Chapter 10:

Textile Processes
Group 12:
Dianne C. Montemayor
Reniel Mandap
Textiles are fabrics (cloth) and other materials made
principally from combinations of fibers. These fibers
may be woven, knitted, braided, tufted, or made, by
mechanical or chemical bonding, into non-woven
fabrics.
A. Textile Fibers
Fibers are long, hair-like, wire-like or thread-like
materials whose lengths are 0.2 in (0.5 cm) or more and
are greater than 100 times their diameters. They come
from plant, animal or mineral sources, or can be
synthetic materials.
A1. natural fibers
- Are those derived from plant, animal and mineral sources.
The major ones are:
 Cotton – is the most important textile fiber from plant
sources and, in fact, is the most widely used textile fiber.
 Wool – from sheep is the principal fiber produced from
animal hair, but camel. Llama, alpaca, guanaco, vicuna,
rabbit, reindeer and goat (angora and cashmere) hair are also
used.
 Silk – Silk is an important fiber of natural origin, made
principally from the cocoon of the silk worm.
 Linen
Cotton gin
A2. Manufactured and synthetic fibers
Manufactured fibers – used in textile manufacture come
from both natural and man-made sources. Natural sources
are either organic or inorganic.
Synthetic fibers – made from cellulose include rayon,
acetate and triacetate. Inorganic fiber materials include
metal and glass.
 - from thermoplastic are produced by extruding the
molten plastic through extrusion dies (spinnerets) into a
stream of cold air that cools and solidifies the plastic.
The manufacturing process for acetate fiber
B. Yarn Making (Spinning)
Yarns are continuous strands of fibers that can be woven or
knitted into fabrics. The term “spinning” refers both to the
final yarn-making operation that puts a twist in the yarn
(B5 below), and also to the entire sequence of operations
that convert raw fibers involves picking (opening, sorting,
cleaning, blending), carding and combing (separating and
aligning), drawing (re-blending), drafting (drawing into a
long strand) and spinning (further drawing and twisting).
B1. picking (including opening and
blending)
Includes the separation of the raw fibers from unwanted
material: leaves, twigs, dirt, any remaining seeds, and
other foreign items. The fibers are first blended with
fibers from different lots or other sources to provide
uniformity. (They also may be blended with different
fibers to provide improved properties in the final fabric.)
Blending and feeding cotton
fibers
Opening cotton fibers
Picking cotton fibers
B2. Carding
Is a process similar to combing and brushing. It
disentangles bunches and locks of fibers and arranges
them in a parallel direction. It also further eliminates
burrs and other foreign materials and fibers that are too
short.
B3. Combing
Is an additional fiber alignment operation performed on
very fine yarns intended for finer fabrics.
Carding cotton fibers
Drawing
B4. drawing (drafting), (re-blending)
After carding and, if performed, combing, several slivers
are combined into one strand that is drawn to be longer
and thinner. Drawing frames have several pairs of rollers
through which the slivers pass. Each successive pair of
rollers runs at a higher speed than the preceding pair so
that the silver is pulled longer and thinner as it moves
through the drawing frame.
B5. spinning (twisting)
Further draws out and twists fibers to join them together in
a continuous yarn or thread. The work is performed on a
spinning frame after drawing. The twist is important in
providing sufficient strength to the yarn because twisting
causes the filaments to interlock further with one another.
 Three kinds of spinning frames:

1. Ring Spinning
2. Open-end (rotor) Spinning
3. Air-jet Spinning
Ring Spinning
B6. spinning synthetic fibers
The term “spinning” is also used to refer to the extrusion
process of making synthetic fibers by forcing a liquid or
semi-liquid polymer (or modified polymer, e.g., rayon)
through small holes in an extrusion die, called a spinneret,
and then cooling, drying or coagulating the resulting
filaments.
C. Weaving
Is the interlacing of yarns in a regular order to create a
fabric. The operation is performed in a machine called a
loom. Two sets of yarns are interlaced, almost always at
right angles to each other. One called the wrap, runs
lengthwise in the loom; the other, called the filling, weft or
woof, runs crosswise.
 Looms perform the following functions:
1. Raising selected warp yarns, or ends, with suitable harnesses,
consisting of frames of heddles, without vertical wires and
eyelets, or strips with openings in the middle.
2. Picking, laying a length of the filling or weft yarn between warp
yarn from the shuttle ( a hollow projectile that holds weft yarn
inside) as it moves across the shed .
3. Battening or beating in, forcing the filling yarn from the pick
against the just-formed cloth next to the previous pick.
4. Taking up, winding the cloth, as it is formed, onto a take up
reel, the cloth beam.
5. As the cloth is taken up, warp yarn is released from the warp
beam. This action is called letting off.
Fig. 10C illustrates major loom operations.

