The document provides information on the process of transforming fibers into yarn and fabric. It discusses the different types of natural and man-made fibers and how they are classified. The key steps of transforming fibers into yarn are described, including blending, carding, drafting, and spinning. Common spinning techniques like ring spinning and melt extrusion for polyester are explained. The document also covers processes after yarn formation like warping, sizing, and weaving. Different types of looms and weaving patterns are defined. Fabric properties are calculated using example specifications.

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How Fabric is Made?
By: Javad Madanipour

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Fiber To Fabric Process Flow
Fiber
Yarn
Fabric

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Fiber Classification
Natural Man Made
Natural Polymer SyntheticVegetable Animal Mineral
Bast
(Jute, Kenaf, Flax, Ramie)
Leaf
(Sisal)
Seed
(Cotton)
Fruit
(Coconut)
Wool
Hair
(Alpaca, Rabbit..,
Silk
(Cocoon)
Asbestos
Fiberglass
Micore
Cellulose
(Viscose Rayon)
Cellulose
(Ester)
Protein
(Casein) from milk
Cuprammonium
Polyeseter
Polyamides
Polyolefins
Polyurethanes
Polyvinyl
Derivatives
Polyvinyl
Chloride
Polyvinyl
Alcohol
Polystyrene
Polyacrylonitril
PLA
Poly-Lactic-Acid
Metalic

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How Yarn Is Made?
A large number of fibers twisted (spun)
together form a yarn. If a thread is
untwisted, the fibers can be separated
and it will be seen that each fiber is long
compared with its thickness. In fact, it is
said to have “a high length: diameter
ratio”.
For example, the length of a cotton fiber
is about 2000 times greater than its
diameter.

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Ring Spinning
Bobbin
Ring
Traveller
Traverse
2 ply yarn
Guide
Driven Pulley
The system is the ring-spinning
machine. The system consists of
the spinning elements and the
accessories for assisting the
spinning elements. The fibers or
filaments are given twist to
form the yarn. The yarn passes
through the traveller and gets
wound on the bobbin. The
traveller spins around the ring
up to 25000 rpm and inserting
twist in the yarn, and there by
the yarn being formed.
Ring Traveller

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Spinning Frame
Drawing M/c
Drafting Zone
Sliver
Drawing & Drafting

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Yarns can be satisfactory spun only, if the
fibers are sufficiently fine and long enough
to grip each other. A large number of long,
fine fibers grip each other better when
twisted in a yarn than a lesser number of
coarse fibers. To form a yarn, the fibers
are processed by a various textile
machineries, such as Blending & Mixing,
Carding, Drawing & Drafting and finally
Spinning, in which fibers are arranged and
paralleled to each other and twisted
together to form a yarn.

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The natural fibers, such as cotton, linen,
wool, hair and silk, develop naturally in a
fibrous form. Man made fibers are made
by extrusion of fiber – forming
substances in liquid form (molten or in
solution) through fine holes in a
spinneret. The jets of liquid are hardened
in one of several ways to form solid
filaments. These are drawn or stretched
and may be twisted slightly together to
form yarns of virtually any desired
length, which are known as continuous
filament yarns.

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The filaments may be collected together into
a thick rope or tow and then cut into short
lengths to form staple fiber; this may be
drafted and combed into spun yarns, by
techniques similar to those used for natural
staple fibers, such as cotton or wool, forming
staple or spun yarns. These consist of
unbroken filaments, which are held together
into a yarn by a slight twist. They are smooth
and generally compact and are used for
Satins, Poults, Taffetas, Failles and similar
fabrics.

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Spun or Staple Yarns
As mentioned earlier, these consist of short
fibers held together by the twist, which given to
pact them into a yarn. They are generally much
fuller (Bulk) in handle than continuous filament
yarns. The short fibers lie at various angles with
respect to the long axis of the yarn, the degree
of uniformity depending upon the fiber
orientation, which process by Drawing,
Drafting & Combing given to the fiber strands
before being twisted together.

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The surface of a spun yarn is rougher to
the touch, owing to the fiber ends
protruding from it, and spun yarns are
in general fuller and warmer than
continuous filament yarns. They are
used for sports shirts, suiting, sheets,
blankets, furnishing and other fabrics.

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Spinning
(Man - Made)
In production of man made fibers, the
extrusion of liquid fiber – forming material,
followed by hardening of the fine jets to form
filaments, is described as “Spinning”.
The hardening of the jets from the spinneret
may be carried out in one of several ways:
* Wet Spinning (Viscose Rayon)
* Dry Spinning (Acrylic, Acetate Rayon)
* Melt Spinning (Polyester, Nylon, Polyolefin..)

