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Chenille may refer to either a type of cored yarn or fabric made from it.
Chenille, the French word for caterpillar, is typically used to describe a type of fabric. Many fabrics, such as mohair and wool, get their names from the fibers with which they are made. Chenille, however, is named for the unique process in which it is made. It is manufactured by wrapping short lengths of fabric, called "piles," around a tightly wound core of yarn. The edges of these piles then stand at right angles from the yarn’s core, giving chenille both its softness and its characteristic look. Chenille can appear iridescent without actually using iridescent fibers. The yarn is commonly manufactured from cotton, but can also be made using acrylic, rayon and olefin.
According to textile historians, chenille-type yarn was produced as far back the eighteenth century. In the 1930s, usage for the tufted fabric became widely desirable for throws, bedspreads, and carpets, though not popularized for apparel until commercial production in the 1970s. Standards of industrial production were not introduced until the 1990s, when the Chenille International Manufacturers Association (CIMA) was formed with the mission to improve and develop manufacturing processes.[citation needed]
Many chenille fabrics should be dry cleaned. If hand- or machine-washed, it should be machine-dried using low heat, or dried flat. To to avoid stretching, it should never be hung.
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