PAISLEY

A drop-shaped pattern that is extremely popular for men’s ties and womenswear.

PANNÉ SATIN

A satin fabric with an unusually high luster because of the application of very heavy roll pressure in finishing .Panné satin is made of silk or one of the manufactured fibers.

PERCALE

A closely woven, plain-weave, spun fabric used for dress goods and sheeting, generally 100 x 80 threads per inch or better.

PERMEABILITY

The state or quality of being penetrable by fluids or gases.

PICK

A single filling thread carried by one trip of the weft-insertion device across the loom. The picks interlace with the warp ends to form a woven fabric.

PICK COUNT

The number of filling yarns per inch or per centimeter of fabric.

PIGMENT

An insoluble, finely divided substance, such as titanium dioxide, used to deluster or color fibers, yarns, or fabrics.

PILE

The surface effect on a fabric that is formed by loops or tufts of yarn or fibre that stand on end.

PIQUÉ

• A medium weight to heavyweight fabric with raised cords in the warp direction.
• A double-knit fabric construction knit on multifeed circular machines.

PIN TUCK

A type of finish applied to some of our bed linen designs. Folds of fabric are neatly folded, pressed and stitched into small pleats to create a neat and stylish feature.

PLAIN WEAVE

One of the three fundamental weaves: plain, satin, and twill. Each filling yarn passes successively over and under each warp yarn, alternating each row.

PLATFORM VALANCE

This is an alternative to the Bottom Fitted Valance, which actually sits under the mattress rather than on top. Allows the flexibility of using fitted sheets to suit your mood and season.

PLY

One of the layers of material which are bonded together to make our professional cookware. Differing materials such as aluminum, Teflon and stainless steel are combined 5 times to ensure maximum heat distribution and conductivity. All professional pans are at least a minimum of 3-ply (indicating 3 layers).

POLYESTER

Polyester is a man-made fabric that is easily blended with other fibers to make bedding and a range of garments. The many qualities of polyester include crease resistance, shape retention, quick drying, resilience and minimum care.

POPCORN

• A special-effect yarn containing short, thick spots.
• In polymer manufacture a term used to describe oversize, deformed chip.

POPLIN

A plain-weave fabric of various fibers characterized by a rib effect in the filling direction.

PRINTING

A process for producing a pattern on yarns, warp, fabric, or carpet by any of a large number of printing methods. The color or other treating material, usually in the form of a paste, is deposited onto the fabric which is then usually treated with steam, heat, or chemicals for fixation. Various types of printing are described below:

1. Methods of Producing Printed Fabrics

Block Printing: The printing of fabric by hand, using carved wooden or linoleum blocks, as Distinguished from printing by screens or roller.

Blotch Printing

A process wherein the background color of a design is printed rather than dyed.

Burn-Out Printing

A method of printing to obtain a raised design on a sheer ground. The design is applied with a special chemical onto a fabric woven of pairs of threads of different fibers. One of the fibers is then destroyed locally by chemical action. Burn-out printing is often used on velvet. The product of this operation is known as a burnt-out print.

Direct Printing

A process wherein the colors for the desired designs are applied directly to the White or dyed cloth, as distinguished from discharge printing and resist printing.

Discharge Printing

In “white” discharge printing, the fabric is piece dyed, then printed with a paste containing a chemical that reduces the dye and hence removes the color where the white designs are desired. In “colored” discharge printing, a color is added to the discharge paste in order to replace the discharged color with another shade.

Duplex Printing

A method of printing a pattern on the face and the back of a fabric with equal clarity.

Heat Transfer Printing

A method of printing fabric of polyester or other thermoplastic fibers with disperse dyes. The design is transferred from preprinted paper onto the fabric by contact heat Which causes the dye to sublime. Having no affinity for paper, the dyes are taken up by the fabric. The method is capable of producing well-defined, clear prints.

Ink-Jet Printing

Non-contact printing that uses electrostatic acceleration and deflection of ink Particles released by small nozzles to form the pattern.