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Melt Extrusion (Polyester)
Polymer
(PET)
Dryer Dryer
Melt HopperMelt Hopper
Spinneret Spinneret
Filament Yarn
Un-drawn
Yarn
Draw Twist M/C
Feed Rollers
Crimper
Heater
Cutter
Draw Rolls
Staple Fiber

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Drawing & Stretching
Orientation of the long molecules is completed,
by stretching the filament. This has the effect of
pulling the long molecules into alignment along
the longitudinal axis of the fiber, so that they
are able to lie alongside one another and
develop their cohesive forces.
The degree of orientation will have an impact
on the physical & chemical properties of the
final product (Fiber / Yarn / Fabric).

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Dyeing Polyester
Loose Fiber
PET polyester loose stock and slubbing are commonly dyed by
the high temperature process, using Disperse or Azoic colors.
Staple Yarns
Polyester staple yarns may be wound directly on to Cheeses or
Cones for dyeing.
Filament Yarns
Twist must be inserted in PET polyester filament yarns to obtain
a dyeing package of sufficient permeability. The minimum twist
levels vary with deniers (150 denier yarn to have at least 6 T.P.I)
or 235 T.P.M. The yarns should be wound on perforated tubes
and relaxed in steam.
This eliminates the potential shrinkage. When undyed yarns are
to be used in the same fabric as dyed yarns, it is essential to
stabilize the undyed yarns to prevent puckered effects during
fabric finishing.

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Package Dyeing Machines
Vertical Spindle Machines
are common today. The
packages are press packed
onto the vertical carrier
spindles so as to increase
the payload. It also aids in
the dye liquor circulation
and minimizing the liquor to
fiber ratio. Machineries of
this sort can operate at
liquor ratios as low as 4:1.
The Figure shows a typical
package dyeing machine
where the yarn packages
are held on multiple
spindles.

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Fabric dyeing
Woven PET polyester fabrics are
handled usually on high
temperature equipment, such as
Jet, Beam or Jig dyeing machines.
A typical Jet Dyeing Machine:
- Capacity : 200-250 Kg. (Single
Tube)
- Liquor Ratio - 1:1 (Wet Fabrics)
- Dye - 30 To 450 gr./M. Sq. Fabrics
(Polyester, Polyester blends,
Woven & Knitted Fabrics)
- High Temp.- Up to 140 Deg C.
- Fabric Speed - 300 Mtrs./Min.
- Dyeing time: 60-90 Minutes

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Warping / Slashing
Before weaving, warp yarns are first wound on large spools,
or cones, which are placed on a rack called a creel. The warp
yarns are then unwound and passed through a size solution
(sizing/slashing) before being wound onto a warp beam in a
process known as beaming. The size solution forms a coating
that protects the yarn against snagging or abrasion during
weaving.
Slashing, or applying size to the warp yarn, uses pad/dry
techniques in a large range called a slasher. The slasher is
made up of the following: a yarn creel with very precise
tension controls; a yarn guidance system; and a sizing
delivery system, which usually involves tank storage and
piping to the size vessels. The yarn sheet is dipped one or
more times in size solution and dried on hot cans or in an
oven. A devise called a “lease” is then used to separate yarns
from a solid sheet back into individual ends for weaving.

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Starch is used primarily on natural fibers and in a
blend with synthetic sizes for coating natural and
synthetic yarns. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which is
increasing in use since it can be recycled, unlike
starch. PVA is used with polyester/cotton yarns and
pure cotton yarns either in a pure form or in blends
with natural and other synthetic sizes. Other
synthetic sizes contain acrylic and acrylic copolymer
components. Semi-synthetic sizes, such as
carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and modified
starches, are also used.
Oils, waxes and other additives are often used in
conjunction with sizing agents to increase the
softness and pliability of the yarns. About 10 to 15
percent of the weight of goods is added as size to
cotton warp yarns, compared to about 3 to 5
percent for filament synthetics.

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Warp Sizing Machine

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Warping
Sectional warping
In this method a sheet of ends pulled
from of limited number of packages
placed on a creel
are wound onto the cylinder (Drum)
of the sectional warping machine to
build a section. When the required
amount of warp end sheets,
necessary to achieve the desired
fabric width, have been completed
and placed side by side, all the
sections are rewound directly on a
beam to constitute the weaver’s
beam.
Sectional wrapper
Creel
Comber
board
Drum
Weaver’s beam

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Direct Warping:
a large and predetermined
number of ends pulled from a
creel are wound onto a large
beam placed on a warper to
produce section beams for
slashing or weaver’s beam.
Then a predetermined number
of them are assembled on a
slasher to generate a loom
beam which will be mounted
on Loom. Tensioning device

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Fabric Production
Woven Fabrics
Woven fabrics are produced by interlacing two sets of
threads, known as Warp and Weft, at right angles to
each other. During the weaving, the warp yarns are
lifted automatically, so that the weft can be inserted.
The warp threads run parallel to the selvedge down
the length of the fabric and each warp thread is known
as an ‘End’. The weft threads, which are referred to as
‘Pick / Fill’ run across the cloth from selvedge to
selvedge.
The interlacing pattern of the warp & weft is known as
the weave.

