Fundamentals of Textile

Machines and Processes

Basic characteristics of textile materials; Concept of
dimensional characteristics of textiles;

Applications of textiles in diversified fields; Variations in

textile structure and properties based on applications; Role of
different structure and material constituents for fulfillment of
target requirements; Different machine sequences for
processing textile materials differing in structure;

Product properties and their measurement; Understanding the

significance of parameters characterizing product properties;
Need for process control and use of statistics;

Improvement in product quality; Current trends in research and

development of textile machines and processes.
Classification of fibres
Study brief general information about Cotton, Wool, Polyester, Nylon, Viscose rayon and
Acrylic from “Corbman”
Polyester fibres
The term ‘polyester’ is applied to polymers containing ester groups in their main
polymeric chain. Polyesters are derived from a poly-condensation reaction between
dicarboxylic acids and diols. Polyesters can be broadly classified into two types:
1. Thermoplastic polyesters, which consist of fibre-forming, film-forming and
engineering application polymers such as PET.
2. Thermoset polyesters, which are basically unsaturated polyester resins (liquid form)
that upon curing form highly cross-linked structures (solid). They are widely used as a
matrix for preparation of fibre-reinforced composite materials to bind the fibrous
structure together.

The thermoplastic polyester PET is the most widely used synthetic polymer. Although
many variants of polyesters are available, PET is very important for textiles and other
commercial sectors. PET polyester is also used for the manufacture of plastic bottles,
films, canoes, liquid crystal displays (LCD) and
high-quality laminations. The major advantage of PET polyester is its recyclability.
Polyester fibres are the second largest type of fibres produced and consumed worldwide,
second only to the cotton fibre.
Nylon 66
Nylon XY is synthesized from a diacid and a diamine. For nylon 66, hexamethylene
diamine (H) and adipic acid (A) are reacted to form hexamethylene diadipate (H-A)
salt. These two components are reacted in methanol at high temperature to obtain the
salt that precipitates from the methanol solution.
The H-A salt is dissolved in water at a concentration of 60%. The solution is then heated
to around 250 °C for poly-condensation and production of nylon 66. The chemical
reaction involved in the process is illustrated in Figure.
Nylon 6
Nylon 6 is produced from caprolactam. A catalyst is required to convert a small amount
of caprolactam to ε-aminocaproic acid, which in turn aids the polymerization process.
Water is usually used as a catalyst to control the polymerization reaction at temperatures
between 225 and 285 °C. The chemical reaction involved in the production process of
nylon 6 is given in Figure.
The polyamide polymers nylon 6 and nylon 66 are produced with a number average
molecular weight in the range of 18,000–20,000. The polymer is then subjected to
melt spinning and drawing operations to manufacture nylon filaments, as shown in
Figure. The hopper feeder melts the nylon polymer chips and feeds them to the melt
extruder. The extrusion temperature for nylon 6 is around 260°C and for nylon 66 is
around 280°C. The molten polymer then passes through the extruder and is
continuously pumped at a uniform pressure through the spinneret to form fine
filaments. These filaments are subjected to a drawing process to improve the fibre
properties such as tensile strength and stiffness.
1. Dimensional and physical characteristics
Length and fineness
cross-sectional shape
crimp
density
2. Mechanical properties
strength
elasticity
extensibility
rigidity (stiffness)
3. General
surface characteristics-frictional, softness,
environmental stability-resistance to sunlight,
thermal stability, resistance to chemical and organic-solvents
pliability
durability
abrasion resistance
dimensional stability
moisture absorption
resistance to bacteria, fungi, mildew, moths, etc.
static buildup
color
wetting characteristics
Fibre and yarn dimensions
Length is an important parameter which determines the usefulness of a
textile fibre from the point of view of spinning. The length of the fibre
should not be less than 5 mm. It is of course very easy to understand that
when a continuous yarn is to be made out of individual fibres, it should
possess a considerable length with reference to its diameter, otherwise it
would not be possible to make a yarn that would hold together the
constituent fibres. This is referred to as the length to breadth ratio. The
most useful fibres should have length to breadth ratios of more than 100:1.
Almost all textile fibres have length to breadth ratio of more than 1000:1.

