There are numerous varieties of clothing material or fabric available such as cotton, silk, wool and polyester. These fabrics are made from fibres. There are mainly two types of fibres: Natural fibres and synthetic or man-made fibres. This video demonstrates that burning test is a simple way to identify and distinguish natural and artificial fibres. The fibres which are converted into ash on burning are natural fibres and those which melt and form a bead before burning are man-made (synthetic) fibres.