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In order to identify the weave construction of a fabric, it will be
necessary to view the cloth on the right side with a magnifying glass.
Since the weave is sometimes difficult to describe, it is useful to
illustrate what you see on squared paper. Let us suppose the spaces
between the vertical parallel lines in ‘Fig 1’ correspond to the warp
threads and the space between horizontal parallel lines represent the
weft (pick) thread. Then each square in the diagram (obtained by
combining the vertical & horizontal lines) cab be described to indicate
the intersection of an ‘end’ and a ‘pick’.
“Fig 1”
Pick
End

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To show that an ‘end’ is on the surface of the fabric a
square is filled in. When the pick is visible the square
is left white. Now compare the weave diagram with
the adjacent fabric in ‘Fig 2’.
Plain Weave
Pattern
Notation
‘Fig 2’

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Plain weave structure

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Weaver’s Beam
Back rest
Lease Rods
Heald Shaft (Harness)
Reed
Cloth
Front Rest
Guide Roller
Cloth Roll
Warp sheet
P
a
s
s
a
g
Passage of Warp & Cloth Through a Plain Power Loom
The process of producing a fabric by interlacing warp and weft threads is known as
weaving. The machine used for weaving is known as weaving machine or loom.A warp
sheet from a weaver’s beam passes around a back rest and is led around lease rods to
Heald shafts, which are responsible for separating the warp sheet into two layers to form
a shed. The purpose of the back rest and the lease rods is to separate the warp yarns
uniformly and precisely, and reduce entanglement and tension in the yarns during the
opening of the warp shed.
Take up Roller

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Air Jet Loom
Water Jet Loom

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Classification of Weaving Machines
Non- power looms
These looms have only the basic
mechanisms, viz. primary,
secondary and some auxillary
mechanisms. The following are
examples of non-automatic power
looms.
Tappet looms
Dobby looms
Jacquard looms
Jacquard Loom
Cam Shafts

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Shuttle looms or conventional looms
Under Pick Shuttle Loom Over Pick Shuttle Loom
Shuttle

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Shuttle-less looms or unconventional looms
In the non-automatic and automatic looms, shuttles are used
for inserting the weft yarns. In these shuttle-looms,
preparation of weft yarn and the weft insertion mechanism
itself limit the loom production and fabric quality; they are also
prone to mechanical problems in propelling the shuttle. Hence
loom manufacturers have developed looms with various
innovative and alternative means of weft insertion.
These modern looms are known as “shuttleless looms” and
some examples of the looms are :
Air-jet loom
Water-jet loom
Projectile loom
Rapier loom

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Projectile Water Jet
Rapier Head
Air Jet

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Fabric yardage calculation
Example: Peru panel fabric 13 +/-1 Oz/LY
WARP
Figuring the yardage of yarns needed for warp
Warp length (Inch): = 36
Add loom waste 2% (Inch)= 0.72
Add 10 % fabric shrinkage (Inch) = 3.6
1 (End) warp length: 40.32”
Length for each End X Fabric width X EPI =
36
40.32 X 68 X 147 = 11195 Yards
36
Total warp = 11195 yards (Produce 1 yard fabric)
Yarn Count: 150/1 denier (150 gr/9000 Meters)
11195 X 150 = 1679250 = 170.61grams/linear yard (6.01
oz)
9000x0.9144 9842.5

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Fill
Figuring the yardage of yarns needed for fill:
Fill length (Inch): = 68
Add loom waste 2% (Inch)= 1.36
Add 10 % fabric shrinkage (Inch) = 6.8
One Fill length: 76.16 Inches
Picks/inch = 45
Pick/in X Fill length = 45 X 76.16 = 3427inch
3427 X 36”= 3427 yards
36
Yarn count (Woolen) = 1 Run = 1600 yards/lb
Fill count = 5.6 Run
5.6 x 1600 = 8960 yards/lb
4340 x 16 oz (1 lb) = 7.75 oz
8960
Total fabric weight: 6.01 + 7.75 = 13.76 OZ/LY

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Loom yardage calculation
Machine speed: 450 picks/min
Pick density: 45/in
Fabric production rate:
450X 60X15 X 85 = 212.5 LY
45X36 X100
(at 85% loom efficiency, in two 7 ½
hours shift)

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Thanks