Typical ratios for several natural fibres are as follows:

• Cotton = 1400,
• Wool = 3000,
• Flax = 1209,
• Ramie = 3000,
• Silk = 33 × 106.
 In Apparel andTypical
Fiber Domestic Application
Typical Aspect ratio :
1. Tenacity: 3–7 grams per denier
length (gpd) (μ) L/D
diameter
2. Elongation @ break: 10–35%
Cotton
3. Recovery from 25 mm
elongation : 100%17at strain up to 1,500
5%
Wool 75 mm: 30–60 gpd25
4. Modulus of elasticity 3,000
Flax5.(ultimate)
Moisture absorbency:
25 mm 2–5% 20 1,250
6. Zero strength temperature: Excessive creep and softening
Jutepoint
(ultimate)
>215 °C 2.5 mm 15 170
Ramie
7. High abrasion 150 mm
resistance. 50 3,000
Length
Like all other physical properties of natural textile fibers, fiber length
varies considerably within anyone sample. The variability in terms of the
coefficient of variation may be as high as 40% for cotton and about 50%
for wool. Man-made staple fibre are, generally, much more uniform;
however, they may have a coefficient of variation of as much as 10%.

The average length of cotton fibre used for textiles ranges from 25 to
37mm. The longer the fibre, the easier it is to process and the better the
product’s quality. Therefore, long-staple cotton has higher value in textile
processing and is used for high-quality yarn or end-products. Being a
natural product, the length of each cotton fibre may be different, and
uniformity of fibre length is very important as the higher the uniformity,
the better the fibre length. Short fibre content is the ratio of short fibre
weight to the total tested fibre weight, which is also a key factor affecting
processing. Short fibre usually refers to fibre shorter than a certain
length.
Cotton is a comparatively short fibre with the finest variety, Sea Island
cotton, only reaching just over 50mm (2in) in length, whereas some
varieties of Indian cotton may be less than 12mm (1/2 in) long.

Wool is a much longer fibre than cotton and its length varies with the
breed of sheep. The length can vary in from about 375mm (15in) long 36s
quality in the Lincoln breed to 137-150mm long (5.5-6in) in 64s quality
Merino, the finer 80s and 90s qualities are 87-112mm long (3.5-4.5 in).
As a general rule the longer wools are coarser than the shorter ones
whereas in the case of cotton the longer fibres are finer than the short
ones.
Natural fibres vary in fineness more widely than manmade fibres, because in
case of manmade fibres the diameter and densities can be controlled very
accurately during their manufacture. For example, the variation in the
diameter of nylon is only 5–6%, while for natural fibres like wool and silk, it
is from 17 to 30%.

Fineness of cotton fibre is expressed in micrograms per inch or per

centimeter. For wool fibre, fineness is given in micrometer and for manmade
fibres the fineness is give in denier or tex.
• 1 µg = 10−6 g;
• 1 µm = 10−4 cm = 0.0001 cm. 1 µm = one millionth of a meter or one
thousandth of 1 mm, i.e. 0.001 mm;
• 1 Denier = weight in grams of 9000 m;
• 1 Tex = weight in grams of 1000 m.
Textile fibers, whether natural or synthetic, come in various forms and
cross sectional shapes. Some are circular in section (wool and synthetics),
whereas others are of irregular cross-sectional shape (cotton, silk, and
specially man-made synthetic fibers). The fineness or coarseness of a fiber
has been sometimes defined in terms of its diameter.

The property of fineness or coarseness of textile fibers has been recognized

as one of the most important of all the fiber characteristics affecting
processing behaviour of yarn properties. Finer and shorter wools are
generally regarded as much more valuable to the worsted trade than long
and coarse ones. On the other hand, in the cotton industry, the importance
of fiber fineness is somewhat overshadowed by length considerations,
mainly because of the fact that, generally, longer cottons are also finer
ones.
Fineness measurement
When considering ways of measuring fibre fineness there are a number of
factors that need to be taken into account which make it difficult to define
a measure of fineness that is applicable to all fibres:

1 The cross-section of many types of fibres is not circular. Wool has

an approximately circular cross-section but silk has a triangular
cross-section and cotton is like a flattened tube as shown in Fig.
Man-made fibres are often made with trilobal star or hollow
cross-sections for particular purposes. This makes it impossible to have
a universal system of fibre fineness based on fibre diameter.

