D - Textile Glossary

Dacron

Du pont brand of polyester fiber.

Damask

Originally a silk fabric made in damascus, only one colour, with patterns of flowers, branches and animals in satin finish contrasting with the slightly textured taffeta background. Multi-coloured damasks are called lampas.

De-aeration

The removal of all undissolved gases and part of the dissolved gases (chiefly air) from solutions prior to extrusion.

Deacetylated acetate (fibre) (generic name)

A term used to describe fibres of regenerated cellulose obtained by almost complete de-ethanoylation (deacetylation) of a cellulose ethanoate (acetate).

Dead cotton

An extreme form of immature cotton with a very thin fibre wall and commonly the cause is excessively slow secondary growth, resulting in many of the fibres having developed only a thin secondary wall by the time the boll opens. It is sometimes caused by premature 'death' or cessation of growth due to factors such as local pest attack, incidence of some types of disease, or curtailment of the life of the plant itself, resulting in the death of the fibres before the full potential secondary-wall thickening has been reached. Particularly for such fibres there may be no secondary thickening at all. The fibres are weak, brittle and lacking in twist or convolutions, become easily entangled into neps, and are generally lacking in lustre, with a 'dead' appearance, although some fibres without any secondary thickening tend to stick together and show up as small bundles in ginned raw cotton.

Dead wool

Wool taken from a sheep that has died from natural causes.

Deburring

A process in wool yarn manufacturing for extracting burrs, seeds and vegetable matter from wool. Deburring is carried out mechanically by a burring machine.

Decitex

A unit of the tex system.

Deco

Refers to designs which suggest the art deco style of the 20's and 30's, characterized by bold outlines and streamlined shapes.

Deep dyeing

Descriptive of fibres modified so as to have greater uptake of selected dyes than normal fibres, when the two are dyed together., degreasing, (1) the removal of grease, suint, and extraneous matter from wool by an aqueous or solvent process., (2) the removal of natural fats, waxes, grease, oil, and dirt from any textile material by extraction with an organic solvent., degree of orientation, the extent to which the macromolecules composing a fibre or film lie in a predominant direction in the case of fibres the predominant direction is usually the fibre axis. Note 1: there are several methods for assessment of the degree of orientation, of which measurement of birefringence is the most usual., note 2: the degrees of orientation of crystalline and non-crystalline regions may be evaluated separately.

Degree of polymerisation

The average number of repeating units in the individual macromolecules in a polymer., note: in general, this average will depend on the basis on which it is calculated, which should stated. For example, it may be based upon a mass (weight) or a number average.

Delicate

Referring to a fine, light hand with good drape.

Delustrant

A particulate material added before extrusion to subdue the lustre of a man-made fibre. Note 1: the anatase form of titanium dioxide is commonly used for this purpose. Note 2: terms used to indicate the level of delustrant in man-made fibres include: clear, bright, semi-dull, semi-matt, dull, matt, extra dull, and super dull.

Denier

The weight in grams of 9000 metres of a filament or yarn etc. The denier system was common as the standard for all continuous-filament yarns. Yarns spun from man-made staple fibre were usually designated by the count system appropriate to the method of spinning, although the fineness of individual fibres composing the spun yam was denoted by denier. The recommended system is the tex system with the unit of decitex for filament yarns.

Denim

A firm 2/1 or 3/1 right hand twill usually with a colored warp and white or natural weft . Commonly made of cotton or cotton blends in a variety of weights.

Depitching

The removal of tar or other branding substances from wool, usually, though not necessarily, by solvent-extraction.

Depth

That colour quality an increase in which is associated with an increase in the quantity of colorant present, all other conditions (viewing, etc.) Remaining the same.

Desizing

The removal of size from fabric.

Detergent

A substance normally having surface-active properties specifically intended to cleanse a substrate.

Detwisted

Descriptive of a yarn of fibres or filaments from which twist has been removed.

Differential dyeing

Usually descriptive of fibres of the same generic class, but having potentially different dyeing properties from the standard fibre.

Diffusion

Movement of substance owing to the existence of a concentration gradient.

Dip

(1) an immersion of relatively short duration of a textile in liquid., (2) the depth of liquid in the inner cylinder of a rotary washing machine., (3) a laboratory dyeing, usually to develop a dye formula.

Direct dye

An anionic dye having substantivity for cellulosic fibres, normally applied from an aqueous dyebath containing an electrolyte., direct spinning, (1) (man-made fibre production) integrated polymerization and fibre extrusion without intervening isolation or storage of the polymer., (2) (man-made fibre production) the method whereby tow. Is converted to staple fibre and spun into yarn in an integrated operation., (3) (bast fibre production) a method of dry-spinning bast fibres whereby untwisted slivers are drafted with suitable controls and directly twisted into yarn. Gill spinning and slip-draft spinning systems are particular forms of the method.

