WALE- 1. In knit fabrics, a column of
loops lying lengthwise in the fabric. The number of wales
per
inch is a measure of the fineness of the fabric. 2. In woven fabrics, one of a
series of ribs,
cords,
etc., running either warpwise or fillingwise.
WARP- 1. The set of yarn in all woven
fabrics, that runs lengthwise and parallel to the selvage
and is
interwoven with the filling. 2. The sheet of yarns wound together on a beam for the
purpose
of weaving or warp knitting. (Also . WARP SHEET.)
WARP BEAM- A large spool or flanged
cylinder around which the warp threads, or ends, are
wound
in a uniform and parallel arrangement. (Also . BEAM.)
WARP-DRAWING- . DRAW-WARPING. Warp-drawn
fibers may be taken up on packages
other
than beams.
WARP-KNIT FABRIC- A fabric that is knit with the
yarns running lengthwise, e.g., tricot,
milanese,
and Raschel.
WARP PILE- The extra set of warp yarns
that forms the surface in a double-woven pile fabric,
including
types such as velvet and velour. Upholstery fabrics such as mohair, plush, and
friezé
are
produced by this method. (Also . PILE and VELVET FABRIC.)
WARP SHEET- A sheet comprising up to
several thousand ends that are combined to make up
the
warp during preparation for weaving or warp knitting. (Also . WARP.)
WARP STREAKS- A fabric fault that shows as
bands or streaks running warpwise. Warp
streaks
should not be confused with reed marks.
WASH-AND-WEAR- A generic term applied to
garments that satisfactorily retain their original
neat
appearance after repeated wear and home laundering with little or no pressing
or ironing. A
wash-and-wear
garment is essentially free from undesirable wrinkles both during wear and
after
laundering
and retains any original pressed-in creases or pleats. The garments should meet
normal
consumer demands for durability, color, stability, and shrinkage. The
performance of a
wash-and-wear
fabric or garment depends on several factors, including the types and amounts
(percentages)
of fibers used, the fabric construction, the finishing treatment, the presence
of a
colored
pattern (either woven or printed), and the methods used for washing and drying.
These
factors
determine, in any specific instance, if a fabric or garment’s performance will
meet
customer
requirements. Variable conditions result in the varying behavior of a specific
fabric or
garment.
Garments are labeled to specify the appropriate care for optimal performance.
(Also
.
EASE-OF-CARE and DURABLE PRESS.)
WASHFASTNESS- The resistance of a dyed fabric
to loss of color or change in properties
during
home or commercial laundering.
WATERPROOF- A term applied to materials
that are impermeable to water; waterproof fabrics
have
had all their pores closed and are also impermeable to air and very
uncomfortable.
WATER-REPELLENT- A term applied to fabrics that
can shed water but are permeable to air
and
comfortable to wear. These fabrics are produced by treating the material with a
resin, wax, or
plastic
finish that is not completely permanent.
WEAK WEB- A web of fiber that, when being
transferred from the card doffer to the calender
rolls
to form sliver, does not have sufficient strength from fiber cohesion or
clinging
entanglement
to hold itself together while forming a continuous bridge in processing.
WEAK YARN- A yarn that is found to be
either below standard breaking specifications or to be
weak
enough to cause an abnormally high degree of stops in textile processing.
WEAR TEST- A test for fabric wear,
abrasion, flexibility, washing, crushing, creasing, etc., in
which
the fabric is made into a garment, worn for a specific time, then assessed for
performance.
WEATHER-OMETER- An instrument used in measuring
the weather resistance of textiles. It
can
simulate various weather conditions such as sunlight, rain, dew, and thermal
shock.
Weathering
is accelerated to the degree that the effects of years of normal use are
attained in only
a few
days.
WEAVE- A system or pattern of
intersecting warp and filling yarns. There are three basic two
dimensional
weaves- plain, twill, and satin. All other weaves are derived from one or more
of
these types.
(Also . PLAIN WEAVE, TWILL WEAVE, and SATIN WEAVE.)
WEAVING- The method or process of
interlacing two yarns of similar materials so that they
cross
each other at right angles to produce woven fabric. The warp yarns, or ends,
run lengthwise
in the fabric,
and the filling threads (weft), or picks, run from side to side. Weaving can be
done
on a
power or handloom or by several hand methods. (Also . LOOM and WOVEN FABRIC.)
.
WEB- 1. The wide film of fibers that is
delivered from the card. 2. A similar product of other
web-forming
equipment, such as that formed by air deposition and used to make nonwoven
fabrics.
3. A term loosely used for
lightweight nonwoven fabrics. 4. . WEBBING.
