FABRIC:
A planar textile structure produces by interlacing yarns,
fibers, or filaments.
FABRIC
CONSTRUCTION: The details of structure of fabric.
Includes such information as
style, width, type
of knit of weave, threads per inch in warp and fill, and weight of goods.
FABRIC
CRIMP: The angulation induced between a yarn and
woven fabric via
the weaving or braiding process.
FABRIC
CRIMP ANGLE: The maximum acute angle of a single
weaving yarn’s
direction measured from a plane parallel to the
surface of the
fabric.
FABRIC
SETT: The number of warp threads per inch, or other convenient unit.
FABRIC
STABILIZER: Resin or latex treatment for scrims used in
coated fabric manufacture
to stabilize the
scrim for further processing.
FACE:
The correct or better-looking side of a fabric.
FACING:
A lining or trim that protects the edges of a garment especially
at collars, cuffs, and
front closings.
FACONNÉ:
A broad term for fabrics with a fancy-type weave made on a
Jacquard or dobby
loom.
FADE-OMETER®:
Laboratory device used to determine the fastness of a colored
fabric to
exposure to light.
The test pieces are rotated around a light source simulating the sun’s rays at
45° N
latitude in July between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fabrics are rated by
visual
comparison with a
gray scale according to degree of fading.
FAILLE:
A soft, slightly glossy woven fabric made of silk, rayon, cotton, wool, or manufactured
fibers or
combinations of these fibers and having a light, flat crossgrain rib or cord
made by using
heavier yarns in
the filling than in the warp.
FASCIATED
YARN: Yarns consisting of a core of discontinuous fibers with little
or no twist
and surface fibers
wrapped around the core bundle.
FASHIONING:
The process of shaping a fabric during knitting by increasing or
decreasing the
number of needles
in action. Fashioning is used in manufacturing hosiery, underwear, and
sweaters.
FATIGUE:
Refers to the resistance of a material to weakening or failure
during alternate
tension-compression
cycles, i.e., in stretch yarns, the loss of ability to recover after having
been
stretched.
FELL:
1. The end of a piece of fabric that is woven last. 2.
In weaving, the last filling pick laid
in the fabric at
any time.
FELT:
1. A nonwoven sheet of matted material of wool, hair, or fur,
sometimes in combination
with certain
manufactured fibers, made by a combination of mechanical and chemical action,
pressure, moisture,
and heat. 2. A woven fabric
generally made from wool, but occasionally from
cotton or certain
manufactured fibers, that is heavily shrunk and fulled, making it almost
impossible to
distinguish the weave.
FELTING:
1. The process of exposing wool fibers alone or in combination with
other fibers to
mechanical and
chemical action, pressure, moisture, and heat so that they tangle, shrink, and
mat
to form a compact
material. Felting is generally carried out in a fulling mill.
FESTOON
DRYER: A dryer in which cloth is suspended in loops over a
series of supporting horizontal poles and carried through the
heated chamber in this configuration.
FIBER:
A unit of matter, either natural or manufactured, that forms the
basic element of fabrics and other textile structures. A fiber
is characterized by having a length at least 100 times its
diameter or width. The term refers to units that can be
spun into a yarn or made into a fabric by various methods
including weaving, knitting, braiding, felting, and twisting. The essential requirements for
fibers to be spun into yarn include a length of at least 5 millimeters,
flexibility, cohesiveness, and
sufficient strength. Other important properties include elasticity, fineness, uniformity,
durability, and luster.
FIBER
ARCHITECTURE: The spatial arrangement of fibers in the
preform. Each architecture
has a definite
repeating unit.
FIBER
DISTRIBUTION: In a web, the orientation (random or
parallel) of fibers and the
uniformity of their
arrangement.
FIBERFILL:
Manufactured fibers that have been specially engineered for use
as filling material
for pillows,
mattress pads, comforters, sleeping bags, quilted outerwear, etc. Polyester
fibers are
widely used.
FIBER
NUMBER: The linear density of a fiber expressed in units such as denier.
FIBER
PLACEMENT: In general, refers to how the piles are
laid into their orientation, i.e., by
hand, by a textile
process, by a tape layer, or by a filament winder. Tolerances and angles are
specified.
Microprocessor-controlled placement that gives precise control of each axis of
motion
permits more
intricate winding patterns than are possible with conventional winding and is
used
to make composites
that are more complex that usual filament-wound structures.
FIBRETS:
Very short (1mm), fine (diameter 50)
fibrillated fibers that are highly branched
and irregular
resulting in very high surface area. Fibrets can be produced from a number of
substances
including acetate, polyester, nylon, and polyolefins. By selection of polymer
type and
incorporation of
additives, they can be engineered to meet a range of specialized requirements.
