportunities. To turn a piece of animal hide into bags, shoes, or pants, it must undergo chemical and physical treatments to remove fats, hair, and other impurities. That processing is ecologically and medically fraught—most leather tanning is done in countries with few or unenforced environmental laws because the effluent from the process contains fish-killing sulfides, carcinogenic chromium, and chlorinated phenols that are linked to bladder and nasal cancers in tannery workers.

Using yeast to grow collagen eliminates the animal part of the equation—including slaughter and subsequent hide processing. It yields higher quality materials—perfectly shaped hides without branding marks or scars, and yields very large spans of leather, much bigger than a cow’s body. It also offers nearly endless creative design ideas. The new collagen can be sprayed on top of another minimatt fabric to create never-before-seen leather fashions, like the t-shirt that is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as part of its Items: Is Fashion Modern? exhibit. This material can also be embossed or textured in ways that cow or pig leather just can’t.

Modern Meadow will be introducing Zoa to market in 2018. The production facilities are already available from related industries such as biofuels. “We use 200,000 or 500,000-liter fermentation tanks [for the yeast],” says Schofer, “So the infrastructure already exists around the globe to take this from lab to commercial levels.”

0 notes

americasbesthair · 3 years ago

Text

Where to Buy the Best Hair Extensions

Buying good quality hair extensions can be extremely confusing, difficult and time consuming, and buying the wrong type or overly processed or treated hair can prove to be a very costly mistake.

With more and more women around the world loving and sometimes needing the help of extensions, I felt it more important than ever to explain the fundamentals, of buying quality hair extensions, to help women be more informed and able to understand the hair extensions industry, in order to make informative choices and to stop losing money and time on sub-standard hair extensions and or application methods.

Having great Hair extensions is incredible and can even be life changing one who has struggled with fine or limp locks or which simply doesn't grow long and luscious like they wish it would, hair extensions can offer the greatest solution to their hair woes.

I have first hand knowledge regarding all application methods, processing procedures and origins and after 14 years of being a senior extension artist and master trainer in all methods of attachment I would like to share with you the some in depth knowledge to help you purchase the extensions of your dreams, so you never have to worry about tangling, damage to your own hair or uncomfortable or even painful low quality hair extensions again!

So lets begin. I have broken this article into several key categories. Please read through the steps carefully. This will help to inform you and assist you with asking the correct questions when purchasing hair extensions from your dealer.

Learn about where your hair extensions REALLY come from!

CAN I VISIT THE SUPPLIER? Do you know much about your supplier/extension artist?

Are you really comfortable handing over hundreds of dollars to someone you "hope' will sell you a good product?

Please don't make the mistake of simply thinking that if you receive a sample of the Hair extensions it will mean you will be buying good hair in the future... many suppliers simply have a some good hair samples and then they send out bad hair after an order is made. You really need to see several packets first to ensure the hair will be high quality on a CONSISTENT basis... especially if you are going to buy it long term.

STEP 1

Can you visit the supplier?

Be sure your hair extensions provider/artist has an 'open door' policy. Even if they are too far away... to visit... do they allow the public to see the hair before they buy?

Can they show you the different type of hair before you buy it?

Do they have examples of non-remy and real remy hair to show you so you can be 100% sure the product they are selling is the real thing?

Yes I know all of this effort seems like a lot but it is important especially if you intend on purchasing or having hair extensions regularly.

If the provider hides behind a website... you can be pretty sure they also have something to hide

European and Russian grade hair

Growing hair for extensions is serious work. Some women and men who grow hair must follow a special diet to ensure that their hair will be healthy, well nourished and of the best quality.

STEP 2

What is the origin of the hair?

European and Russian grade hair can originate from any country where the desired hair structure can be collected. It is simply impossible for all of the European and Russian hair supplies to come from one or two regions for this reason the words European and Russian hair which may once upon a time have been more country exclusive is now a loose term for human hair that is compatible with the greater hair extensions industries consumers.

Most blond hair sold as extensions is extremely expensive and simply inaccessible due to rising demand in hair extensions in the resent years, therefore natural blonde hair extensions are very hard to come by, so one would have to assume that almost all hair sold in lighter shades will have some lightening and processing to reach the desired shade.

European hair comes in a host of textures, from straight, to wavy to curly. Because of the difference in texture, the hair is compatible with most people but may not work with other hair textures such as African or Asian.