Photographic Printing

A method of printing from photoengraved rollers. The resultant design looks like a photograph. The designs may also be photographed on a silk screen which is used in Screen printing.

Pigment Printing

Printing by the use of pigments instead of dyes. The pigments do not penetrate the fiber but are affixed to the surface of the fabric by means of synthetic resins which are cured after application to make them insoluble. The pigments are insoluble, and application is In the form of water-in-oil or oil-in-water emulsions of pigment pastes and resins. The colors produced are bright and generally fat except to crocking.

Resist Printing

A printing method in which the design can be produced: (1) by applying a resist agent in the desired design, then dyeing the fabric, in which case, the design remains white although the rest of the fabric is dyed; or (2) by including a resist agent and a dye in the paste which is applied for the design, in which case, the color of the design is not affected by subsequent dyeing of the fabric background.

Roller Printing

The application of designs to fabric, using a machine containing a series of Engraved metal rollers positioned around a large padded cylinder. Print paste is fed to the rollers and a doctor blade scrapes the paste from the unengraved portion of the roller. Each roller supplies one color to the finished design, and as the fabric passes between the roller and the padded cylinder, each color in the design is applied. Most machines are equipped with eight rollers, although some have sixteen rollers.

Rotary Screen Printing

A combination of roller and screen printing in which a perforated cylindrical screen is used to apply color. Color is forced from the interior of the screen onto the cloth.

Screen Printing

A method of printing similar to using a stencil. The areas of the screen through which the coloring matter is not to pass are filled with a waterproof material. The printing paste which contains the dye is then forced through the untreated portions of the screen onto the fabric below.

Zimmer Flatbed Printing Machine (Peter Zimmer)

A carpet printing machine that uses flat screens and dual, metal-roll squeegees. The Squeegees are operated by electromagnets to control the pressure applied. The unit also has a steamer for dye fixation. The Zimmer flatbed Machine is normally used for carpets of low to medium pile heights. Very precise designs are possible, but speeds are slower than with rotary Screen printers.

Zimmer Rotary Printing Machine (Johannes Zimmer)

A three-step, rotary carpet printing machine consisting of:

• rotary screens with small diameter steel-roll squeegees inside, with pressure adjusted electromagnetically for initial dyestuff application;
• infrared heating units to fix dyes on the tips of the tufts; and
• application of low-viscosity print paste, followed by steaming for Complete penetration of dyes into tufts.

Zimmer Rotary Printing Machine (Peter Zimmer)

A rotary carpet printing machine in which each rotary screen has a slotted squeegee inside to feed print pastes through the screens to the carpet. Pressure of the print paste is adjusted by hydrostatic head adjustments.

PROJECTILE LOOM

A shuttleless loom that uses small, bullet-like projectiles to carry the Filling yarn through the shed. Fill is inserted from the same side of the loom for each pick. A tucked selvage is formed.

Sateen

Luxury cotton sateen is lustrous and smooth with a sheen, using combed yarns to give a soft satin feel and look.

Silicone

An incredibly widely used substance, we use silicone to coat all our professional cookware handles. Proving extremely heat-resistant, silicone handles also feel comfortable to the touch and provide a good grip; essential for any heavy cookware.

Mulberry Silk

Silk culture is probably one of the oldest known textile cultures in the entire world. Practiced for over 5,000 years and traditionally kept a guarded secret, Mulberry silkworms are known as the best of the best in the silk industry. The worms use the leaves of the mulberry tree as food as they are cultivated for their lustrous fibers to create a unique fabric that is insulating, sleek and extremely luxurious.

QUILTING

• A fabric construction consisting of a layer of padding, frequently down or Fiberfill, sandwiched between two layers of material and held in place by stitching or sealing in a regular pattern across the body of the composite.
• The process of stitch bonding a batting or composite.

RAPIER LOOMS

Looms in which either a double or single rapier (thin metallic shaft with a Yarn gripping device) carries the filament through the shed. In a single rapier machine, the yarn Is carried completely across the fabric by the rapier. In the double machine, the yarn is passed From one rapier to the other in the middle of the shed.