FIBRIDS:
Short, irregular fibrous products, made by mixing a dilute
polymer solution with a
nonsolvent with
agitation. They can also be made by flash spinning and breaking up the
resulting
filaments. Used in
felts, in papermaking, for filtration product, etc.
FIBRIL:
A tiny threadlike element of a synthetic or natural fiber.
FIBRILLATION:
The act or process of forming fibrils. The act of breaking up a
fiber, plastic
sheet, or similar
material into the minute fibrous elements from which the main structure is
formed.
FILAMENT:
A fiber of an indefinite or extreme length such as found
naturally in silk.
Manufactured fibers
are extruded into filaments that are converted into filament yarn, staple, or
tow.
FILAMENT
COUNT: The number of individual filaments that make up a thread or
yarn.
FILAMENT
NUMBER: The linear density of a filament expressed in units such as
denier or
tex.
FILAMENT
WINDING: In the fabrication of composites, the
process of placing reinforcing
fibers over a
rotating form, (mandrel) to make the product shape. Prepreg fibers or dry
fibers that
are treated in a
resin bath immediately prior to winding may be used. The wound form can be
cured or
consolidated after the fiber winding is complete to product specifications.
FILAMENT
YARN: A yarn composed of continuous filaments assembled with or
without twist.
FILLER:
A nonfibrous material added to a fabric to increase its weight
or to modify its
appearance or hand.
Also referred to as back-sizing. Examples of fillers are insoluble clays or
gypsum, starches,
and gums.
FILLET:
A long, narrow strip of wire card clothing with which the doffer
and cylinder of the
card are spirally
wrapped.
FILLING:
In a woven fabric, the yarn running from selvage to selvage at
right angles to the
warp. Each
crosswise length is called a pick. In the weaving process, the filling yarn is
carried
by the shuttle or
other type of yarn carrier.
FILTER
AID: A powder added to a solution to be filtered that forms a porous
bed to improve
filtration.
FILTER
CLOTH: Any cloth used for filtering purposed. Nylon, polyester, vinyon,
PBI, and
glass fibers are
often used in such fabrics because they are not affected by most chemicals.
FINDINGS:
1. Miscellaneous items attached to garments and shoes during
manufacture.
Included are
buttons, hooks, snaps, and ornaments. 2. Miscellaneous
fabrics in garments such a
zipper tapes,
linings, pockets, waistbands, and facings.
FINE
END: 1. A warp yarn of smaller diameter than that normally used in the
fabric. 2. A term
for a defect in
silk warp yarn consisting of thin places that occur when all the filaments
required
to make up the full
ply are not present. This condition is generally caused by poor reeling.
FINENESS:
1. A relative measure of fiber size expressed in denier or tex for
manufactured
fibers. For cotton,
fineness is expressed as the mean fiber weight in micrograms per inch. For
wool, fineness is
the mean fiber width or mean fiber diameter expressed in microns (to the
nearest
0.001-millimeter). 2.
For yarn fineness 3. For fineness of
knit fabrics.
FINES:
Particles or dust of polymer formed during the process of
cutting to produce chip.
FINE
STRUCTURE: Orientation, crystallinity, and molecular
morphology of polymers,
including
fiber-forming polymers.
FINGER
MARK: A defect of woven fabrics that is seen as an irregular spot
showing variation
in picks per inch
for a limited width. Causes are spreading of warp ends while the loom is in
motion and pressure
on the fabric between the reed and take-up drum.
FINISH:
1. A substance or mixture of substances added to textile materials
to impart desired
properties. 2.
A process, physical or chemical, performed on textile materials to produce a
desired effect. 3.
A property, such as smoothness, drape, luster, water repellency, flame
retardancy, or
crease resistance that is produced by 1 and/or 2 above. 4.
The state of a textile
material as it
leaves a process.
FINISH
COMPOSITION (YARD): Physical and chemical analysis of the
lubricant applied to
yarns to reduce friction
and improve processibility.
FINISHED
FABRIC: Fabric that is ready for the market, having passed through the
necessary
finishing
processes.
FINISHING:
All the processes through which fabric is passed after
bleaching, dyeing, or
printing in
preparation for the market or use. Finishing includes such operations as
heat-setting,
napping, embossing,
pressing, calendering, and the application of chemicals that change the
character of the
fabric. The term finishing is also sometimes used to refer collectively to all
processing
operations above, including bleaching, dyeing, printing, etc.
FINISHING
BAR: A noticeable streak across the entire width of a fabric, usually
caused by
machine stoppage
during processing.
FINISHING
SPOT: A discolored area on a fabric caused by foreign material such as
dirt,
grease, or rust.
FINISH
TURNS: The actual degree of twist in the final
yarn product.