European and Russian hair can come from almost any country where a finer cross section of hair is available for sale. Colours are generally medium brown to dark brown and will be dyes lighter if required. Human hair is far softer and healthier if it has not treated with aggressive acid bathes to shave back its cuticle.

Asian Hair

Asian hairs are normally thick, straight, and coarse. Because it is quite strong and straight it can be quite difficult to manage and get it to hold a style for this reason Asian hair can be stripped in an acid bath to make the cuticle smaller so the hair is finer... this however greatly damages the hair structure, requiring the need for silicone to coat the exposed cuticle. However once the silicone washes off after a few short washes the damaged cuticle is exposed again and the hair tangles, matts and loses its shine, soon after becoming impossible to manage and therefore requiring removal of the hair additions. As synthetic hair fibres are often manufactured in Asia we are finding the rise in heat resistant synthetic fibres being mixed with human hair... this is becoming a far greater practice than ever before resulting in matting and tangling and problems when trying to straighten the hair.

Indian Hair

Indian hair Pilgrims sacrifice their hair to the God Vishnu in a process called tonsuring. Their hair is then sorted, washed and dyed for marketing. Often times the people of India have no idea they have been tricked into donating their hair so it can be sold at a premium and then shipped off and sold to Western countries for the use of hair extensions. This has been the cause of some controversy, and many people now refuse to buy Indian hair based on ethical reasons.

Unfortunately due to the rising demand in human hair extensions Indian hair is often mixed with synthetic hair and/or animal hair during processing.

More and more often this is happening (as the documentary on "A current affair" ) outlined recently. Indian hair is becoming very difficult to buy with confidence as it often ends up tangling and matting due the hair being mixed with something else and or not being cuticle correct.

So where possible it is much better to buy 100% human European or Russian hair if you have a European texture.

If you are of Asian descent always choose 100% Asian hair which has not been processed - you will need to therefore ask for "virgin' Asian hair. You will notice the cuticle is quite thick and this means it is intact and has not been acid stripped.

If you are of Indian decent, please choose "virgin" Indian 100% remy hair, this hair will have the same texture as your own hair. You will need to be sure it has not been mixed with any foreign materials before purchase.

Step 3

Is the Hair Remy?

The next critical step in purchasing hair extensions is whether it is remy or not.

The first step in determining if Remy hair extensions are truly Remy, with cuticles and prepared root to tip, is to examine the roots, mid-shaft and ends of the hair fiber. It is fairly normal for cuticles to be missing or worn down near the ends of the hair strands, but thick and healthy near the roots.

You may be on a budget and think... well this hair is super cheap and probably isn't remy... but it should be OK... you will just brush it a bit more... right?... wrong!

Non-remy hair is a girls worst nightmare and something you NEVER want to deal with.

Initially before the silicone coating has worn off... you may find it easy to manage... but after a few washes the real state of the hair reveals itself. It will tangle and matt terribly!

After the silicone coating comes off you will NEVER be able to make it look nice... well maybe if you don't move an inch. As soon as there is any movement... it will catch like Velcro and become a knotty mess.

Now you understand you should never buy non-remy hair...

So it's easy... just ask for remy hair... right? Well unfortunately most of the hair extension sellers today, simply have NO IDEA what they are selling and have not themselves been directly involved in the complex hair trade world.

The seller often have little or no experience in hair extension care, application and processing methods and little knowledge of the true origin of theair itself.

Often untrained and inexperienced companies believe selling human hair is like any other product.

This could not be further from the truth! extensions are not like any other manufactured product... every head of hair is different and with the array of processing methods, origins of the hair in and of itself, the textures, lengths, grades and coloring methods..Hair extensions are an incredibly complicated and complex subject.

One would require many years of understanding of the compounding structures of human hair and of the world's hair trade itself to successfully ensure the human hair they sell is are soft, naturally shiny and ultimately provide a hassle free experience while installed within the recipients own hair.

For all the afore mentioned reasons, it is very important you find out how much experience your seller really has.

Unfortunately though, not very many companies sell 100% Remy hair extensions because it is not only expensive raw hair but very expensive to manufacture. Real remy hair extensions that are properly kept in the Remy state are also very expensive for the buyer and cannot be purchased cheaply. With the rise in competition within the industry, many sellers in their haste to offer the "cheapest" extensions, will secretly buy cheap, non-remy or mixed Indian or Chinese hair and forward it as a genuine high quality product on to the unknowing customer.