RAYON FIBER

A manufactured fiber composed of regenerated cellulose, as well as manufactured fibers composed of regenerated cellulose in which substituents have replaced not More than 15% of the hydrogens of the hydroxyl groups (FTC definition).

REED

A comb-like device on a loom that separates the warp yarns and also beats each Succeeding filling thread against that already woven. The reed usually consists of a top and bottom rib of wood into which metal strips or wires are set. The space between two adjacent wires is called a dent (or split) and the warp is drawn through the dents. The fineness of the reed is calculated by the number of dents per inch.

REPEAT

The distance covered by a single unit of a pattern that is duplicated over and over, Measured along the length of a fabric.

RING-SPINNING

A system of spinning using a ring-and-traveler take up wherein the drafting of the roving and twisting and winding of the yarn onto the bobbin proceed simultaneously and continuously. Ring frames are suitable for spinning all counts up to 150’s, and they usually give a stronger yarn and are more productive than mule spinning frames. The latest innovation in ring spinning involves the use of a revolving ring to increase productivity. Ring spinning equipment is also widely used to take-up manufactured filament yarns and inserts producer-twist at extrusion.

SANFORIZED®

A trademark of Cluett, Peabody & Co., Inc., denoting a controlled standard of shrinkage performance. Fabrics bearing this trademark will not shrink more than 1% because they have been subjected to a method of compressive shrinkage involving feeding the fabric between a stretched blanket and a heated shoe. When the blanket is allowed to retract, the cloth is physically forced to comply.

SATEEN

A cotton fabric made in a satin weave.

SATIN WEAVE

One of the basic weaves, plain, satin, and twill. The face of the fabric consists almost completely of warp or filling floats produced in the repeat of the weave. The points of intersection are distributed evenly and widely separated as possible. Satin-weave fabric has a characteristic smooth, lustrous surface and has a considerably greater number of yarns in the set of threads, either warp or filling, that forms the face than in the other set.

SEERSUCKER

Lightweight fabric, made of cotton or manufactured fiber, having crinkled Stripes made by weaving some of the warp threads slack and others tight. Woven seersucker is more expensive than imitations made by chemical treatment.

SHUTTLELESS LOOM

A loom in which some device other then a shuttle is used for weft insertion.

SILK FIBER

A fine, strong, continuous filament produced by the larva of certain insects, Especially the silkworm, when constructing its cocoons. The silkworm secretes the silk as a viscous fluid from two large glands in the lateral part of the body. The fluid is extruded through a common spinneret to form a double filament cemented together. This double silk filament, which is composed of the protein fibroin, ranges in size from 1.75 to 4.0 denier, depending upon the species of worm and the country of origin. The filament of the cocoon is softened and loosened by immersion in warm water and is then reeled off. Although raw silk contains 20 to 30% of sericin, or silk glue, and is harsh and stiff, silk is soft and white when all of the glue has been removed by steeping and boiling in soap baths. Ecru is harsher, as it has only about 5% of the sericin removed. Silk is noted for its strength, resiliency, and elasticity. The major sources of commercial silk are Japan and China.

SINGEING

The process of burning off protruding fibers from yarn or fabric by passing it over a flame or heated copper plates. Singeing gives the fabric a smooth surface and is necessary for fabrics that are to be printed and for fabrics where smooth finishes are desired.

SIZING

• A generic term for compounds that are applied to warp yarn to bind the fiber together And stiffen the yarn to provide abrasion resistance during weaving. Starch, gelatin, oil, wax, and manufactured polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol, polystyrene, polyacrylic acid, and polyacetates are employed.
• The process of applying sizing compounds.
• The process of weighing sample lengths of yarn to determine the count.

SLUB

A yarn defect consisting of a lump or thick place on the yarn caused by lint or small Lengths of yarn adhering to it. Generally, in filament yarn, a slub is the result of broken filaments that have stripped back from the end to which they are attached.