2 The cross-sections of the fibres may not be uniform along the fibre
length. This is often the case with natural fibres.

COTTON X1500 TRILOBAL NYLON X1000

For a given fibre (that is of a fixed density) its mass is proportional to its
cross-sectional area:
Mass of a fibre = cross-sectional area × length × density

Therefore for a known length of fibre its mass will be directly related to its
cross-sectional area. This relationship is made use of in the gravimetric
definition of fibre fineness in which the mass of a given length of fibre is
used as a measure of its fineness. This is similar to the system of measuring
yarn linear density. The primary unit is tex (g/1000m), but it is also common
to use:

Decitex = mass in grams of 10,000 metres of fibre

Millitex = mass in milligrams of 1000 metres of fibre
Denier = mass in grams of 9000 metres of fibre
Yarn Linear Density
• The English cotton system. Although called English cotton count, this system
is also used in the United States, Europe, Asia and other places for describing
cotton (100% cotton and cotton/polyester blended) spun yarns. This count is
based on the number of 840yard hanks in one pound (454 g). The number of
840yard lengths of yarn together weighing one pound is its cotton count.
For example, for a 30s cotton count (cc), one pound of yarn will consist of
30×840yards =25,200yards (23,043 m) of yarn, whilst 15scc yarn would be half
that length. In indirect systems, the higher the count, the finer (thinner) the
yarn.

• Worsted count. Number of 560 yard hanks per pound. There are also many
woollen (as opposed to worsted) counts.

• Flax count. The number of 300yard ‘leas’ (hanks) or yarn lengths per pound.
Also called the ‘lea’ or linen system.
Next..
Tensile behaviour of cotton
The strength of fibre or yarn is commonly referred to the force to break or rupture the
fibre or yarn, usually with the unit of grams-force (gf), kilograms-force (kgf),
newtons (N), centinewtons (cN), or millinewtons (mN), whereas the tenacity is
commonly referred to the resistance of break or rupture per unit of fineness of fibre
or yarn; that is, the breaking force divided by the linear density of the unstrained
material (fibre or yarn) usually with the unit of gf/tex, gf/dtex, cN/tex, N/tex.

The strength of single medium-staple cotton fibre is in the range of 3.5–4.5g,

whereas for long staple the strength is in the range of 4–6 g. The higher the strength
the more action the fibre can withstand during processing without damage which
affects the tenacity, durability, and quality of the end-product. As yarn strength is
determined not only by individual fibre strength but also by fibre to fibre interactions
caused by length, friction and degree of twist it has been found that breaking bundles
of parallel fibres gives a better prediction of yarn strength or tenacity by simulating
the combination of fibre strength or tenacity and interaction. Cotton bundle tenacity
ranges from about 17cN/tex for short coarse cottons to approximately 43 cN/tex for
long fine cottons. Generally, cotton strength or tenacity increases with moisture
content and decreases with temperature.
Maturity of a cotton

Maturity of a cotton is characterized by the degree of the development of the cell

wall. If a cotton has a well developed wall thickness, it is said to be mature; on
the other hand, a cotton fiber with a thin and poorly developed cell wall is said to
be immature. Maturity has been defined as the ratio  , of the cross-sectional
area, A of the cell wall to the area Ao of a circle of the same perimeter. Maturity
of cotton can be defined in terms of immaturity ratio, I, which is equal to the
reciprocal of maturity ratio. Geometrically:
‘Moisture regain’ is the ability of a dry fibre to absorb moisture under set
conditions of humidity, and can be determined by using the following
equation:

Regain (%) [R]=

(Mass of conditioned specimen − Mass of dry specimen)/Mass of dry specimen× 100

Moisture content :
Moisture content is defined as the percentage of water present in a textile material
of total weight.

Moisture content (%) [C]=

(weight of moisture absorbed)/(weight of moisture absorbed+weight of dry specimen) × 100
 Yarn formation
Form fibre to yarn
Ginning is the separation of the fibres from the seed and foreign plant
matter such as dirt, twigs, leaves, and parts of bolls. Cotton essentially
has no commercial value or use until the fibre is separated from the
cottonseed and foreign matter at the gin. Ginning operations, which are
regarded as part of the harvest rather than the textile process, normally
include:

• conditioning (to adjust moisture content)

• seed–fibre separation
• cleaning (to remove foreign plant matter) and
• packaging.