0 notes

journalmaterialscience-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Review of Green Geosynthetics by Using Biodegradable Resins for Civil Engineering Application as Tailor-Made Materials Abstract In this study, concept of green Geosynthetics was introduced in terms of biodegradability. Development of green Geosynthetics, its background and technical concerns were discussed through some research results of PLA (poly lactic acid) specimens. Test method for biodegradability of PLA (poly lactic acid) as a green Geosynthetics were considered and suggested based on composting method. Finally, the rest result shows that the concept of biodegradability for green Geosynthetics is available in the environmental application. Keywords: Green geosynthetics; Biodegradability; Poly lactic acid; Environmental application Go to introduction For eco-friendly environmental concept in Geosynthetics application fields, “Green” revolution is rapidly increasing in every construction sites in the world e.g., green structure, green installation, green industry etc. especially between construction and society's needs. Furthermore, although durability of Geosynthetics should be emphasized for longterm service period, durability controlled mechanism could be required to fulfil the short-term degradability purpose for green Geosynthetics [1,2]. “Green Geosynthetics” can be defined as following: green Geosynthetics are made of eco-environmental biodegradable polymeric resins or natural materials and they must maintain their needed performance such as durability, design strength, hydraulic property etc. during service period in the application field. Then, after service period they should be degraded no harmful state in the soil structures [3,4]. In this article, environmental performance of green Geosynthetics was evaluated and reviewed to be related to the quantitative analysis of biodegradability of green Geosynthetics by conceptual consideration through its evaluation. Experimental Sample preparation: Three types of PLA (PLA 4032D, PLA 6201D; Nature works) and PBAT (poly (butylene adipate-co- terephthalate); BASF) were used as additives for performance improvement. Esterase and Phosphate buffered saline powder of pH 7.4 (Aldrich Co.) was used to investigate the degradation behavior. In this study, we used PLA 4032D resin for bleding with PBAT and PLA 6201D was used as reference material for comparison with PLA 4032D. Resins were vacuum dried at 60° for 4hrs before usage. Blending was performed with a Brabender Plastic order. Film specimens of PLA and PLA/PBAT blends were prepared through hot pressing under the pressure of 40kg/cm2 at 190° Performance measurements Physical properties: The molecular distribution of PLA resins was investigated with gel permeation chromatography (Waters GPC system, 515 pump, 2410 RI detector, Styragel column, PS standard). Tensile properties were evaluated with universal testing machine (Hounsfield, H1000KS). Hydrolysis properties: To investigate the degradation behavior, strength retention was measured with PLA 4032D and 6201D. Degradation behavior in 0.01M phosphate buffered saline solution of pH 7.4 was monitored by incubation in a shaking water bath at 45.0±0.5 °C for up to 10 weeks. Tensile strength of incubated specimens was measured every 2 weeks using a tensile tester. Enzymatic degradation: 63.6mg/150ml enzyme solution for bio-degradable resistance was made by 17 unit/mg of Esterase contained enzyme solution (Aldrich Co.) in pH 8.0 phosphate buffered saline solution. PLA film specimen was immersed in this solution for 4 weeks and strength retention was determined using the above equation. Go to Result and Discussion Physical properties of PLA As shown in (Table 1), PLA 6201D and 4032D showed similar poly dispersity index (PDI), but PLA 4032D had a slightly higher molecular weight. Click here to view Large Table 1 Mechanical properties of PLA blend Click here to view Large Figure 1 Click here to view Large Figure 2 In (Figure 1), tensile strength of PLA 4032D/PBAT blends decreased with increase of PBAT content. Especially, strength retention over PBAT content 40 wt% was less than that of 100% PBAT and this is due to compatibility decrease between PLA 4032D and PBAT by compounding. From this, it is seen that brittleness of PLA 4032D could be improved by blending with PBAT. Figure 2 shows the breaking strength of PLA 4032D with exposure temperature. In here, PLA 4032D blends were made to add PBAT which is a kind of biodegradable resin to improve flexibility of green Geosynthetics and strength decrease tendency is seen with PBAT blend ratio and temperature. From the slope of strength decay is very important because degradability control mechanism is determined through the half-life of strength analysis. Environmental properties of PLA blend Figure 3 shows the PLA 4032D specimen burial in soil and this shows strength retention of PLA 4032D under exposure condition and especially under activated sludge burial condition we can find the very rapid strength decay within 30 days. However, PLA shows almost 50% strength retention in soil burial condition within one year and this means green Geosynthetics of PLA can be available for one year if the strength decay slope could be controlled. To control biodegradability of PLA used green Geosynthetics, more restricted design technology must be adopted in the quality control and assurance of manufacturing and construction procedure in the installation field. Also, Figure 3 shows tensile strength of PLA 4032D specimen which is blended with PBAT content and it is seen that tensile strength decreased with PBAT content. For blending case of 50/50 PLA 4032D/PBAT, tensile strength decreased about 30% of 100 PLA 4032D used. This means the additive content is a kind of important factor to affect and control the bio-degradability of green Geosynthetics. Table 2 shows interface frictional coefficient between PLA specimen and soil by direct shear test for environmental application as Geosynthetics. In here, PLA 4032D/PBAT (80/20) shows improvement of interface frictional performance than PLA 4032D only used and this is an example of performance improvement by PBAT blending. Click here to view Large Table 2 Click here to view Large Figure 3 Proposal of biodegradability evaluation Click here to view Large Figure 4 Click here to view Large Figure 5 Figure 4 shows the quantitative concept of biodegradability evaluation of green Geosynthetics and the best evaluation items should be selected in accordance with influence parameters which determine the long-term performance under real field installation conditions. In here, we can suggest a kind of hydrolysis method procedure of Figure 5 and this shows the evaluation procedure of degradability of PLA. ASTM D5338-98 (Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials under Controlled Composting Conditions) is introduced to simulate the real installation condition. Through the experimental data analysis, we can suggest the degradability test method with temperature as shown in here. Figure 6 by using Arrhenius plot of accelerated experimental data, we can predict the long-term biodegradable behaviors with temperature and induce this to designing the green Geosynthetics [5]. Go to Conclusion Through the overall environmental performance analysis of biodegradability as green Geosynthetics, it is seen that biodegradable mechanism of is possible to control theoretically and to control bio-degradability of PLA used green Geosynthetics. PLA 4032D/PBAT (80/20) blend shows improvement of environmental performance as a green Geosynthetics application than PLA 4032D only used. However, more restricted design technology must be adopted for this and more specific composition and selection of optimum additives of PLA blending should be determined for the quality control of PLA related Geosynthetics. To evaluate the biodegradability of green Geosynthetics performance, new test methods should be introduced and the needed evaluation items should be selected by considering influence parameters on the long-term performance under real field installation conditions. For more Open Access Journals in Juniper Publishers please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/ for more details click on the juniper publishers material science

