Mankind's dream of producing synthetic fibers is a very old dream. The first theoretical ideas reach as far back as the 17th century. The main focus was on finding a substitute for silk, since silk worms - belonging to the butterfly family - could not survive in the European climate.

In 1664, the first attempts to microscopically explore the structure of silk were made by the Englishman Dr. Robert Hooke.

In 1734, the French naturalist and physicist Réaumur - who was also interested in the ability to synthetically produce silk - made the following remark:

"Silk is only liquid rubber that has been dried. Couldn't we produce silk from rubber or resin ourselves?"

In 1839, the French A. Payen was the first person to isolate cellulose from wood. The most important next step towards the production of synthetic fibers was then to find a process where cellulose - the base of plant fibers - can be converted into a "spinnable" solution.

In 1842, Louis Schwabe showed woven fabrics made from glass threads to an audience in Manchester. The fibers were created by extruding a glass melt through very fine holes - this was the first use of a spinneret.

In Basel, Switzerland in 1845, Christian Friedrich Schönbein dissolved gun cotton (cellulose nitrate) in ether to produce collodion (nitrocellulose).

In 1855, the Swiss Audemars applied for a British patent in which - for the first time - the production of artificial fibers from nitrocellulose dissolved in alcohol and ether is described. This production method was, however, so primitive that another 30 years went by before a technically sound process became available.

In 1862, the French M. Ozanam suggested that silk wastes, used natural silk and damaged cocoons are dissolved in the "Schönbein solution" to "cast" fabrics from them.

In 1883, the Englishman Joseph Wilson Swan, who was experimenting with producing high-capacity threads for electric bulbs, developed a chemical process to produce fibers. He named the result "artificial silk", which later became known as nitrocellulose silk.

In 1890, the "Société Anonyme pour la fabrication de la soie de Chardonnet" was established and Count L. M. Hilaire Bernigaud de Chardonnet produced the first factory-made nitro silk from cellulose in Besançon (in the east of France). At that time, 50 kg of nitro silk could be produced per day.

However, cuprammonium rayon, which was industrially manufactured beginning in 1899, was better and cheaper than nitro silk, which led to discontinuing the nitro process in Germany in 1912.

In 1892, the chemist Dr. Max Fremery and the engineer Johann Urban began producing carbon threads for electric lamps in a small factory in Oberbruch near Aachen. They used copper oxide ammonia to process the cellulose solution.

By 1899, this process was perfected and could be used in the production of fibers for textiles. The same year, Fremery and Urban founded the first German cuprammonium rayon factory "Vereinigte Glanzstoffabriken A.-G."

In 1891, the process of producing viscose silk was discovered by the Englishmen Charles Frederic Cross, Edward John Bevan and Clayton Beadle. Prince Guido Henckel v. Donnersmarck in Neudeck (Upper Silesia) acquired the German patents for this process and established the company "Fürst Guido Donnersmarcksche Kunstseiden- und Acetatwerke" in Sydowsaue. This artificial silk factory was able to produce 500 to 600 kg of spinnable viscose daily. The viscose process, which used cheap wood pulp as the base material, was more economic than the nitro or cuprammonium processes, which use cotton linters as the base material. In 1910, the company was taken over by the "Vereinigte Glanzstoffabriken", which then gradually converted their production from the cuprammonium to the viscose method.

1905, the "Vistra" patent was issued to the Vereinigte Glanzstoffabriken.

In 1917, the large volume production of rayon staple fiber began under the trademark "Vistra" in Stettin. Vistra was produced similarly to viscose silk and was used as a substitute for wool. Among others, men's, lady's and children's hosiery were produced using Vistra.

Since 1924, all artificial silk produced from cellulose has been marketed under the product name "Rayon". In the early 1930's, rayon was produced with metal oxides, which led to yarn similar to Perlon (German synthetic yarn similar to nylon).

Federal planning and steering led to a gigantic increase in the production of rayon staple after 1933, which was aimed at eliminating Germany's dependency on the import of raw materials for the production of textiles. The base material used for artificial silk and rayon staple fiber was almost exclusively cellulose.

In 1938, the world-wide production of artificial silk amounted to one sixth of the production of cotton and one half of the production of wool world-wide.

In 1913, the process of producing acetate rayon was developed. Three years later, the British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Co. in Spondon, England began the industrial production of this new artificial silk form. Acetate rayon was produced from a compound of cellulose, gained from cotton linters, and acetic acid in the dry spinning process. Acetate rayon distinguishes itself from other artificial silks with qualities such as low water absorption, easy washability, good crease resistance and shape retention, and fast-drying.

In 1927, the German Acetat-Kunstseiden A.G. "Rhodiaseta" was established by German, French and Swiss industrialists (including Flick and Thyssen) in Freiburg. The company produced chemical fibers from cellulose acetate by a process from the French Société Rhodiaseta, which had been using the process very successfully since 1922-23. The company later became the German Rhodiaceta A.G.

At first artificial silk was blended with wool or cotton or used as interlacing yarn in the production of plated hosiery to reinforce the toes and heels.

After several days of wear and washing artificial silk stockings lost their shape and became creased, especially around the ankles. Additionally, artificial silk was very brittle when wet.