A textile mill has three major processes which transform fibre into fabric. This is a quick overview of these processes.
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Types of fibre
Fibre can be broadly classified as:
• Natural fibre, like cotton and linen
• Animal fibre, like wool and silk
• Man made fibre, like viscose, rayon, acrylic and polyester
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A textile mill
A textile mill has three major processes:
• Spinning, where raw fibre is converted into yarn
• Fabric formation where yarn is converted into raw (gray)
fabric – woven or knit
• Processing, where raw fabric is converted to finished fabric
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The manufacturing process
Blow room
Carding
Drawing
Combing
Roving
Spinning
SPINNING FABRIC FORMATION
Warping /
Sizing
Weaving
Singeing
Knitting
Desizing
Scouring and
bleaching
Mercerizing
Dyeing /
Printing
Shrinking /
Sanforizing
Calendering /
Raising
PROCESSING
Winding
FABRICATION /
GARMENTING
Cutting
Sewing
Finished
goods
Note:
Most mills follow this
process. Specialised mills
may use other unique
processes.
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Blow room
• The raw material bales are
loosened from their
compacted form and
cleaned
• The cleaned raw material is
blended with different kinds
of fibers in the mixing ring
Example: Polyester and
cotton, viscose and cotton,
different kinds of cotton
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Carding
• Carding is a mechanical
process that breaks up
unorganised lumps of fibre
and aligns them in parallel
• The fibres are individualised
or separated and then
assembled into a loose
strand
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Drawing
• A number of loose strands
of fibre are combined
together to form a thick
structure called sliver
• The sliver has low strength
and has continuous strands
of loosely connected fibre
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Comber
• A number of slivers of fibre
are combined together to
form a thick circular
structure called as a lap
• Several (usually 8) such
laps are fed to a comber
where short fibres are
removed and one sliver is
formed again
• This process is not used for
all yarns
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Roving
• The sliver which is taken
from the draw frame /
comber is thick and is not
suitable for producing yarn
• Roving decreases the width
of the sliver and also gives
it some twist and strength
• Roving is carried out in a
machine called “roving
frame”
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Ring spinning
• The yarn after the roving
process is spun continuously
onto a rotating spindle
(bobbin)
• Once the yarn is spun onto
bobbins, they are ready to be
woven or knitted
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Open end or air jet spinning
• Open end spinning involves
creating yarn without using
spindles
• In air jet spinning, the yarn is
made by wrapping fibres
using compressed air
• A false twist is given to the
yarn before it is spun in air
jet spinning
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Winding The creation of large yarn or
packages (cones or cheeses) from
ring bobbin yarn that can be easily
unwound is called “winding”
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Warping
• Warp is the set of yarns that
are laid out first on a loom or
beam
• In the warping process, yarns
from many winding packages
are aligned longitudinally on a
frame and are held in tension
• In sizing, additional required
strength is given on yarn by
chemicals known as “size” to
improve weavability
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Weaving
• The warp yarns that are
held lengthwise on a beam,
are interlaced with the weft
yarns which are aligned at
right angles to the warp
yarns
• The weft yarns determine
the breadth of the finished
fabric
Examples for woven fabric include
bedsheets, shirts, trousers,
technical textiles for agriculture,
construction etc.
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Knitting – flat, circular and warp knitting
• Knitting creates multiple loops of
yarn, called stitches, in a line
• Knitted fabric consists of a
number of consecutive rows of
interlocking loops
Examples of knitted fabric include t-shirts,
sweaters, innerwear, socks, sports wear,
technical textiles used in agriculture,
construction etc.
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Singeing and desizing (1/2)
• The protruding fibres from
the fabric surface are burnt
off during singeing
• The fabric is passed over a
gas flame at such a speed
that only the protruding
fibres are burnt and the
main body of the fabric is
not damaged
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Singeing and desizing (2/2)
• During the warping process,
the warp yarns are added
with sizing agents in order to
improve their tensile strength
so as to reduce yarn
breakage
• These sizing materials on the
warp yarns can resist dyes
and chemicals in subsequent
stages
• Hence, these sizing materials
added to the warp yarns are
removed by desizing i.e.,
washing off
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Scouring and bleaching
• Scouring is a chemical
treatment process carried
out on cotton fabric to
remove natural wax, and
non-fibrous impurities
• Bleaching improves the
whiteness by removing
natural colour of the fibre
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Mercerising (1/2)
• Mercerising is done to
enhance the cross sectional
profile of the fibre
• This improves light
reflection property of the
fabric and hence provides
luster
Fibre cross section
before Mercerizing
Fibre cross section
after Mercerizing
Gloss on the
mercerized fabric
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Dyeing / Printing (1/2)
• Uniform coloration of textile is
called dyeing
• Dyeing can be done in the
form of fibre, yarn and fabric
• Various classes of dyes like
reactive, vat, pigment and
disperse are used based on
the type of substrate
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Dyeing / Printing (2/2)
• In the printing process, the dyes are
applied locally on the fabric to
produce the desired design
• During printing, the dyes are
applied on only one side of the
fabric
• Printing can be done either on
undyed pre-treated fabric or
coloured fabric
• Rotary, flatbed and digital printing
machines are used for applying
colours on fabric
Printed fabric
Dyed fabric
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Shrinking / Sanforising
• This operation is performed
to improve the dimensional
stability of cellulosic fibre
• The fabric is
passed between a rubber
sleeve and a heated
cylinder and is forced to
follow a brief compression
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Calendering / Raising
• The fabric is passed
between heated rollers to
generate smooth, polished
or embossed effect
• During raising, the fabric
surface is treated with sharp
teeth to lift the surface
fibres, thereby imparting
hairiness, softness and
warmth
Fabric after calendering and raising