WEBBING- Strong, narrow fabric, closely
woven in a variety of weaves and principally used for
belts
and straps that have to withstand strain (e.g., automobile seat belts,
reinforcement of
upholstery,
suspenders, etc.). Elastic webbing is made with spandex or rubber yarns in part
of the
warp or
filling, or both. (Also . WEB, 2.)
WEFT INSERTION- 1. Any one of the various methods,
shuttle, rapier, water jet, etc., for
making
a pick during weaving. 2. A marriage of warp knitting and weaving brought about by
inserting
a length of yarn across the width of the knitting elements and fastening the
weft yarn
between
the needle loop and the underlap. (Also . METAP WEAVE-KNIT PROCESS.)
WEFT-KNIT FABRIC- . CIRCULAR-KNIT FABRIC and
FLAT-KNIT FABRIC.
.
WEIGHTED SILK- Silk that has been treated with
metallic salts during dyeing and finishing to
increase
the fabric’s weight and improve its drape. Over-weighting can cause
deterioration of the
fabric.
WELT- 1. A finished edge on knit goods,
especially hosiery. In women’s stockings, it is a wide
band
knitted from heavier yarn than the leg and folded on itself. 2. A small cord covered with
fabric
and sewn along a seam or border to add strength. 3. A seam made by folding the
fabric
double,
generally over a cord, and sewing it. 4. A term sometimes used for piqué.
WET FORMING- The production of a nonwoven
fabric web from an aqueous suspension of
fibers
by filtering the short fibers onto a screen belt or perforated drum.
WET-LAID NONWOVEN- Fabric made by the wet-forming
process. The short fibers typically
have
more random orientation in the web and the web has more isotropic properties
than carded
webs
WET STRENGTH- The measurement of the strength
of a material when it is saturated with
water,
normally relative to the dry strength.
WHIPCORD- A compact woven fabric having a
very steep twill on the
face of
the goods. Whipcord is used in dress woolens, worsteds, or wool
blends
and in many types of uniforms.
WHIPPED CREAM- A type of crepe fabric produced
from false-twisttextured polyester
yarn.
WHISKERS- Fine fibrils or crystals from
polymers, metals, etc.
WHITE GOODS- A broad term describing any
goods that have been finished in the white
conditions.
WICKING- 1. Cord, loosely woven or braided
tape, or tubing to be cut into wicks. 2. Dispersing
or
spreading of moisture or liquid through a given area, vertically or
horizontally; capillary action
in
material.
.
WIDTH- A horizontal measurement of a
material. In woven fabric, it is the distance from
selvage
to selvage, and in flat-knit fabric, the distance from edge to edge.
WILLIAMS UNIT- A wet-processing unit for
open-width processing of fabric. The fabric
passes
up and down over rollers in the liquor. The unit is widely used for dyeing,
washing,
pretreating,
and aftertreating.
WILTON CARPET- Woven carpet in which the pile
yarns are woven in as an integral part of
the
carpet, being held in place by the filling, usually made on a loom with a
Jacquard head. The
pile
may be formed by wires and hooks or by weaving between two backings, in which
case, the
pile
ends are cut to form two separate carpets. Wilton carpets are made in two types-
(1) cut pile,
e.g.,
tournia, Wilton moquette, plush, and velvet, and (2) loop pile, e.g., Brussels.
WINDING- Winding is the process of
transferring yarn or thread from
one type of package to another to facilitate subsequent processing.
The rehandling of yarn is an integral part of the fiber and
textile
industries. Not only must the package and the yarn itself be suitable
for processing on the next machine in the production process, but
also other factors such as packing cases, pressure due to winding
tension,
etc., must be considered. Basically, there are two types of winding
machines- precision winders and drum winders. Precision widers,
used primarily for filament yarn, have a traverse driven by a
cam
that is synchronized with the spindle and produce packages with a
diamond-patterned wind. Drum winders are used principally for spun
yarns; the package is driven by frictional contact between the
surface
of the package and the drum.
WINDOW PANING- A fabric defect caused by
nonuniform yarn. When
thin sections of yarn become grouped together, the resultant increase in the
transparency of the fabric
is called window paning.
WIND RATIO- The number of wraps that an end
or ends make in traversing from one side of a
wound
package to the other side and back to the first side.
WOOD GRAIN- A fabric defect that consists
of fillingwise streaks resembling the irregular
appearance
of wood grain in lumber. Wood grain is usually caused by strained filling in
quilling,
the
tension being more pronounced near the butt of the quill.
WOOD PULP- The cellulosic raw material for
viscose rayon and for acetate.
.