FIRE-BLOCKING
LAYER: A fabric layer composed of
fibers with
flame-retardant properties used in aircraft seat
cushions and other
upholstery constructions to decrease the
overall
flammability of the total construction by preventing
access of flame to
the body of the construction.
FIRST-ORDER
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE: The temperature at which a polymer
freezes or melts.
FISSURE:
A very minute crack or opening in a material that frequently
leads to the breaking or
rupture of the
material.
FIXATION:
The process of setting a dye after dyeing of printing, usually
by steaming or other
heat treatment.
FLAKE:
As used by Celanese, a term that refers to the granular form in
which cellulose acetate
and triacetate
polymers exist prior to dissolving or feeding into the extrusion or molding
unit.
FLAKE
YARN: Yarn in which roving or short, soft staple fibers are inserted
at intervals
between long
filament binder yarns.
FLAKY
WEB: A web at the card that shows thick and thin places,
approximately 1 to 6 square
inches in size.
This indicates that, instead of a free flow of fibers through the card, either
an
uneven amount has
been fed into the card, or groups of fibers have hesitated in the card and then
dropped back into
production.
FLAME
RESISTANT: A term used to describe a material that
burns slowly or is selfextinguishing
after removal of an
external source of ignition. A fabric or yarn can be flame
resistance because
of the innate properties of the fiber, the twist level of the yarn, the fabric
construction, or
the presence of flame retardants, or because of a combination of these factors.
FLAME
RETARDANT: A chemical compound that can be
incorporated into a textile fiber
during manufacture
or applied to a fiber, fabric, or other textile item during processing or use
to
reduce its
flammability.
FLATSPOTTING:
A characteristic of certain tire cords. It occurs with all
materials but is more
noticeable with
nylon cord and is associated with nylon cord by users. Nylon exerts a shrinkage
force as it becomes
heated in tire operation. When the tire is stopped under load, the cord in the
road-contact
portion of the tire is under less tension than that in other portions of the
tire, and it
shrinks to conform
to the flat surface of the road. When cooled in this position, the cord
maintains the flat
spot until it again reaches its glass transition temperature in use.
FLAX:
The plant from which the cellulosic fiber linen is obtained.
FLEECE
FABRIC: A fabric with a thick, heavy surface resembling sheep’s wool. It
may be a
pile or napped
fabric of either woven or knit construction.
FLEXIBILITY:
1. The ability to be flexed or bowed repeatedly without rupturing. 2.
A term
relating to the
hand of fabric, referring to ease of bending and ranging from pliable (high) to
stiff
(low).
FLEXURAL
FATIGUE: A physical property expressed by the number
of times a material can
be bent on itself
through a prescribed angle before it ruptures or loses its ability to recover.
FLEXURAL
RIGIDITY: This measure of a material’s resistance to
bending is calculated by
multiplying the
material’s weight per unit area by the cube of its bending length.
FLOAT:
1. The portion of a warp or filling yarn that extends over two or
more adjacent filling
picks or warp ends
in weaving for the purpose of forming certain designs. 2.
In a knit fabric, a
portion of yarn
that extends for some length without being knitted in. 3.
A fabric defect
consisting of an
end lying or floating on the cloth surface instead of being woven in properly.
Floats are usually
caused by slubs, knot-tails, knots, or fly waste, or sometimes by ends being
drawn in heddle
eyes incorrectly or being twisted around heddle wires.
FLOCCULATING: Coagulating
or coalescing a material into a small, loosely aggregated mass.
FLOCK:
The material obtained by reducing textile fibers to fragments by
cutting or grinding.
There are two main
types: precision cut flock, where all fiber lengths are approximately equal,
and random cut
flock, where the fibers are ground or chopped to produce a broad range of
lengths.
FLOCKING:
A method of cloth ornamentation in which adhesive is printed or
coated on a
fabric, and finely
chopped fibers are applied all over by means of dusting, air-blasting, or
electrostatic
attraction. In flock printing, the fibers adhere only to the printed areas and
are
removed from the
unprinted areas by mechanical action.
FLUFFING:
A term describing the appearance of a carpet after loose fiber
fragments left during
manufacture have
worked their way to the surface. Fluffing is not a defect; it is simply a
characteristic of
new carpets that disappears with vacuuming.
FLUORESCENCE:
Emission of electromagnetic radiation, usually as visible light,
that is
caused by the flow
of energy into the emitting body. The emission ceases abruptly when the
excitation ceases.
FLY:
The short, waste fibers that are released into the air in
textile processing operations such as
picking, carding,
spinning, and weaving.
FLYER:
1. A device used to insert twist into slubbing, roving, or yarn, and to serve as a
guide for winding it onto a bobbin. The flyer is shaped like an inverted U
that fits on the top of the spindle and revolves with it.
