In order to achieve certain desirable fibre properties that cannot be obtained by polymers alone or to overcome certain deficiencies of polymers, various additives are mixed into polymer melts or solutions prior to the spinning of fibres. Some of the more common additives are heat and light stabilizers (especially important for nylon), flame retardants, and delustrants such as titanium dioxide to dull the natural sheen of man-made fibre. In some cases dyes or pigments may be added to the melt or solution prior to the spinning of the fibre. Ordinarily, fibres are coloured after spinning by dyes dissolved in baths of boiling water. The water serves to carry the dyes into the fibres, where acidic dyes bind to basic sites and basic dyes bind to acidic sites. However, some fibres cannot be penetrated by water after they have been dried in the spinning process. In the case of polyesters, organic compounds such as benzophenone are used to carry the dyes into the fibres under pressure. In the case of acrylic fibres high in polyacrylonitrile, dyes are applied during the spinning process. At this time the freshly precipitated fibres, prior to the drying and collapse of their gel structure, still contain some water and solvent and are therefore open to the entry of basic dyes that bind to acidic sites on the polymers. Pigments, which are insoluble colorants, can also be added to polymer solutions or melts prior to spinning. Pigments are often added to modacrylics (acrylics low in polyacrylonitrile and modified by other monomers) because the fibres, which are very sensitive to light, fade or yellow even after dyeing. The addition of pigments to the spinning solution prevents fading and yellowing of the fibres to some degree. The fibres are especially useful for outdoor fabrics such as awnings and boat coverings.Polypropylene is another material that is very hydrophobic (water-repelling); moreover, the polymer has no acidic or basic sites for the binding of dyestuffs. Consequently, pigments are added to polypropylene melts prior to spinning

Air-jet texturing is used with a single type of yarn or with a blend of filament yarns. In the latter case fancy yarn mixtures are obtained. This method of texturing is carried out by feeding a wet yarn or a dry yarn plus a small amount of water into a high-speed jet of air. Yarns textured in such a process contain a large number of very fine filaments, however, increasing the probability of entanglement.

Polyethers of this type, which include polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, and polytetrahydrofuran, are flexible and relatively noncrystalline. Because they have alcohol groups at the chain ends, they are sometimes called polyether glycols. Indeed, alternative names for the first two compounds are polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polypropylene glycol (PPG). Base-catalyzed, ring-opening polymerization is employed for ethylene and propylene oxides, while acid catalysis is used with tetrahydrofuran. Depending on molecular weight, these polyethers range from viscous liquids to waxy solids. The largest outlet for all three is in the manufacture of polyurethanes (see Polyurethanes). Other applications are lubricants, hydraulic fluids, and surfactants.Polyimides are polymers that usually consist of aromatic rings coupled by imide linkages--that is, linkages in which two carbonyl (CO) groups are attached to the same nitrogen (N) atom. There are two categories of these polymers, condensation and addition. The former are made by step-growth polymerization and are linear in structure; the latter are synthesized by heat-activated addition polymerization of diimides and have a network structure.Typical of the condensation type is the polyimide sold under the trademarked name of Kapton by DuPont, which is made from a dianhydride and a diamine. When the two monomers react, the first product formed is a polyamide. The polyamide can be dissolved in solvents for casting into films, or it can be melted and molded. Conversion to polyimide occurs when the intermediate polyamide is heated above 150º C (300º F). Unlike the polyamide, the polyimide is insoluble and infusible. Kapton is stable in inert atmospheres at temperatures up to 500º C (930º C). Related commercial products are polyamideimide (PAI; trademarked as Torlon by Amoco Corporation) and polyetherimide (PEI; trademark Ultem); these two compounds combine the imide function with amide and ether groups, respectively.Network polyimides are formed from bismaleimide and bisnadimide precursors. At temperatures above 200º C (390º F), bismaleimides undergo free-radical addition polymerization through the double bonds to form a thermosetting network polymer. Bisnadimides react somewhat differently at elevated temperatures. The nadimide group first decomposes to yield cyclopentadiene and maleimide, which then copolymerize to form the network polyimide structure.Polyimides are amorphous plastics that characteristically exhibit great temperature stability and high strength, especially in the form of composites. They are used in aircraft components, sporting goods, electronics components, plastic films, and adhesives.