There are two kinds of ginning: saw ginning and roller ginning.
The natural staple fibres used in the textile industry are classified by the
typical length of the fibre and are described as ‘short staple’ or ‘long staple’:

• Short staple fibres have a maximum length of 60mm. Cotton fibres are
short staple fibres, having a length of 25–45 mm. Cotton linters (the fibres
that remain adhered to the cotton seed after the first ginning) are even
shorter, at just a few millimetres long; these are used for the manufacture of
lower-quality products such as lint and cotton wool.

• Long staple fibres have a length of more than 60mm. Wool fibres are long
staples, with a length of about 60–150 mm.

As a result of their short length and non-uniform nature, staple fibres require
greater processing before a satisfactory yarn can be produced; this obviously
adds to production costs. However, the desirable characteristics of staple
fibre yarns – such as comfort, warmth, softness and appearance – often
compensate for these increased costs.
Preparation of cotton and other short staple fibres
Cotton fibres arrive at the cotton spinning mill in the form of cotton bales
that are packed densely, typically with wrapping secured with polyproblene
ties. At this stage, the cotton contains 1–15% impurities (e.g. dust, dirt,
vegetable matter) which must be removed as the cotton is processed. In
order to convert the raw cotton into fibres that are separated and aligned in
a suitable manner for yarn production, the cotton passes through the
following processing stages:

1. Opening and cleaning

2. Blending
3. Carding
4. Combing (optional)
5. Drawing
6. Roving
Blending
Natural fibres such as cotton can have noticeable variations in properties, such as
maturity, length, strength and elongation. In order to avoid processing problems
further downstream in the cotton mill, it is essential that fibres are well blended to
produce a homogeneous mass that should result in a consistent yarn quality (in terms
of, for example, strength and evenness). Blending may also be used to reduce
production costs, i.e. higher (more expensive) grades of cotton may be blended with
lower (cheaper) grades of cotton to reduce raw material costs per kilogram. The
blending of cotton with man-made fibres often takes place further downstream from
the blowroom. Manufacturers may, for example, use cotton/polyester blends to create
easy-care fabrics. Some mills, however, will carry out blending of cotton and man-
made fibres in the blowroom stages as it may lead to better blending.

As the tufts arrive at each machine in the blowroom, they are collected in a hopper
before being processed by the machine. As the tufts are collected, there is the
opportunity for more mixing or blending to occur, so that tufts from different bales
and different parts of the same bale can be mixed together to reduce any variations in
quality. Blowroom mixing takes place principally in a stack blender. Vertical
compartments (usually 4–10) of a storage bin are filled in sequence and then layers
are removed from consecutive stacks to form a sandwich of layers, which mixes the
tufts from different bales, or parts of bales, together.
Blending and mixing
The basic objective of fibre blending is to assemble and combine
together the correct proportions of components so that the relative
amounts of each kind fed to the succeeding process (e.g. carding)
remain constant throughout the whole batch of material.

It is clear, therefore, that the product of a blending process is not an

intimate mixture of fibres, but rather a fibre assembly (of slivers, tufts,
or bundles) in the required proportions and dimensions to enable the
following process to bring about the necessary fibre-to-fibre mixing.
Hence a blend is formed by blending various sorts of qualities in such a
way that when subsequent mixing takes place (e.g. in the carding
process), an acceptably uniform mixture will ensue; bearing in mind
that perfect mixing of fibres is unattainable, and for certain yarn types,
perhaps undesirable.
Blending Systems
Blending can take place before or after carding. Pre-card blending
takes advantage of the opening power of the card and therefore gives
the most intimate mixing of fibres, which in turn may improve
subsequent drafting. Various blending systems have been developed
for different fibres; they may be classified into the following groups
according to the principles involved:

