The intention of this report is to offer an insight into the interesting modern panorama of textiles offering the opportunity to find out more about the areas of main interest via the various links.
Fabrics are made by combining three elements, regardless of their composition, or their end use:
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| yarns | weaving | finishing processes |
YARNS
can be divided into three basic categories: NATURAL, ARTIFICIAL, SYNTHETIC.
Natural yarns are made from a natural product with no alteration to their molecular structure. They are simply cleaned and made more threadlike in order to facilitate the next steps in the production process.
Artificial products are made by blending a natural component (such as cellulose) with a chemical product, altering their initial molecule, to obtain an end product that still offers some of the features of a natural fibre as well as some altered properties, such as increased strength and sheen.
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Synthetic yarns are derived from oil with the addition of certain chemicals to the molecules. The result is a variety of yarns, including some household names:
Polyamide
Polyester
Acrylic
Polyethylene
Polypropylene
WEAVING
There are four main technologies used to turn a yarn into a fabric:
ORTHOGONAL better known as shuttle weaving
KNITTING using weft or warp knitting machines
TUFTING for rugs and carpet
FINISHING
The actual processes carried out during the FINISHING correspond to the “ennobling of the fabrics”.
Several steps are needed to get the fabric ready before this can be done (its preparation) which depend, therefore, on the creativity of the person who invented them.
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Finally, there is a “strategic” element that determines the end result, because the secret to finishing is that you can get products that are completely different to one another, even if you start out with the same raw material or the same unprocessed fabric. So a fabric is basically a combination of three parts and how these are put together depends on the intended use of the end product.