Shedding, raising some warp yarns to

make room for the shuttle.

Picking, laying the weft

(filler) yarn across and
between warp yarns.

Beating in, pushing the reed against

the last filler yarn against the woven
cloth.
Fig. 10C – 1 Three basic weave patterns.

Plain weave, also called taffeta. Filling

yarns pass over and under alternate
warp yarns. Other plain weaves are
broadcloth, muslin, batiste, percale,
seersucker, organdy, voile, and tweed.

Twill weave. Filling yarn

repeats the sequence but
shifts one warp yarn
sideways, creating a
Satin weave. Filler yarns pass over a diagonal pattern.
number of warp yarns.
C1. Jacquard loom weaving
Jacquard-type looms are looms with an automatic, selective
method for shedding, the lifting of certain warp yarns for
each cycle of the loom. The mechanism permits the use of
continuously varying shedding patterns, to create
corresponding patterns in the woven cloth. The original
Jacquard process used a series of perforated cards to control
the operation.
C2. automatic bobbin changing
Because of space and size limitations, the amount of filling
yarn that can be carried in a shuttle is also limited.
Fig. 10C – 2 The major components of a
loom illustrated by a hand-operated unit
used for craft work.
C3. shuttle-less looms
Many current production looms do not use shuttles. In
some looms, air or water streams propel the end of the
filling yarn for each pick. In others, dummy shuttles pull
the filling yarn but do not carry a bobbin. The rapier
method uses an arm or tape-like machine element that
grasps the filling yarn and pulls it across the web of warp
yarns.
C4. pile weaving
Is usually a plain weave in which either the filler or the
warp yarn is drawn from the fabric to form loops
between the intersecting yarns. The loops provide a
thickness to the cloth. Turkish toweling is made from
pile weaves with the loops uncut. Velvet is pile fabric, but
the loops are cut.
D. Knitting
Is a fabric or garment making by forming a series of
interlocking loops in a continuous yarn or a set of yarns.
In production situations, the work is carried out through
the movement of hooked needles. (Hand knitting is
normally performed with straight needles.)
Fig. 10D Two examples of knit fabrics made by
interlocking continuous strands of yarn: a.) a
plain knit made on a weft or filler knitting
machine. The path of each crosswise yarn is
called a course b.) a single warp tricot knit.
Fig. 10D – 1 Production knitting needles. a.) the
bearded spring needle used for fine knitted fabrics
and b.) the more common latch neddle.
Fig. 10D1 Stitch formation in weft knitting
with latch needles in a circular machine.
D1. weft or filling knitting
Can be produced on either flat or circular knitting
machines. In weft knitting, one continuous yarns runs
crosswise in the fabric and makes up all the loops in one
course. The needles either act in succession or the yarn is
fed in succession, so that loop formation and interlocking
is not simultaneous.
D2. Warp knitting
Is usually accomplished on flat machines but can also be
tubular. Warp knitting differs from weft knitting in that
each needle has its own yarn. The yarns are fed from a large
reel or warp beam as in weaving with a loom.
E. Non – woven Fabrics
Are fabrics made by bonding or interlocking individual,
randomly oriented fibers together, rather than by
interlacing continuous yarns. The fibers are held
together as the result of mechanical, chemical, thermal
or solvent methods or a combination of them.
F. Finishing
Finishing processes include a variety of operations to
make a textile fabric more suitable for its application.
Finishing operations can be chemical, mechanical, or a
combination of the two. They include treatments to
improve the appearance or touch of the fabric and
processes intended to improve its performance.
F1. preparation – for finishing operations includes the
removal of impurities from the initial fibers and irregularities,
foreign matter, and defects, from the weave or knit.
F2. Bleaching – whitens the fabric by removing the natural
colors of the fibers and any stains from previous operations.
F3. Finishing to improve appearance
F3a. Napping – is a brushing process that lifts the loose,
short fibers, primarily from the weft yarns, into a down or
nap.
F3b. Shearing – is performed with rotary cutters, to trim
a raised nap to a uniform height.
F3c. Brushing – can be used to raise a nap on woven and
knitted fabrics. It also used to remove loose fibers and short
fiber ends from smooth fabrics.
F3d. Beetling – involves the beating of dampened linen or
cotton fabric with wooden mallets as the fabric is tightly
wrapped over steel cylinders.
F3e. Decating – involves the application of heat and pressure
to the surface of wool and other fabrics to set the nap, even the
grain, develop luster and provide a softer hand.
F3f. Calendering – is another process that applies heat and
pressure to smooth the surface of a fabric, making it flatter and
more glossy.
F3g. Creping - crepe is a fabric with a finely ridged or
crinkled surface. The crepe effect is most permanently
produced by weaving with hard twisted yarns but can also be
produced in a fabric by causing it to shrink in certain areas but