WOOL- The term is usually used for
the fleece of sheep, but according to the Textile Fiber
Products
Identification Act, wool is defined for purposes of labeling as- “The fiber
from the
fleece
of the sheep or lamb or hair of the Angora or Cashmere goat (and may include
the socalled
specialty
fibers from the hair of the camel, alpaca, llama, and vicuna) which has never
been
reclaimed
from any woven or felted wool product.” Wool is
used in a variety of blends in which it is combined with nearly all natural or manufactured
fibers. Wool fibers have scales that tend to interlock with each other, binding
the fibers
together. This process is called felting. In blends, particularly those with
manufactured fibers,
wool is used to improve the feel or appearance of finished products.
Manufactured fibers are
sometimes blended with wool to enable the spinning of very fine or loosely
twisted yarns with
increased
tensile strength or to produce ease-of-care properties. Wool can be treated to
control
shrinkage,
to provide resistance to damage by moths, to impart stain-resistance, and to
set
permanent
creases in fabrics.
WOOLEN CARD- A type of roller card used in
the woolen spinning system, usually consisting
of
three cards in tandem- the breaker, intermediate, and finisher sections.
WOOLEN COUNT- The two systems used to
determine woolen yarn counts in the U.S. are the
run
system and the cut system. The run system has a standard of 1600 yards per
hand, while the
cut
system is based on 300 yards per hank.
WOOLEN CUT- A woolen yarn measure. A 1-cut
woolen yarn has 300 yards in one pound of
yarn.
WOOLEN RUN- A woolen yarn measure. A 1-run
woolen yarn has 1,600 yards in one pound
of
yarn, a 2-run yarn has 3,200 yards, and so on.
WOOLEN SYSTEM- The fundamental system of making
yarns for woolen fabrics. In yarns
spun on
the woolen system, the fibers are not parallel but are crossed in what appears
to be a
haphazard
arrangement. After blending, fibers produced on the woolen system are evenly
distributed
in carding on two, three, or even four cards. From here, the split web, called
roving,
goes to
the spinning frame. In addition to wool, manufactured fibers, cotton, wastes,
and noils
can be
processed on the woolen system. In general, the fibers used are shorter and
more highly
crimped
than those used on the worsted system and are of the type that can be fulled.
WORKING LOSS- The irrecoverable loss of
weight or yardage of a textile material that occurs
during
a textile process.
WORK RECOVERY- The ratio of recoverable work
to the total work required to strain a fiber a
specified
amount under a given program of strain rate.
WORSTED- A general term applied to
fabrics and yarns from combed wool and wool blends.
Worsted
yarn is smooth-surfaced, and spun from evenly combed long staple. Worsted
fabric is
made
from worsted yarns and is tightly woven with a smooth, hard surface, Gabardine
and serge
are
examples of worsted fabrics.
.
WORSTED CARD- A type of roller card user for
worsted-system processing. It usually
comprises
two cards in tandem; the unit has a roller that carries the stock from the
first card to the
feed-in
of the second card.
WORSTED COUNT- A woolen yarn measure. A 1’s
worsted yarn has 560 yards in one pound
of
yarn.
WORSTED SYSTEM- A system of textile processing
for manufacturing spun yarns from staple
fibers
usually over 3 inches in length. The main operations are carding, combing,
drafting, and
spinning.
There are three basic systems of worsted yarn spinning- the Bradford (or
English
system),
the French (Alsatian or Continental system), and the American system.
WOVEN FABRIC- Generally used to refer to
fabric composed of two sets of yarns, warp and
filling,
that is formed weaving, which is the interlacing of these sets of yarns.
However, there are
woven
fabrics in which three sets of yarn are used to give a triaxial weave. In
two-dimensional
wovens,
there may be two or more warps and fillings in a fabric, depending on the
complexity of
the
construction. The manner in which the two sets of yarns are interlaced
determines the weave.
By
using various combinations of the three basic weaves, plain, twill, and satin,
it is possible to
produce
an almost unlimited variety of constructions. Other effects may be obtained by
varying
the
type of yarns, filament or spun, and the fiber types, twist levels, etc.
WRINKLE RECOVERY- That property of a fabric that
enables it to recover from folding
deformations.
WRINKLE RESISTANCE- That property of a fabric that
enables it to resist the formation of
wrinkles
when subjected to a folding deformation. Wrinkle resistance in a fabric is a
desirable
attribute,
but it is not easily measured quantitatively. Wrinkle resistance varies from
quite low in
many
fabrics to very high in resilient fabrics. In order to form a wrinkle, a
fabric’s wrinkle
resistance
must be overcome. The fabric may, however, produce strains and store potential
energy
that can become evident as wrinkle recovery under suitable conditions.