One arm of the U is
solid and the other is hollow. The yarn enters through the top of the
hollow arm, travels downward, and emerges at the bottom where it is wound
around a presser finger onto the take-up package.
FLYER
SPINNING: A method of spinning by means of a driven
flyer. It is used primarily
for spinning worsted and coarser yarns.
FLYER WASTE: During
the roving operation, flyer waste refers to fibers that free themselves
by centrifugal
force from the regular bulk of roving and accumulate on the flyers and adjacent
machinery.
FOAM:
Dispersion of gas in a liquid or solid. The gas bubbles may be
any size. The term
covers a wide range
of useful products such as insulating foam, cushions, etc. It also describes
the undesirable
froth in polymer melts, dyebaths, etc.
FOLDED
SELVAGE: A curled selvage.
FOREIGN
WASTE: Thread waste or lint that is twisted in the yarn or woven in the
fabric. If
such foreign matter
is of a different fiber, it may dye differently and thus show plainly.
FORMALDEYDE:
A one-carbon aldehyde, (CH2O),
it is a colorless, pungent gas at room
temperature. This
compound is used primarily for disinfectant and preservative and in
synthesizing other
compounds and resins
FOULARD: A lightweight,
lustrous 2/2 twill that is usually printed with small figures on a solid
background, foulard
is frequently used in men’s ties. Foulards are made of silk, filament
polyester, acetate,
etc.
FRAME:
1. A general term for many machines used in yarn manufacturing such
as the drawing
frame, roving
frame, and spinning frame.
FRAYING:
The slipping or raveling of yarns from unfinished edges of
cloth.
FREE-WHEELING:
In reference to rolls, spinning without the application of
either driving or
braking force.
FRENCHBACK:
A fabric with a corded twill backing of different weave than the
face. The
backing, which is
frequently of inferior yarn, gives added weight, warmth, and stability to the
cloth.
FREQUENCY:
In uniform circular motion or in any periodic motion, the number
of revolutions
or cycles completed
in unit time.
FRICTION
SPINNING: A spinning system in which the yarn receives
its twist by being rolled along the
longitudinal axis
in the nip between two revolving surfaces. The
surfaces may rotate at the same or
different speeds in
the same or opposite directions depending on the
particular machine design. Potential
advantages include
high production capacity, low stress on the fiber in
processing, and the capacity to produce very fine counts.
FRIEZÉ:
1. A term applied when the pile of a velvet, plush, velour, or
other pile fabric is uncut.
A friezé fabric is
sometimes patterned by shearing the loops at different lengths. Friezé fabrics
are widely used for
upholstery. 2. A cut-pile carpet
made of highly twisted yarns normally plied
and heat-set. A
kinked or curled yarn effect is achieved. Excellent durability results from the
hard-twist pile
yarns.
FROST MARKS: A
defect of woven fabric consisting of surface highlights that give a frosted
appearance. Frost
marks are caused by improper sizing or insufficient warp tension as a result of
uneven bending of
some warp ends over the picks.
FULL-FASHIONED:
A term applied to fabrics produced on a flat-knitting machine,
such as
hosiery, sweater,
and underwear, that have been shaped by adding or reducing stitches.
FULLING:
A finishing process used in the manufacture of woolen and worsted
fabrics. The cloth is subjected to moisture, heat
friction, chemicals, and pressure which cause it to mat and shrink
appreciably in both the warp and filling directions,
resulting in a denser, more compact fabric.
FUSED
ACETATE: 1. A hard particle of acetate material of almost any shape or
size other than recognizable fiber. Sometimes fused acetate
particles resemble rock-like,hardened drops of
acetate dope; in other cases fused acetate consists of particles covered with fiber clusters and
completely hardened in the center. 2. Acetate yarns in
which the individual filaments are
coalesced.
FUSED
FILAMENTS: A group of filaments bonded together in a
tow by drips or frictional
effects and thereby
resistant to filament separation and crimp deregistering.
FUSED
RIBBON: Acetate fabrics in wide widths may be cut into narrow ones by
the application
of heat. A hot
knife blade caused the edges to sear and bead, thereby doing away with selvages
on the edges of the
goods.
FUSING:
1. Melting. 2. Uniting, as by
melting together.
FUZZINESS: 1. A term describing
a woven fabric defect characterized by a hairy appearance
due to broken
fibers or filaments. Principle causes are underslashed warp; rough drop wires,
heddles, or reed;
fabric slippage on take-up drum; rough shuttles; cut glass, dents, or reeds in
warper; and damage
in slashing. 2. A term describing
a fabric intentionally made with a hairy
surface; such
fabrics are usually produced from spun yarns.