not in others.
F3h. Embossing – is essentially the same as the embossing
operation applied to plastic or metal sheets. The fabric is run
between a pair or matched, heated rollers that each have a
design on their surface.
F3i. Optical brightening – is effected by a dyeing process.
Optical brighteners (optical bleaches) are dyes that contain
colorless fluorescent materials.
F3j. Tentering – is a process that can be carried out at various
stages of finishing but is commonly a final operation .
F3k. Crabbing – is a process for wool that has an objective
similar to that of tentering. The crabbing process differs for
wool in that the fabric is fed over hot rollers, then into cold
water and then to a pressing station.
F3L. Flocking – is the deposition of short fibers onto an
adhesive-coated surface. One method of applying flocking is
to fling fiber dust mechanically onto adhesive surface that is
made to vibrate.
Fig. 10F6f Flocking of a sheet or fabric
with a mechanical system. When three-
dimensional objects are flocked, an
electrostatic charge may be added to the
flocking material and the work piece
may be electrically grounded to aid in
the attraction and orientation of the
flocking material
F4. finishing to improve feel (tactile properties of the
fabric)
F4a. Sizing (stiffening) – Starch, gelatin, clay, glue or
casein are often applied to cotton yarn and cotton cloth.
F4b. Weighting – is a process for adding weight and body
to a fabric to improve its drape and hand. With silk, its weight
can be increased by treating the fabric with tin salts.
F4c. Fulling ( felting or milling) – is a process applied to
wool fabrics to increase their thickness and compactness. The
wool is heated, until a shrinkage of 10 to 25 percent takes
placee.
F4d. Softening – Sulfonated oils, sulfated tallow, glycerine,
dextrin or sulfated alcohols are applied to fabrics to make
them softer with a more desirable feel and, often, more
absorbent.
F5. finishing to improve performance – includes various
finishes to make the finished fabric more usable, easier to
maintain and more resistant to adverse environmental
conditions.
F5a. Anti-shrinkage treatment - several techniques are
used, depending on the fabric involved.
F5b. Durable press (permanent press) (wash and wear) –
The processes used involve plastic resin impregnation of the
fabric either before or after it is made into a garment.
F5c. Antistatic treatment – is applicable to fabrics made
from synthetic fibers such as, nylon, acrylic or polyester.
F5d. Treatment for soil and stain release properties –
consist of applying a coating of fluorocarbon plastic to the
yarn fibers.
F5e. Water repelling and water proofing treatments – are
achieved by coating the fabric with waxes, varnishes or
enamels, bituminous coatings, metallic salts or silicones.
F5f. Other treatments – to provide antibacterial and
antifungal properties, flame retardance, anti-moth
protection, and slip resistance can all be provided. The yarn,
fabric , or the completed product, is coated with or immersed
in the appropriate treatment solution.
G. Coloring
The natural color of textile fibers is only infrequently acceptable
as a color for the finished textile product. Coloring the fabric
with one solid color or with a decorative pattern is the norm.
G1. dyeing – involves the immersion of the fiber, yarn, cloth or
finished product in a solution, usually aqueous, containing the
dye.
G1a. Stock dyeing – is the dyeing of unspun fibers in a batch
operation.
G1b. Top dyeing – is the dyeing of the rope like gathering of
wool fibers that result from the combing operation. The rope
or “top” is wound on a perforated drum and the dye is
circulated through the drum holes into the rope.
G1c. Yarn dyeing – is dyeing done after the fiber has been
spun into yarn. It is sometimes referred to as skein dyeing
when the yarn is coiled in a skein or on a reel.
G1d. Piece dyeing – is the dyeing of a woven of knitted fabrics.
This is the most common dyeing method, because, when the
dyeing is deferred to a later stage in manufacturing, there is
less chance for the manufacturer to be burdened with material
of the wrong color when customer preferences change.
G1e. Cross dyeing – is a combination process. Stock or yarn
dyeing first take place for some of the yarns that are used to
make a fabric.
G1f. Solution pigmenting (dope dyeing) – is applicable to
synthetic fibers extruded from spinneret dies. The dyeing or
coloring is achieved by mixing a pigment or other colorant in
the fiber material before it is extruded.
G2. Printing – is involved when a fabric is decorated with a
pattern of color or colors.
G2a. Block printing – is relief printing applied to
textiles.Traditionally, it has been done by hand with wooden
blocks carved to put a design in relief.
G2b. Engraved printing (intaglio printing) – is also
utilized for high-production printing of fabrics and is the
most common production printing method for fabrics.
G2b1. duplex printing – is roller printing performed on both sides of
a fabric. Separate printing and impression rollers are used, one on
each side of the fabric.
G2c. Discharge printing – is a process in which the cloth is first dyed
with some background color. This color is then selectively discharged