SLUB YARN

Any type of yarn that is irregular in diameter; the irregularity may be purposeful or the result of error.

SPANDEX FIBER

A manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a long chain synthetic polymer composed of at least 85% of a segmented polyurethane

SPECTROPHOTOMETER

An instrument used to measure the transmission or reflectance of light as a function of wavelength. Used for measuring shade change to colour.

SPINDLE

A slender, upright, rotating rod on a spinning frame, roving frame, twister, winder, or similar machine. A bobbin is placed on the spindle to receive the yarn as the spindle is rotated at high speed.

SPINNING

The process or processes used in the production of single yarns or of fabrics Generated directly from polymer.

1. Yarn from Staple Fiber

The formation of a yarn by a combination of drawing or drafting and twisting prepared strands of fibers, such as rovings.

2. Filament Yarn

In the spinning of manufactured filaments, fiber-forming substances in the plastic or molten state, or in solution, are forced through the fine orifices in a metallic plate called a spinneret, or jet, at a controlled rate. The solidified filaments are drawn-off by rotating rolls, or godets, and wound onto bobbins or pirns. There are several methods of spinning manufactured filaments:

3. Nonwoven Fabric

Fabrics can be produced directly from molten or dissolved fiber-forming substances by several continuous processes.

SPUN-BONDED PRODUCTS

Nonwoven fabrics formed by filaments that have been extruded, drawn, and then laid on a continuous belt. Bonding is accomplished by several methods such as by hot roll calendering or by passing the web through a saturated-steam chamber at an elevated pressure.

SPUN YARN

• A yarn consisting of staple fibers usually bound together by twist.
• A meltspun fiber before it is drawn.

STAINING

The undesired pickup of color by a fabric:

• when immersed in water, dry-cleaning solvent, or similar liquid medium that contains dyestuffs or coloring material not intended for coloring the fabric; or
• By direct contact with other dyed material from which color is transferred by bleeding or sublimation.

SUEDE VELOUR

A pile fabric, which is an alternative to velvet. This usually has a napped or brushed finish to keep the surface soft and pleasant to the touch.

TAFFETA

A plain-weave fabric with a fine, smooth, crisp hand and usually a lustrous Appearance. Taffeta fabric usually has a fine cross rib made by using a heavier filling yarn than warp yarn. Taffetas are produced in solid colors, yarn-dyed plaids and stripes, and prints. Changeable and moiré effects are often employed. Although originally made of silk, manufactured fibers are now often used in the production of taffeta.

TEAR STRENGTH

The force required to begin or to continue a tear in a fabric under specified conditions.

TENSILE STRENGTH

• In general, the strength shown by a specimen subjected to tension as distinct from torsion, compression, or shear.
• Specifically, the maximum tensile stress expressed in force per unit cross-sectional area of the unstrained specimen, e.g., kilograms per square millimeter, pounds per square inch.

TERRY CLOTH

A cotton or cotton-blend fabric having uncut loops on one or both sides. Made on a dobby loom with a terry arrangement or on a Jacquard loom. It is used for toweling, beach robes, etc.

TEXTURED YARNS

Yarns that develop stretch and bulk on subsequent processing. When woven or knitted into fabric, the cover, hand, and other aesthetics of the finished fabric better Resemble the properties of a fabric constructed from spun yarn.

THREAD COUNT

• The number of ends and picks per inch in a woven cloth.
• The number of wales and courses per inch in a knit fabric.

TOG

Tog is a unit of measurement of thermal resistance. It is commonly used in the textiles industry particularly to describe how warm a duvet is. For example: 4.5 tog is a lightweight summer use quilt, 9.0 tog is a medium weight autumn quilt and 13.5 tog is a heavyweight winter quilt.

TWILL WEAVE

A fundamental weave characterized by diagonal lines produced by a series of floats staggered in the warp direction. The floats are normally formed by filling (filling-faced Twill). A warp-face twill is a weave in which the warp yarns produce the diagonal effect.