Fabric Basic Finishes - Finishes that appeal to touch

Fabric Finishes

A newly constructed fabric as it comes from the mill is known as greige goods or gray goods. This does not imply that the fabric is gray in colour; it simply denotes any unfinished fabric. The goods must pass through various finishing processes to make it suitable for its intended end use. Finishes may change the appearance of the fabric, its texture , its serviceability and its durability.

Finishes Are Divided Into Two Types

                  Basic finishes

                  Functional finishes

Basic finishes

The basic finishes are further classified into two classes,

          Finishes that appeal to the eye

         Finishes that appeal to the touch

FINISHES THAT APPEAL TO TOUCH

Some of the changes given to the fabric for softness, weight, crispness and warmth are known as finishes that appeal to touch.

 Napping : Napping is chiefly used to obtain a relatively deep hairy surface, but the degree of depth depends upon the technique used. The fabric is passed under a roller that has fine steel wires with small hooks on the ends. The hooks scrape the surface of the fabric pulling up fiber ends out of the yarn. The fuzzy finish, produced by napping makes a soft fabric that holds warmthness.

 Weighting : Silk may be treated with tin salts to increase the weight of the fabric and improve its hand and drape. The weight and body of the fabric, is increased by immersing it in a solution containing metallic salts. The salts permeate the yarns and become a permanent part of the fabric but cannot be detected by handling. If excessive metallic salts are used in the weighting, it may weaken the fabric.

 Starching : Glue, wax, casein, starch and clay are used for cotton fabrics to give weight, stiffness and shiny appearance. Starch is applied on the fabric and passed between two rollers. Wax and oil are mixed together to the starch solution to give the shiny appearance to the fabric. Starching is a temporary finish.

Sanforizing : Fibers spun into yarn are under constant tension during the weaving process. The yarns are made to assume a final condition by shrinking the fabric in a preparatory finishing process that minimizes subsequent shrinkage such as immersion in cold water. The factors that control the shrinkage are the stability of the fiber and the construction of the fabric. Construction is based on the type of the weave, the yarn twist and the yarn count.

The piece of fabric is taken and measured and then immersed in the water and the shrinkage of the fabric is calculated. Then the fabric is passed through the machine to make it shrink as to a desired measurement. This is known as sanforizing.