| Useful
Tools
| A
| B | C
| D | H
| M | P
| S | T
| W | Z
|
A
Anti-microbial finish
A chemical which will inhibit the growth of micro-organism
is added to fabrics either by exhaustion or padding.
The absence of micro-organism deprives house dust mites
food and nutrients thus help to alleviate the occurrence
of Asthma. Another added advantage with the absence
of microbial is the stopping or prevention of the break
down of human sweat, which leads to the elimination
of the bad odor that is the by-product of the break
down. Garments made with fabrics having this property
will not smell as bad after it is soaked with perspiration.
Anti-UV finish
A chemical, usually a UV absorber is added to the fabric
so that the fabric is able to absorb both UVA and UVB.
The degree of UV resistance is directly proportional
to the thickness and porosity of the fabric as well
as the color. Dark colored fabrics will have a higher
UV resistance than light color fabrics. A good anti-UV
fabric should at least have a UPF (Ultraviolet Protection
Factor) rating of 35 or above and be able to last for
at least 50 domestic washings.
Most UV absorber will change the tone of the color and
render white fabrics less white. It is therefore essential
that different lab dips should be made for fabrics treated
with anti-UV finish.
ARIDS
Stands for Advanced Research Innovation Drying System.
This is a special finishing technique applied to polyester
fibres to make them moisture absorbent and increase
their ability in water wicking.
^
top
B
Bio-wash
Bio-wash is also known as bio-polishing or enzyme treatment.
This is a chemical process to remove short fibres from
fabrics so that the finished fabrics can have a cleaner
surface. At Fountain Set’s Fuan, bio-wash is only
applied to fabrics of cellulosic nature. The process
weakens the fibres so that they are more readily to
break off, thus improve the pilling resistance but at
the same time reduce the bursting strength of the fabric.
Since the treatment is done in an acidic condition and
at high temperature, noticeable color change will be
unavoidable so usually this process is done before dyeing.
^
top
C
COOLMAX©
Fabrics made with the multi-channel polyester fibres
manufactured by Du Pont
and possess moisture management function. The multi-channel
polyester fibres help to move moisture within the fabric
quickly. They are available in both filament and staple
form. However the fibres are infamous for their extremely
poor pilling performance.
Cottonized Polyester
This is a special process applied to spun polyester
fabrics at the finishing stage to impart a cotton hand
feel to the polyester fabric. An added advantage of
this process is the improvement of the pilling resistance.
^
top
D
Diabolo
A member of the Du Pont Tactel
family. It has a unique bone shape cross section that
is able to reflect lights to give a special luster and
sheen. When touched, the fabric has a smooth and cool
feel.
See also Tactel
DTY
Draw Textured Yarn. Draw texturizing is a process applied
to man-made fibres. The main purpose of the process
is to impart crimp to the yarns so as to increase their
bulkiness. DTY yarns are duller in color and fuller
in hand than flat yarns. DTY yarns are easier to handle
as they are not as slippery as flat yarns.
^
top
H
Hollow fibres
Hollow fibres can be either polyester or nylon and these
fibres are hollow in the center. The idea is for the
hollow core to trap air within the fibres. Since air
is a very good insulator, thus the fibres are able to
provide extra warmth to the wearer without the need
to increase the weight of the fabric. Furthermore because
the fibres have a hollow core, they are much lighter
than fibres with the same diameter. Fabrics made of
hollow fibres are also bulkier than regular fibres.
^
top
M
Machine washable wool
Wool fibres shrink when washed because of Directional
Fricitional Effect due to the presence of scales. To
prevent wool fibres from DFE, wool fibres are treated
chemically, either by coating with resin or by removing
the scales. Both methods will give the wool fibre a
smooth surface. Machine washable wool usually has a
harsher hand feel than non-treated wool.
Meryl
This is the name of a family of nylon 6.6 manufactured
by Nylstar of Italy and is the equivalent to Du Pont
Tactel.
Like Tactel,
there are many members in the Meryl
family; each has its own special features and characteristics.
The most commonly used ones in the textile and apparel
industries include: Microfibre, Nateo, Nexten, Satine,
Skinlife, TANGO
and UV protection.
See Microfibre, Nateo, Nexten, Satine, Skinlife, Tango
and UV Protection.
Micro-touch
A member of the Du Pont Tactel
family. A micro fibre by nature and gives the end products
super-soft hand feel.