(1) stack blending (also known as pile, sandwich, or layer blending),

(2) blending hoppers,
(3) batch blending using bins,
(4) continuous blending, and
(5) sliver blending.
Batch blending using bins
The total blend is divided into smaller representative batches of bales from
which fibres are fed simultaneously to opening machine conveyed pneumatically
to a rotating exit point called a rotary spreader mounted over the first blending
bin, When the bin 1a is full the delivery of opening machine no.1 is diverted to
an alternative first bin 1b. Thin vertical wedge-shaped slices of fibres (like slices
from a circular cake) are then removed from, the first full bin 1a, and fed
pneumatically to a rotary spreader mounted over a second bin (2a), forming
horizontal layers. Fibres removed in vertical slices from the alternative second
bin 2b are fed pneumatically to opening machine no.2 at the delivery of which
oil or other additive may be applied to the fibres.
Bale Mixing
Continuous Blending
Figure illustrates a four-stack
continuous tuft blender. Tufts are
pneumatically fed into the top of each
of four vertical parallel chutes. The
chutes are filled successively, and the
material is removed simultaneously
from the bottom of all four stacks and
dropped onto a belt conveyor, thereby
producing a sandwich formation. The
blend then may be pneumatically
conveyed to a second such stack
blender and /or onto a fine
opener/cleaner prior to being fed for
carding. There are various designs of
continuous blending units — some with
up to ten stacks. Others include a
specially built belt conveyor, which
enables a large sandwich formation and
the removal of material in vertical slices
from the formation to give additional
blending.
CARDING
This process involves subjecting the fibres to the action of a large number
of pins in an attempt to separate each fibre from its neighbours in order to
form a fluffy but coherent mass. This is necessary to facilitate further fibre
manipulation and to release particles of impurity. On the swift (alternatively
known as the 'cylinder'), there may be as many as 15 to 50 times as many
pins as there are fibres on the roller.

General carding objectives

There are four main carding objectives, they are:
(1) To separate each fibre from the others in each original tuft of feed
material with a minimum of fibre breakage.
(2) To remove impurities and fibre entanglements.
(3) To mix the fibres together to provide a uniform distribution.
(4) To form a bulky sliver of overlapping, partially aligned fibres
Cotton carding has the additional aim of removing some short fibres
and neps. A nep is a small cluster of entangled or knotted fibres
forming a compact ball which is not likely to be disentangled by
drafting; neps are found in most card slivers regardless of the fibre
type. Paradoxically neps usually are first formed during the carding
process; in the case of wool, from fibres with a diameter of only
about 65% of the mean fibre diameter being processed; and in cotton
from immature or thin-walled fibres.

Instead of objective 4 above, woollen carding has the objective of

dividing the full-width web of fibres into narrow round cross-
sectioned twistless threads of equal thickness wound on to a
condenser bobbin ready for spinning.
Roller drafting, doubling and fibre control
In yarn manufacture successive operations involving the repeated use
of drafts and doublings are widely employed to manipulate the strand
of fibres until it is sufficiently thin and regular to form a satisfactory
yarn. This method is used to convert card sliver into a form ready for
combing or spinning, and to prepare comb sliver for spinning.
The machines used for drafting are frequently called 'boxes' or
'frames', e.g. cotton speed frames and drawframes or drawboxes,
worsted gill boxes etc.

Although the basic principles may be the same, it seems inevitable

that there should be different forms of drafting devices for different
fibres at different stages of processing. The name 'frame' spinning
was originally used for spinning machines which use roller drafting
zones and spindles mounted in a stationary spindle rail to distinguish
them from the mule method of drafting.
Draft, gives a reduction of sliver thickness and also contributes to improved
fibre orientation when processing card slivers.

Calculated and actual draft

Calculated draft D is obtained when the draft is determined from the
dimensions of the machine parts, but the value arrived at when the calculation
is based on the material being processed is called the actual draft D'. D' is
usually less than the theoretical or calculated draft D because of differences in
fibre cohesion, recoverable fibre crimp, and sliver elasticity due to fibre
entanglement and disorientation. The ratio D'/D decreases with greater fibre
entanglement in the feed sliver, and increases at higher drafts.
The D’/D ratio usually ranges from about 0.85 to 0.95, being
lower when card sliver is processed at low drafts, and higher when
more parallel fibred slivers are subjected to higher drafts.

As a general rule more draft may be applied to longer fibres, to

fibres with a low coefficient of variation of fibre length, and when
fibres have a majority of trailing hooks.

