When you visit an exhibition or fair, the sponsor will hand out manyprinted lanyards so the visitors can be identified on wearing them on the neck. They are made in different materials such as satin or taffeta, etc. Glass fabric cloth is one of them; the basis of textile-grade glass fibers is silica, SiO2. If the glass is extruded and cooled quickly at this temperature, it will be unable to form an ordered structure. In the polymer it forms SiO4 groups which are configured as a tetrahedron with the silicon atom at the center, and four oxygen atoms at the corners. These atoms then form a network bonded at the corners by sharing the oxygen atoms.

The vitreous and crystalline states of silica have similar energy levels on a molecular basis, also implying that the glassy form is extremely stable. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers printed lanyards, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling. Edward Drummond Libby exhibited a dress at the World's Columbian Exposition incorporating glass fibers with the diameter and texture of silk fibers. This was first worn by the popular stage actress of the time Georgia Cayman.

Glass wool, which is commonly known as "fiberglass" today, however, was invented in 1938 by Russell Games Salter of Owens-Corning as a material to be used as insulation. It is marketed under the trade name Fiberglas, which has become a generalized trademark. Glass fiber is commonly used as an insulating material. It is also used as a reinforcing agent for many printed lanyards; to form a very strong and light fiber-reinforced polymer composite material called glass-reinforced plastic, popularly known as "fiberglass". Glass fiber has roughly comparable properties to other fibers such as polymers and carbon fiber. Although not as strong or as rigid as carbon fiber, it is much cheaper and significantly less brittle.