See Also Tactel
Moisture management
This refers to fabrics that possess the ability to absorb
perspiration (moisture) quickly and then spread them
across the surface of the fabric for fast evaporation
into the air. This ability can be achieved either by
denier differential (capillary action) or push-pull
(differential hygroscopic properties of different fibres).
Multi-soft
A member of the Du Pont Tactel
family. The fibre is finer than regular nylon fibre
but not as fine as Micro-touch. Yet the fineness gives
the fabric a very soft hand feel.
See Also Tactel
^
top
P
PBT
Poly Butylene Terephthalate is a thermoplastic fibre
belongs to the polyester family. Chemically it has two
more methylene groups than polyester and its molecular
chain is oriented in a helical pattern thus gives the
fibre extra elasticity. Its low Tg enables it to be
dyed at a lower temperature than regular polyester.
^
top
S
Semi-dull
This term refers to the luster of the man-made fibres.
When fibres are first extruded, they all have a bright
surface because of the polishing effect on the fibre
surface against the wall of the spinneret. However,
if the brightness is not desirable, fibre manufacturers
will add in a small amount of titanium dioxide (TiO2)
into the fibre, which will reduce the luster of the
fibre. Depending on the amount of titanium dioxide added,
the luster of the fibres can be reduced to semi-dull
or full dull.
Soil release
A chemical finish applied to textile products so that
dirts and stains can be washed off easily. The chemical
reduces the surface tension of the textile product so
as to make it easier for water to penetrate into the
core of the fibre and bring out the dirt. A good soil
release chemical should be able to remain effective
after 30 domestic laundries.
Spinair
A spinning technique first invented by Kuraray of Japan.
The first Spinair is a cotton core yarn with a water
soluble PVA in the core and cotton as the sheath. During
scouring, the PVA will dissolve in strong alkaline solution
leaving the core empty. Consequently the yarn is able
to trap more air inside. Fabrics made with Spinair give
a lighter, bulkier and softer hand feel than regular
cotton yarns.
Recently the Spinair product range has been extended
to include wool and Tencel.
Strata
A member of the Du Pont Tactel
family. The yarn is composed two types of fibre each
have a different cross-sectional shape: one circular
and the other trilobal, so as to give a two tone effect
to the fabric in single bath dyeing.
See also Tactel
Supplex
A member of the Tactel
family. Supplex
is available in semi-dull or full dull and has a cotton
hand feel as it is textured by Air Jet Texturizing method.
See also Tactel
^
top
T
Tactel
This is the name of a family of nylon 6.6 manufactured
by Du Pont
of USA. There are many members in the family; each has
its own special features and characteristics. The most
common ones used in the textile and apparel industry
includes: Multi-soft, Micro-touch, Strata, Diabolo and
HT.
See Also Multi-soft, Micro-touch, Strata, Diabolo and
HT
TANGO
A member of the Meryl
family and is similar to Du Pont
Strata
in nature. The yarn is composed of fibres having two
different cross-sections. This gives the fabrics with
a two-tone effect when dyed into a single color.
See Also Meryl
Trilobal
Standard polyester and nylon fibres have a circular
cross sectional shape. In order to make the fibres reflect
more light and appear brighter, manufacturers will modify
the cross sectional shape of the fibres and makes them
into a three lobes shapes. This will increase the total
surface area of the fibres and make them brighter.
^
top
W
Water and stain repellent finish
A finish applied to the surface of the fabric to increase
the surface tension of the fibres and make it difficult
for water and stain to penetrate into them. Unlike coating
which forms a thin layer of film on top of the fabric
surface, water and stain repellent finish only change
the surface chemistry of the fibres, so water can still
penetrate through the fabric and the ease of penetration
depends very much on the porosity of the fabric. However,
once dirt or stain penetrates into the fibres, they
are very difficult to remove because water cannot get
through.
Wrinkle free
A chemical finish applied at the post heat setting stage
to cross-link with the fibres so that they can have
a memory and always return to the same position after
being deformed. Fabrics treated with this finish will
resist crease better than those without the finish.
However, as the cross-linking agent is primarily of
formaldehyde origin, its content has to be monitored
carefully so that it will not exceed the permissible
limit. Bursting strength of the fabric will somehow
be affected as well.
^
top
Z
Zelcon
A soil release and water wicking finish for use on fabrics
made with synthetic fibres.
^
top
|