#Juniper Publishers #juniper publishers group #material science #composite materials

0 notes

trendingnewz-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Ethoxylated Castor Oil Market a Booming Trend In Chemical Industry | 2026

Castor oil is a natural complex of esters of glycerol and high molecular weight fatty acids. It can be reformed due to the presence of multifunctional groups. Therefore, it offers a possibility of transforming into various materials. Ethoxylated castor oil is a derivative of castor oil. It is formed by the reaction of castor oil with ethylene oxide in the presence of an alkaline catalyst, which forms a water-soluble surfactant. Ethoxylated castor oil is also known by names such as polyethylene glycol castor oil or polyoxyl castor oil. These are non-ionic surfactants and can be used as emulsifying agents. Therefore, they are also suitable for aqueous preparations in industries. With the world becoming more environmentally conscious and a rise in awareness among people about the replacement of synthetic products, demand for renewable and biodegradable solutions is increasing. Ethoxylated castor oil plays a major role in the personal care industry, owing to its diverse properties and substantial usage.

Planning to lay down strategy for the next few years? Our report can help shape your plan better.

Based on type, the global ethoxylated castor oil market can be bifurcated into ethoxylated castor oil (PEG-n-CO) and ethoxylated hydrogenated castor oil (PEG-n-HCO). Ethoxylated hydrogenated castor oil is preferred over ethoxylated castor oil as it offers higher oxidation and thermal stability. It can improve resistance against solvents and grease and resist the substance from solidifing. Ethoxylated hydrogenated castor oil improves the melting point, when blended with other waxes Ethoxylated hydrogenated castor oil can also be used in grease, shoe cream, polish, crayons, and pharmaceuticals.In terms of application, the global ethoxylated castor oil market can be classified into oil & gas, industrial cleaning, personal care & cosmetics, food chemicals, and others (adhesives, etc.). An increase in demand for bio-compatible cosmetics is expected to boost the personal care & cosmetics segment of the ethoxylated castor oil market in the coming years. In cosmetics, ethoxylated castor oil is used as a solubilizing agent for perfume bases and in the production of hand lotions. Castor oil and its derivatives are used in the formulation of many products such as lipsticks, skin-care products, and bath soaps.