The use of doublings serves three purposes:

(1) Reduced irregularity
(2) Blending and mixing
(3) Fibre alignment
The amount of draft employed in a particular situation depends on the
design of the drafting zone, the fibre length distribution, the fibre
extent, and the disposition of hooked fibres. Fibre extent is the
distance between two planes perpendicular to the sliver axis which
just enclose the fibre; it may be expressed as a fraction or as a
percentage of the straightened fibre length. As a general rule more
draft may be applied to longer fibres, to fibres with a low coefficient
of variation of fibre length, and when fibres have a majority of
trailing hooks. The general relationship between the irregularity of
mass per unit length of a product, and the draft used to produce it is
of the form shown in Figure.
Roller slip
In practice it is possible for fibre slippage to occur between intermediate rollers
where a number of consecutive drafting zones are involved when it gives rise to
wave-like irregularities; it may also arise between the front rollers and the front
beard fibres. This is more likely when a high drafting force is necessary to pull
the fibres apart. Such a situation
arises when:

(1) processing thick slivers,

(2) processing card slivers where the lack or orientation increases inter-fibre
cohesion,
(3) compact slivers are being processed,
(4) high drafts are used, and when
(5) fibres with high frictional properties are processed.

Roller slip may be avoided by modifying the amount of draft applied in a zone,
by suitable design of fluted bottom rollers, and by applying higher roller
pressures. With high drafts and the associated heavy
 Ratch
The distance between the nips of the back rollers and the front rollers is called
the ratch, reach, or roller setting. Under normal conditions any fibres
extending longer than the ratch will be held by both the back and front rollers at
the same time, and therefore may be broken; hence ratch cannot be set much
closer than the length of the longest fibres in cotton drafting depending on the
fibre extent and orientation of the fibres, particularly with card sliver, and is
usually set longer than the longest fibre which is not to be broken in worsted
processing

FL = fibre length

If the ratch is set just too close, the front rollers may deliver small undrafted tufts
of fibres; in cotton processing this effect is known as 'spewing'. It may be
necessary to increase the ratch when thicker fibre assemblies are processed
because the roller pressure spreads out through the fibres to form an arc of
contact rather than a nip point.
A merino worsted sliver with a mean fibre length (MFL) of 68
mm and a maximum fibre length (Max.FL) of 150 mm may
have about 60% of floating fibres when processed with a ratch
of 150mm. The thickness profile of such a sliver is shown in
fig. above.
Drafting waves
Unfortunately 'perfect' drafting is unattainable because of the lack of
positive control of the floating fibres. These are acted on by frictional
forces due to contact with other fibres which are moving at speeds
between those of the back rollers and the front rollers; it is on these
frictional forces that the motion of each floating fibre depends.
In practice some fibres released from the back rollers tend to accelerate
before they reach the front roller nip; short fibres tend to do so in
bunches, forming a thick place.
When such a thick place arrives at the front rollers a greater force is
necessary to draft it and so the following portion between the rollers is
drafted to a greater extent thereby
forming a thin place. When this thin place later reaches the front
rollers, the drafting force decreases and so the thin place will be
followed by another thick place, and so on. Irregularities of this sort,
called drafting waves, are quasi-periodic and are independent of any
mechanical imperfections of the drafting machinery.
Oscillating
Oscillating Roller
Roller Nip.
Nip.
In some circumstances a mechanical defect can cause the position of the
nip to oscillate shown by the arrows, between the limiting positions A
and B. As the nip moves from A and B it is moving back into the
drafting zone, gathering a bunch of fiber ends, and a thick place
emerges; when it reverses and moves back to A it is treating from the
fibers, and a thin place follows. This action usually happens once per
revolution of the roller, giving a periodic variation whose wavelength is
equal to that of the roller circumference; the amplitude depends on the
amount of the nip oscillation, which is much exaggerated in Figure for
the purpose of illustration.