Direct warping

The transference of yarn from a package creel directly on to a beam.

Direct-spun

(1) a term used to describe filaments or yarn produced by direct spinning., (2) descriptive of woollen yarns spun on a mule onto weft bobbins.

Discharge (printing)

To destroy by chemical means a dye or mordant already present on a substrate to leave a white or differently coloured design.

Discharge printed

A dyed fabric is printed with a chemical paste that bleaches out or "discharges" the colour to allow white patterns on a dyed ground. By adding a dye to the paste that is not affected by the chemical it is possible to replace the discharged ground colour with another colour.

Discharging

The destruction by chemical means of a dye or mordant already present on a material to leave a white or differently coloured pattern, note: this term is also used to cover the removal of gum from silk (see degumming).

Disperse dye

A substantially water-insoluble dye having substantivity for one or more hydrophobic fibres, , e.g., cellulose acetate, and usually applied from fine aqueous dispersion.

Dispersion spinning

A process in which the polymers that tend to an infusible, insoluble, and generally intractable character (e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene) are dispersed as fine particles in a carrier such as sodium alginate or sodium xanthate solutions that permit extrusion into fibres, after which the dispersed polymer is caused to coalesce by a heating process, the carrier being removed either by a heating or by a dissolving process.

Distressed

Describes a finish that disturbs the surface of the fabric, giving it a used, beaten, or uneven appearance. Often done through sand or stone washing after the fabric has been pigment dyed.

District check

A category of small check designs, sometimes with contrasting overplaids, originally of Scottish origin. Glen plaids are part of this category.

Dobby

1. A fabric with small, repeating geometric patterns woven into the surface. 2. An attachment to a loom which controls the harness allowing the weaving of these geometric patterns.

Doeskin

A soft fabric with a low, napped finish on one side.

Doffing tube (rotor spinning)

An extension to the navel to guide the withdrawn yarn from the rotor.

Dolly

(1) a machine in which fabric pieces sewn end to end are circulated repeatedly through a liquor by means of a single pair of squeeze rollers above the liquor. , (2) a machine in which lace, hosiery, or knitwears are subjected to the action of free-falling beaters while immersed in a detergent solution and carried in a moving rectangular or cylindrical box., (3) an open-width washer, containing 3-5 compartments, originally used for dunging aged cotton prints, and now also used for any open-width washing where a shorter machine than an open soaper is desired.

Donegal

A plain-weave fabric woven from woollen-spun yarns characterized by a random distribution of brightly coloured flecks or slubs. It was originally produced as a coarse woollen suiting in county donegal.

Dope

A solution (spinning solution) of fibre-forming polymer as prepared for extrusion through a spinneret., note: a spinning solution is often referred to as dope, a term historically associated with cellulose ethanoate (cellulose acetate) solutions as varnishes.

Dope-dyed

Descriptive of man-made fibres in which colouring matter (e.g., dye or pigment) has been incorporated before the filament is formed. Hainsworth mainly used Dope Dye Nomex® fibre, also refered to as pigmented fibre, due to improve colour fastness properties.

Double (yarn)

See folded yarn, also termed plied yarn.

Double cloth

A fabric consisting of 2 layers woven together on the same loom . The fabrics may be held together with binder threads or interwoven . The 2 layers often are of different patterns, colors or weaves . Hainsworth use this technique to produce their TITAN fabric but is also be used for coatings, sportswear, blankets, upholstery.

Double face

A reversible 2 layer fabric, usually with a different color or pattern on each side. Double face is usually a double cloth but some reversible bonded fabrics may be referred to as double face.

Double knit

A weft knit, double layered fabric produced on a machine with 2 sets of needles. Double knits are thicker have more body and are more stable than single knits. As they curl, sag, and shrink less than single knits , they are more suitable for sportswear and tailored garments. They usually are reversible.

Doublings (drawing)

The number of laps, rovings, slivers or slubbings, fed simultaneously into a machine for drafting into a single end., note: doubling is employed to promote blending and regularity.

Draft

(1) when drafting the degree of attenuation calculated either as the ratio of the input and output linear densities, or as the ratio of the surface speeds of the output and input machine components which bring about drafting., (2) to reduce the linear density of a fibrous assembly by drawing, or drafting.