Is something restraining your company’s growth in market ? Ask for the report brochure here

Castor oil can also enhance the absorption of other cosmetic ingredients and stimulate hair growth. Ethoxylated castor oil is extracted from seeds and is further processed. This adds physical properties to the oil that impart surface-active qualities to products in which it is used. These features of surface-activity allow ethoxylated castor oil to increase mixing between two immiscible materials such as oil and water.Based on the region, the ethoxylated castor oil market can be segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. India is a major exporter of castor oil. It is a world leader in castor seeds/oil production and processing and has an edge over other countries such as Japan, France, and Germany, which import castor oil. These countries manufacture perfumery chemicals for further processing into perfumes and synthetic flavors.

Stuck in a neck-to-neck competition with other brands? Request a custom report here

Prominent players operating in the ethoxylated castor oil market include Rimpo India, Parchem Fine & Specialty Chemicals, Shubh Industries, Oxiteno USA LLC, Thai Castor Oil Industries Co. Ltd, Silver Fern Chemical, INC, Jayant Agro-Organics LTD , Itoh Oil Chemicals Co Ltd , Vantage Performance Materials, EMCO Dyestuff PVT LTD, and Fibrol Non Ionics Pvt Ltd. These companies are engaged in research and development activities, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions to gain market share.

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.

0 notes

whyismyhairsostaticyy · 6 years ago

Text

Where to Buy the Best Hair Extensions

What are the best hair extensions?

Why is my hair so staticy , difficult and time consuming, and buying the wrong type or overly processed or treated hair can prove to be a very costly mistake.

Learn about where your hair extensions REALLY come from!

CAN I VISIT THE SUPPLIER? Do you know much about your supplier/extension artist?

Are you really comfortable handing over hundreds of dollars to someone you "hope' will sell you a good product?

Please don't make the mistake of simply thinking that if you receive a sample of the hair it will mean you will be buying good hair in the future... many suppliers simply have a some good hair samples and then they send out bad hair after an order is made. You really need to see several packets first to ensure the hair will be high quality on a CONSISTENT basis... especially if you are going to buy it long term.

STEP 1

Can you visit the supplier?

Be sure your hair extensions provider/artist has an 'open door' policy. Even if they are too far away... to visit... do they allow the public to see the hair before they buy?

Can they show you the different type of hair before you buy it?

Do they have examples of non-remy and real remy hair to show you so you can be 100% sure the product they are selling is the real thing?

Yes I know all of this effort seems like a lot but it is important especially if you intend on purchasing or having hair extensions regularly.

If the provider hides behind a website... you can be pretty sure they also have something to hide

European and Russian grade hair

Growing hair for extensions is serious work. Some women and men who grow hair must follow a special diet to ensure that their hair will be healthy, well nourished and of the best quality.

STEP 2

What is the origin of the hair?

Asian Hair

Indian Hair

Unfortunately due to the rising demand in human hair extensions Indian hair is often mixed with synthetic hair and/or animal hair during processing.

So where possible it is much better to buy 100% human European or Russian hair if you have a European texture.

Step 3

Is the Hair Remy?

The next critical step in purchasing hair extensions is whether it is remy or not.

You may be on a budget and think... well this hair is super cheap and probably isn't remy... but it should be OK... you will just brush it a bit more... right?... wrong!

Non-remy hair is a girls worst nightmare and something you NEVER want to deal with.

Initially before the silicone coating has worn off... you may find it easy to manage... but after a few washes the real state of the hair reveals itself. It will tangle and matt terribly!

Now you understand you should never buy non-remy hair...

The seller often have little or no experience in hair extension care, application and processing methods and little knowledge of the true origin of theair itself.

Often untrained and inexperienced companies believe selling human hair is like any other product.

For all the afore mentioned reasons, it is very important you find out how much experience your seller really has.

0 notes