What a textile is

From fibre to finished product

1. FibreGrown (cotton, linen, wool, silk) or made (viscose, polyester, nylon). Cotton lint is separated from the seed at the gin and pressed into bales.
2. YarnSpinning cleans, aligns and twists short fibres into a continuous strand. Man-made filaments can be used as yarn directly.
3. FabricWeaving, knitting or bonding turns yarn, or fibre, into a flat sheet. Fabric straight off the machine is called grey fabric.
4. FinishingScouring, bleaching, dyeing, printing and mechanical finishing give the fabric its colour, hand and final dimensions.
5. ProductThe fabric is cut and sewn into garments, towels or home textiles, then inspected and packed.

Four ways to make fabric

• Weaving: two sets of yarn cross at right angles. Warp runs along the fabric, weft across it. Woven fabric is stable and firm: shirting, denim, bed linen, towels.
• Knitting: yarn forms rows of interlocking loops. Knitted fabric stretches and recovers: T-shirts, polos, underwear, sweatshirts.
• Nonwoven: fibres or filaments are bonded into a sheet by mechanical, thermal or chemical means, without making yarn. Wipes, hygiene and medical products, interlinings, filters.
• Other methods serve narrower uses: braiding (cords and trims), lace, tufting (carpets) and felting (wool felt).

Weaving and knitting make almost all apparel and home textiles. Choosing between them is the first decision in a fabric specification.

The units a buyer meets

Each stage is specified and traded in its own units. Many disputes over an order start with a unit read the wrong way, so agree the units first.

• 14 oz/yd² ≈ 475 g/m²A heavy denim, from US to metric units
• Ne 30 ≈ 20 texA usual T-shirt jersey yarn, in tex

Where quality is decided

Most of a fabric’s character is fixed before the fabric exists. Fibre length and fineness set how fine, even and soft a yarn can be. The yarn’s count, evenness, twist and hairiness then set the fabric’s weight, surface, strength and pilling. Finishing can colour, soften and stabilise a fabric, but it cannot remove what it inherits: a weak yarn stays weak, and barré, stripes caused by mixed yarn lots or fibre of different micronaire, often shows only after dyeing.

When fibre selection, spinning and fabric production sit in one chain, a fault found in the fabric can be traced back to the spinning lot and the bales behind it.