or removed in some areas with a printing process that applies
chemical reagents or reducing agents in paste form.
G2d. Heat-transfer printing – is very similar to transfer coating (hot
transfer coating) of plastics parts.
G2e. Stencil and screen printing – screen printing is the most
common method. With either process, the cloth to be printed is
normally laid flat on a work table and held by clamping, pinning, or
some other method while the image is applied.
G2f. Resist printing – The fabric is first printed with a paste
material, called a resist, a resinous material that blocks the
fabrics from accepting dye.
G2g. Warp printing – is printing, usually by roller printing
methods, on the warp yarns before they are woven into a
cloth. weft yarns that are finer than normal are then used in
weaving the fabric.
G2h. Pigment printing – uses an insoluble pigment instead
of a thickened dye. The pigment is mixed with a plastic binder
that holds the pigment in place on the fabric after painting.
H. Manufacture of Clothing and Other Sewn
Products (“Needle Trades”)
Clothing is the largest category of sewn textile products,
but footwear, leather products, upholstery, curtains and
draperies, towels, bedding, flags, parachutes, table linens,
tents, industrial filters, and other industrial components
made of fabric all require the same basic sequence of
operations when produced in quantity. These products rely
on stitching as the predominant means of fastening pieces
together to make the finished product.
H1. Spreading/stacking – In production operations, the individual
pieces making up the items to be sewn are not cut individually from the
fabric but are cut from a stack of many layers of fabric.
H2. Marking – The marker is an arrangement of outlines of all the
individual pieces of the garment or other product to be sewn.
H3. Cutting (chopping or knifing) – Two basic approaches are used in
cutting the stack of fabric into pieces of suitable size and shape to be
sewn into finished products. Pattern chopping is the cutting of the fabric
into the exact shape required for sewing. Block chopping is a kind of
rough cut that produces pieces close to the final shape, but which
require some trimming cuts to bring them to the exact shape needed.
H4. Sewing – The basic sewing operation in the production of garments
and other textile products is the manually controlled sewing machine.
A marker for production of overcoats of two different
sizes , medium (M) and Large (L).
Two common simple stitches: a.) Chain stitch. One
thread interlocks itself at the bottom of the fabrics
being sewn b.) Lock stitch. The top thread interlocks
the bottom thread. (Note: Stitches are shown very
open to cleary illustreate how the threads interlock.)
H4a. Stitch-less joining (seam bonding) (heat sealing) – some
fabrics are joined without using sewn stitches. Instead, the separate
pieces are bonded together along a seam. Two basic methods are used:
fabrics are either fused together, or held by an adhesive that is added.
H5. Pressing – provides smooth surfaces, pleats, creases, and other
effects with a combination of heat and pressure on the sewn product.
H6. Folding, labeling, wrapping/packing – the completion of
garments and other sewn textile products includes, in the final phases,
these operations that allow the products to be labeled, inventoried and
protected, so they can be handled, shipped and presented to
customers with proper identification and attractive appearance.
I. Rug and Carpet Making
(rugs often mean floor coverings that do not cover the whole
floor and are usually coverings of the entire floor; carpets are
usually coverings of the entire floor of rooms and may be
fastened to the floor,) Handmade rugs are still produced in
many parts of the world. There are two prime classifications
of handmade rugs: flat-woven and knotted-pile.
I1. weaving rugs and carpets – Notable machine woven
carpets are the Axminster, Wilton, Brussels, Chenille and
velvet.
I2. Tufting rugs – is a very common manufacturing method
for pile rugs 90% of American-made carpeting is tufted. The
first step is the weaving of a fabric backing or the use of a non-
woven fabrics as a backing.
I3. Making knitted rugs – Knitted rugs are made with special
machines that have three sets of knitting needles.
I4. Making needlepunch carpets – These carpets are
unwoven except for a pre-woven fabric core. A face of unwoven
fibers is fastened to that core.
I5. Making hooked rugs – Hooked rugs are hand made by cutting
and twisting outworn woolen or cotton cloth or other rags into thin
strips and pulling them, with metal hooks, through a woven backing
cloth.
I6. Making braided rugs – Colorful strips of out-worn piece goods
are braided together and wound.
I7. Making oriental rugs – Traditional oriental rugs are made by
hand, usually on vertical looms. Working from the bottom up, the
worker weaves a backing cloth and inserts shorts yarns, loops them
over the warp yarns, and ties them to create piles.
I8. Making needlepoint rugs – is another made approach. Each
intersection of a woven canvas backing cloth is covered with
individual stitches of wool yarn.
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