Drafting

(1) the process of drawing out laps, slivers, slubbings, and rovings to decrease the linear density., (2) the order in which threads are drawn through heald eyes before weaving.

Drapey

Refers to a fabric with good drape, that is, one that is supple and falls easily into graceful folds when hung or tailored.

Draping

Draping means to hang or to adorn the body form with loose fabric, and to obtain a body fitted garment by using adequate sewing techniques.

Draw (mule)

The cycle of operations from the start of the outward run to the finish of the inward run of the carriage of a spinning or a twiner mule.

Draw (sampling)

A sample of fibres abstracted manually from a bulk lot of raw material or sliver with a view to assessing the length and/or distribution of length of fibre within the sample.

Draw mechanism (knitting)

A mechanism on a straight-bar knitting machine for converting rotary motion into reciprocating motion for the purpose of laying the yarn and kinking it round the needles.

Draw pin

A stationary pin or guide, which by inducing a localized change in yarn tension and/or temperature may be used to stabilize the position of the draw-point or neck in some processes of drawing of man-made-fibre yarns., note: for the drawing of some fibre types, e.g., polyester, a heated pin may be used: with other types, e.g., nylon, the pin is normally not heated.

Draw ratio

Machine draw ratio, in a drawing process, the ratio of the peripheral speed of the draw roller to that of the feed roller.: true draw ratio, in a drawing process, the ratio of the linear density of the undrawn yam to that of the drawn yam. : residual draw ratio, the draw ratio required, in draw texturing, to convert a partially oriented yarn into a commercially acceptable product. : natural draw ratio, the ratio of the cross-sectional areas of a filament before and after the neck, when a synthetic filament or film draws at a neck.

Draw roller

The output roller of a zone in which drawing is taking place.

Draw thread (knitting)

A thread introduced in the form of one row of loops during knitting which, on removal, permits the separation of articles that are knitted as a succession of units connected together.

Draw threads (lace)

Removable threads included in the construction of lace either to act as a temporary support for certain parts of the pattern or to hold together narrow widths or units that are separated subsequently by their removal.

Draw-beaming

See draw-warping, also termed warp drawing.

Draw-down

In man-made filament extrusion, the ratio of take-up or haul-off speed to the average speed of the spinning fluid as it leaves the spinneret., note: the terms spin-stretch ratio and extrusion ratio are also commonly used.

Draw-spinning

A process for spinning partially or highly oriented filaments in which the orientation is introduced prior to the first forwarding or collecting device.

Draw-texturing

A process in which the drawing stage of man-made-yarn manufacture is combined with the texturing process on one machine., note: the drawing and texturing stages may take place in separate, usually consecutive, zones of a machine (sequential draw-texturing) or together in the same zone (simultaneous draw-texturing).

Draw-twist

To orient a filament yarn by drawing it and then to twist it in integrated sequential stages.

Draw-warping

A process for the preparation of warp beams or section beams from a creel of packages of partially oriented yarn in which the traditionally separate stages of drawing and beaming are combined sequentially on one machine., also termed draw-beaming; warp drawing (usa.)

Draw-wind

To orient a filament yarn by drawing it, and then to wind it on to a package in an integrated process without imparting twist.

Drawing (staple yarn)

Operations by which slivers are blended (or doubled) levelled, and by drafting reduced to the state of sliver or roving suitable for spinning. In cotton spinning the term is only applied to processing at the drawframe. Various systems of drawing are practised in modern worsted spinning, but with machinery development, and the greater use of man-made staple fibres, the differences are becoming less distinct. Most modern drawing sets incorporate three passages of pin drafting and a roving process. The systems differ mainly in the means of fibre control between the major pairs of drafting rollers and in the types of output package.

Drawing (synthetic filaments and films)

The stretching to near the limit of plastic flow of synthetic filaments or films of low molecular orientation., note: this process orients the molecular chains in the length direction.

Drawing-in

The process of drawing the threads of a warp through the eyes of a heald and the dents of a reed.

Drawing, cold (synthetic filaments and films)

The drawing of synthetic filaments or films without the intentional application of external heat. , note: free drawing of filaments or films at a neck is also referred to as cold drawing even though this may be carried out in a heated environment.

Drawing, hot (synthetic filaments and films)

A term applied to the drawing of synthetic filaments or films with the intentional application of external heat.

Drawn yarn

Extruded yarn that has been subjected to a stretching or drawing process that orients the long-chain molecules of which it is composed in the direction of the filament axis. On further stretching, such yarn acquires elastic extension as compared with the plastic flow of undrawn yarn.