Alkyds, or alkyd resins, are highly complex network polyesters that are manufactured for the paint industry. Developed from research conducted at the General Electric Co. in the 1920s, they are made from dicarboxylic acids or their anhydrides and polyfunctional alcohols such as glycerol. To the ester-forming monomers are added modifiers consisting of unsaturated oils such as tung oil, linseed oil, or dehydrated castor oil. The resulting polymers are thus branched polyesters with fatty-acid side groups. Because one of the first alcohols used to produce this type of polymer was glycerol (an alcohol derived from natural oils), the term alkyd has traditionally been used in organic coatings science to denote oil-based derivatives of polyester, while the term polyester is traditionally reserved for oil-free polyesters. When an alkyd-based coating is applied to a surface, the oil portion of the polyester undergoes a free-radical cross-linking reaction in the presence of oxygen from the surrounding air; this process, known as drying, yields a tack-free surface. (For more detailed discussion of this process, see the article surface coating.) A typical alkyd paint consists of the oil-modified polyester to form the coating film, a solvent such as hexane or mineral spirits to aid in application, metal naphthenates to catalyze the drying reaction, and pigment. A long-oil alkyd contains 60 percent fatty acid by weight, a medium-oil alkyd contains 40-60 percent fatty acid, and a short-oil alkyd contains less than 40 percent. The use of alkyds is decreasing because of difficulties in modifiying these coatings to meet regulations restricting the amount of volatile organic content (VOC) that can be released into the air. (In oil-based surface coatings, VOC is represented by the solvents.) In addition, alkyd resins tend to have lower exterior durability than many of the newer polymer systems. They retain their use in low-performance industrial coatings and interior architectural paint, however.In order to meet VOC regulations, alkyds may be made water-reducible by the addition of free acid groups onto the molecules. In the presence of a base such as ammonia, these groups allow the polymers to be solubilized in water. Usually a cosolvent such as 2-butoxyethanol is necessary to maintain a stable solution, and under these conditions the ester linkages that are the basis of the alkyd polymer chain are vulnerable to breakage by hydrolysis. In this case special monomers are often chosen to give the chain hydrolytic stability.As is stated above, the term polyester, when used in the context of organic surface coatings, indicates a polyester free of natural-oil modifiers. Such polyesters are used extensively in coatings. The polymer can have a linear structure, but it is often branched, and it is usually in a relatively low-molecular-weight form that can be cross-linked to form a film of high performance. When the polyester is synthesized in the presence of an excess of alcohol, it tends to have hydroxyl end-groups on the molecules, and these molecules can be cross-linked through isocyanate, epoxy, and melamine compounds that react with the hydroxyl groups. If an excess of organic acid is present during polymerization, the polyester will have carboxyl end-groups, and these can become sites for cross-linking with epoxy, melamine, and amine groups. Polyesters with free-acid groups attached to their chains can be solubilized to a water-reducible form, as is the case with alkyds. Again, the hydrolytic stability of the resultant system must be considered.

All animal fibers are complex proteins. The principal component of silk is the protein fibroin. Silk is exuded in continuous filaments from the abdomens of various insects and spiders and is the only natural filament that commonly reaches a length of more than 1000 m (more than 3300 ft). Silk used in commercial textiles comes from silkworm cocoons.

The principal component of hair, wool, and fur is the protein keratin. Individual hairs may be as long as 91 cm (36 in) but are usually no more than 41 cm (16 in). Because hair and wool fibers are not continuous, they are spun into yarn to be woven or knitted into textile fabrics. The principal hair fiber used to produce textile fabrics is wool from sheep.

Pull over hooded jacket long enough to cover the hips.

(e-pàr¹el) noun Clothing, especially outer garments; attire.

Wool originating from Argentina.

A lightweight flannel used for children's garments.

The reverse of a fabric as opposed to the face.

A fabric consisting wholly of knitted loops which are all meshed in the same direction.Note: The fabric may also be described as single jersey, plain web or stockinette. The appearance may be described with reference to the surface of the structure:

(i) face; technical face: the surface of a plain weft-knitted fabric that consists wholly of face loops;

(ii)back; technical back: the surface of a plain weft-knitted fabric that consists wholly of back loops;

(iii)effect side: the surface of the fabric intended to be used outermost on a garment or other. construction; and

(iv) reverse side: the surface opposite to the effect side.

A beam from which the warp is fed during sizing.

A form of weaving in which warp threads are made to cross one another between the picks.

Note 1: The simpler types of lightweight fabric produced by this method of weaving are known as 'gauze'.

Note 2.. It may be necessary to use:

(i) an caser motion to control the tension of the crossing ends during the formation of the crossed shed;

(ii) a shakes. motion to provide a partial lift to the standard lieald to bring the threads approximately level and thus facilitate crossing.

Note 3.. In simple cello weaving, one thread, generally called a crossing or leno end, L , is caused to lift alternately on one side and then on the opposite side of the other thread, usually referred to as the standard end, G, so as to produce 'crossed' or 'open' sheds. If the standard end is lifted a 'plain shed' (occasionally referred to as an 'ordinary shed') is formed.Healds B and C (B working in conjunction with A on certain picks) are responsible for the operations of crossing and lifting thread L relative to thread G. A suitable name for B is front crossing heald, and for C, back crossing heald, with D referred to as the standard heald and A as the doup.

Fabric used on a roller printing machine between the blanket and the fabric to be printed, sometimes known as the face fabric, in order to: absorb any printing paste that percolates through the printed fabric, to impart resilience to the face fabric allowing sharper prints.Fabric used in screen printing to support light weight, open weave fabrics to be printed in order to maintain stability (e.g., prevent curling) of the face fabric. The back grey and face fabric are gummed together prior to the combined fabric itself being gummed to the printing table conveyor belt.Note: Synthetic-polymer fibre fabrics can be gummed to the back grey to prevent slipping.

Backstrap looms, as the name implies, are tied around the weaver's waist on one end and around a stationary object such as a tree, post, or door on the other. Tension can be adjusted simply by leaning back. Backstrap looms are very portable, since they can simply be rolled up and carried.