Calendering of textiles is a finishing process used to smooth, coat, or thin a material. With textiles, fabric is passed between calender rollers at high temperatures and pressures. Calendering is used on fabrics such as moire to produce its watered effect and also on cambric and some types of sateens.
In preparation for calendering, the fabric is folded lengthwise with the front side, or face, inside, and stitched together along the edges. [1] [2] The fabric can be folded together at full width, however this is done less often as it is more difficult. [2] The fabric is then run through rollers at high temperatures and pressure [2] [3] that polish the surface and make the fabric smoother and more lustrous. [4] Fabrics that go through the calendering process feel thin, glossy and papery. [2]
The wash durability of a calendered finish on thermoplastic fibers like polyester is higher than on cellulose fibers such as cotton, though each depends on the amount and type of finishing additives used and the machinery and process conditions employed. Durability of blended fabrics reflects the above, and the proportion of synthetic fiber component.
Various finishes can be achieved through the calendering process by varying different aspects of the process. The main types are beetling, watered, embossing, and Schreiner. [5]
Beetling is a finish given to cotton and linen cloth, and makes it look like satin. In the beetling process the fabric goes over wooden rollers and is beaten with wooden hammers. [5]
The watered finish, also known as moire, is produced by using ribbed rollers. These rollers compress the cloth and the ribs produce the characteristic watermark effect by differentially moving and compressing threads. [2] [4] In the process some threads are left round while others get flattened some. [5]
The embossing process uses rollers with engraved patterns, which become stamped onto the fabric, [5] which gives the fabric a raised and sunken look. [6] This works best with soft fabrics. [5]
Similar to the watered process, the Schreiner process used ribbed rollers, though very fine, with as many as six hundred ribs per inch. Pressed flat under extremely high pressure, the threads receive little lines, which causes the fabric to reflect light better than a flat surface. The high luster of cloth finished with the Schreiner method can be made more lasting by heating the rollers. [5]
Historically calendering was done by hand with a huge pressing stone. For example, in China huge rocks were brought from the north of the Yangtze River. The pressing stone was cut into a bowl shape, and the surface of the curved bottom made perfectly smooth. After a piece of cloth was placed underneath the stone the worker would stand on the stone and rock it with his feet to press the cloth. [7]
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns.
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
This timeline of clothing and textiles technology covers events relating to fiber and flexible woven material worn on the body. This includes the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, and manufacturing systems (technology).
Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word velvety means "smooth like velvet". Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Today, velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk-cotton blends, or synthetic-natural fiber blends.
Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics are often created on a loom, and made of many threads woven on a warp and a weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one another. Woven fabrics can be made of natural fibers, synthetic fibers, or a mixture of both, such as cotton and polyester.
A calender is a series of hard pressure rollers used to finish or smooth a sheet of material such as paper, textiles, rubber, or plastics. Calender rolls are also used to form some types of plastic films and to apply coatings. Some calender rolls are heated or cooled as needed. Calenders are sometimes misspelled calendars.
Beetling is the pounding of linen or cotton fabric to give a flat, lustrous effect.
Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.
Nonwoven fabric or non-woven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres, bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing industry to denote fabrics, such as felt, which are neither woven nor knitted. Some non-woven materials lack sufficient strength unless densified or reinforced by a backing. In recent years, non-wovens have become an alternative to polyurethane foam.
The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns it into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.
Textile fibers, threads, yarns and fabrics are measured in a multiplicity of units.
From the late 19th century until the middle of the 20th century, drafting linen, also known as drafting cloth, was commonly used as an alternative to wood-pulp and rag papers in creating technical drawings. Its major benefits were considerable strength, especially in erasing and redrawing, durability in handling, and translucency for making multiple reprographic prints. Manufactured as an undyed muslin woven fabric, typically using cotton or linen fiber, the textile was highly starched and then calendered to create a smooth surface for precise ink and graphite lines. Although drafting linen was most typically used in creating original drawings, it was occasionally used as the underlying support for blueprints and other similar reprographic processes. Drafting linen largely fell out of favor after the development of drafting film — varying in chemical composition from cellulose acetate to polyester—in the 1950s.
Decatising or decatizing, also known as crabbing, blowing, and decating, is the process of making permanent a textile finish on a cloth, so that it does not shrink during garment making. The word comes from the French décatir, which means to remove the cati or finish of the wool. Though used mainly for wool, the term is also applied to processes performed on fabrics of other fibers, such as cotton, linen or polyester. Crabbing and blowing are minor variations on the general process for wool, which is to roll the cloth onto a roller and blow steam through it.
Primarily, nap is the raised (fuzzy) surface on certain kinds of cloth, such as velvet or moleskin. Nap can refer additionally to other surfaces that look like the surface of a napped cloth, such as the surface of a felt or beaver hat.
In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to the processes that convert the woven or knitted cloth into a usable material and more specifically to any process performed after dyeing the yarn or fabric to improve the look, performance, or "hand" (feel) of the finish textile or clothing. The precise meaning depends on context.
Many materials have been used to make garments throughout history. Grasses, furs and much more complex and exotic materials have been used. Cultures like the Arctic Circle, make their wardrobes out of prepared and decorated furs and skins.[1] Different cultures have added cloth to leather and skins as a way to replace real leather. A wide range of fibers, including natural, cellulose, and synthetic fibers, can be used to weave or knit cloth. From natural fibers like cotton and silk to synthetic ones like polyester and nylon, most certainly reflects culture.
Moire, less often moiré, is a textile with a wavy (watered) appearance produced mainly from silk, but also wool, cotton and rayon. The watered appearance is usually created by the finishing technique called calendering. Moiré effects are also achieved by certain weaves, such as varying the tension in the warp and weft of the weave. Silk treated in this way is sometimes called watered silk.
Wet Processing Engineering is one of the major streams in Textile Engineering or Textile manufacturing which refers to the engineering of textile chemical processes and associated applied science. The other three streams in textile engineering are yarn engineering, fabric engineering, and apparel engineering. The processes of this stream are involved or carried out in an aqueous stage. Hence, it is called a wet process which usually covers pre-treatment, dyeing, printing, and finishing.
Aesthetics in textiles is one of the basic concepts of serviceability of textiles. It is determined by the perception of touch and sight. Aesthetics imply the appearance and attraction of textile products; it includes the color and texture of the material. It is a statement about the end user (consumer) and the target market. When combined with fabric construction, the finish of the clothing material, garment fit, style, and fashion compatibility, colours create an aesthetic comfort. All of these elements work together to satisfy our visual perception. Aesthetics incorporates the role of evaluation also.
Shearing is a kind of mechanical finish in which the appearance of the fabric is enhanced by cutting the loops or raised surface to a uniform and even height. The machine may have a spiral blade similar to a grass cutting machine. A Shearing machine can cut the loop or the pile to a desired level. Shearing was most commonly used to make woolens and worsted materials. It was a part of dry finishing of woolen and worsted goods. Previously, shearing was also a component of gigging or napping; when partially produced goods were exposed to shear in order to improve the impact of gigging or napping, the process was referred to as "cropping."