Satin use in ballet. Other uses include interior furnishing fabrics, upholstery, and bed sheets . Originally, during the Middle Ages, satin was made of silk; consequently it was very expensive, used only by the upper classes. Satin became famous in Europe during the twelfth century. The name derives its origin from the Chinese port city of Quanzhou, whose name in (medieval) Arabic was Zayton. During the latter part of the Middle Ages, it was a major shipping port of silk, using the maritime Silk Road to reach Europe. It was mostly used in the Arabian countries. Fabrics created from satin weaves
Bast fibre intense retting separates the fibre bundles into elementary fibres, that can be several centimetres long. Often bast fibres have higher tensile strength than other kinds, and are used in high-quality textiles (sometimes in blends with cotton or synthetic fibres), ropes, yarn, paper, composite materials and burlap. An important property of bast fibres is that they contain a special structure, the "fibre node", that represents a weak point, and gives flexibility. Seed hairs, such as cotton, do not have nodes. Plants that have been used for bast fibre include flax (from which linen is made), hemp, jute, kenaf, kudzu, linden, milkweed,