Dressing (warp preparation)

The operation of assembling yarns from a ball warp, beam, or chain on a beam immediately prior to weaving., scotch dressing, (1) (dry taping; scotch beaming) a method of preparing striped warps for weaving, suitable for use when long lengths of any one pattern are to be woven. Three operations are involved, (a) splitting-off from stock ball warps (bleached or dyed, and sized) the required number of threads of the required colours,, (b) the winding of the differently coloured warps, each onto a separate 'back' or warper's beam, and, (c) the simultaneous winding of the threads from a set of back beams through a coarse reed onto a loom beam: (2) (dresser sizing; scotch warp dressing) a method of warp preparation, used particular linen industry, which incorporates sizing. Yam in sheet form is withdrawn from two warper's beams (one set at each end of the machine) and wound onto a loom beam at a headstock. Each half of the machine has its own size box and hot- air-drying arrangement., yorkshire dressing, a method of preparing a striped warp beam for a loom. Four operations are involved, (a) splitting-off from stock ball warps (bleached or dyed, and sized) the required number of threads of the required colours,, (b) the disposition of these threads to pattern in the reed with or without ends from stock grey warps,, (c) the slow and intermittent winding of the threads onto the loom beam, during the process they are tensioned by means of rods and rollers, brushed by hand, and kept and in correct position and if, as is usual, there are two or four ends per reed dent, these are further separated by means of a rod, and , (d) the picking of an end-and-end lease. The process ensures that in the warp all threads will be kept parallel, separated one from another, in their correct position, and correctly tensioned.

Drill

A strong, medium to heavy weight 2x1 or 3x1 warp faced twill usually of cotton. It is similar to denim but drill is usually piece dyed.

Drip-dry

Descriptive of textile materials that are reasonably resistant to disturbance of fabric structure and appearance during wear and washing and require a minimum of ironing or pressing.

Drop stitch

Refers to a knit fabric with an open stripe design at set intervals made by removing some of the needles.

Dry

Refers to a fabric that feels lacking in surface moisture or natural lubrication . Cottons are often said to feel dry.

Dry cleaning

To remove grease, oil, and dirt from garments or fabrics by treating them in an organic solvent, as distinct from aqueous liquors. Examples of suitable solvents are white spirit, trichloroethylene (trichlorethylene) and tetrachloroethylene (perchlorethylene). The process was originally known as 'French cleaning', also termed French cleaning

Dry laying.

A method of forming a fibre web or batt by carding and/or air laying, followed by any type of bonding process.

Dry spinning (man-made fibre production)

Conversion of a dissolved polymer into filaments by extrusion and evaporation of the solvent from the extrudate.

Dry-combed top

A wool top containing not more than 1 % of fatty matter based on the oven-dry, fat-free weight as tested by the international wool textile organisation's method which specifies soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane., ,m note: the standard regain of a dry-combed top is 18.25% based on the combined weight of oven-dry, fat-free wool and the fatty matter.

Dry-spun

(1) descriptive of a worsted yarn produced from a dry-combed top or of synthetic yams spun on similar machinery., (2) descriptive of coarse flax yarn spun from air-dry roving (cf. Wet-spun ), (3) descriptive of man-made filaments produced by dry-spinning.

Drying cylinder

Heated, rotating, hollow cylinder(s) around which textile material or paper is passed in contact with it.

Duchesse lace

A guipure lace characterized by floral and leaf designs with very little ground . Heavier threads are intertwined to give raised texture. Used in bridal veils and gowns.

Duck

See canvas/duck.

Dull

Descriptive of textile materials, the lustre of which has been reduced.

Durable finish

Any type of finish reasonably resistant to normal usage, washing, and/or dry-cleaning.

Durable press

A finishing treatment designed to impart to a textile material or garment. The retention of specific contours including creases and pleats resistant to normal usage, washing, and/or dry-cleaning., note: the treatment may involve the use of synthetic resin, which may be applied and cured either before or after fabrication of a garment, or, in the case of textiles composed of heat-settable fibres, may involve high-temperature pressing.

Duvetyn

Medium to heavy weight twill fabric with a soft, short nap covering the weave. It has a sueded, velvety hand. Originally made of wool or wool blends but may be of cotton or other fibers . Used in suits, coats, millinery.

Dye

A colorant that has substantivity for a substrate, either inherent or induced by reactants.

Dye-fixing agent

A substance, generally organic, applied to a dyed or printed material to improve its fastness to wet treatments.

Dyed & overprinted

Refers to fabrics which have been first piece dyed, then printed in colors that are darker than the dyed ground.

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Textile Glossary

Cutting through the jargon