There are two causes of nip oscillation:

1. eccentric rollers
2. varying compressibility of top rollers

If the top roller is eccentric in its bearings, its line of contact with the
bottom roller rocks backward and forward on the bottom one as it
rotates. Eccentricity of the top roller does not cause any variation in
surface speed, since it is driven by contact with the bottom roller
through the strand being drafted .
Two different fibre-preparation systems are used for woollen and other
long staple fibres: the woolen system and the worsted system. The system
chosen depends largely on the length of the staple and the properties
required in the end product. Earlier Figure summarises the stages that
occur in the two systems. The woollen system is generally used for
shorter fibres, although a wide range of wool types can be prepared in this
way. Synthetic fibres can also be prepared using this system, and for this
reason the woollen system is sometimes known as the condenser system.
It is also necessary to distinguish between the terms ‘woollen yarn’,
which usually refers to a 100% wool yarn, and ‘woollen-spun yarn’,
which refers to a yarn spun on the woollen system but that contains other
fibres. The woollen system does not include the drawing process that
occurs in the cotton system. This means that the fibres are not
straightened, and as a consequence woollen yarns are soft and bulky.
They also have many fibre ends on the surface of the yarn, which gives
them a fuzzy appearance and hand.
Because of the air within the yarn they have excellent insulation properties.
However, the fibres are relatively weak and have poor abrasion resistance.
The main steps in the woollen system are as follows:
• Opening
• Scouring
• Drying
• Blending
• Oiling
• Carding
However, because of the wide range of raw materials processed using this
system, the exact sequence of machines used by individual manufacturers
varies widely.
The worsted system is used for longer and finer wool fibres and also
synthetic staple fibres of appropriate lengths. The name comes from the
village of Worstead in Norfolk, England, where several processes for
producing finer cloths were first developed. In contrast to the woollen
system described earlier, the worsted system includes a drawing process
(termed ‘gilling’) that straightens out the fibres.

Worsted yarns are therefore smoother, sleeker and more compact in

appearance than woollen yarns. They are also stronger than woollen yarns
and have a crisper hand (feel).
Because of the extra processing operations involved in their manufacture,
worsted yarns are significantly more expensive than woollen yarns. The
different characteristics of worsted and woollen yarns
are illustrated in Figure 9.7.
The main steps involved are:
• Scouring – as for the woollen system
• Drying or oiling – as for the woollen system
• Carding
• Gilling
• Combing
GILLING
Gilling is comparable to the drawing process in the cotton system. Fibres pass
through gill boxes in which pins control the movement of short fibres, remove
fibre hooks, straighten and blend the fibres, and improve the evenness of
slivers. These actions reduce fibre breakage during subsequent combing. A
typical intersecting gill box is shown in Figure. The machine consists of two
sets of rollers with the slivers being dragged from one to another through a
bed of moving pinned combs. The feed rollers pick up the slivers and the
delivery rollers, that rotate far faster, draw out the combined slivers into a
lighter weight single sliver. The comb pins are pushed into the sliver, which is
still gripped by the feed rollers, and are drawn through the fibres in a combing
action.
Gilling contd…
At the other end, the delivery rollers pull the fibres faster than the pins are
moving, drawing the sliver through the pins, giving another combing effect. A
single sliver comes out of the gill box and is coiled into a can. Often there are
three gill passages between the cards and the combs, partly so that any hooks
formed during carding are presented to the comb with the hooks in the trailing
position (trailing hooks are more likely to be straightened by the combs; leading
hooks are often broken by the combs, which results in a decrease in top length).
The gilling stage also allows extra processing oil and moisture to be added prior
to combing. Because of the speed of modern processing machines, regain loss
can be as high as 2% on each passage, so moisture needs to be added when
possible.
From Yarn to Fabric
In order to interlace warp and weft threads to produce fabric on any type of
weaving machine, three operations are necessary:
(a) shedding: separating the warp threads, which run down the fabric, into two
layers to form a tunnel known as the shed;
(b) picking: passing the weft thread, which traverses across the fabric, through the
shed; and
(c) beating-up: pushing the newly inserted length of weft, known as the pick, into
the already woven fabric at a point known as the fell.

These three operations are often called the primary motions of weaving and
must occur in a given sequence, but their precise timing in relation to one
another is also of extreme importance and will be considered in detail later.
Two additional operations are essential if weaving is to be continuous:
(d) warp control (or let-off): this motion delivers warp to the weaving area at the
required rate and at a suitable constant tension by unwinding it from a flanged tube
known as the weaver's beam; and
(e) cloth control (or take-up): this motion withdraws fabric from the
weaving area at the constant rate that will give the required pick spacing and then
winds it onto a roller.