Converting fibre into yarn, yarn into fabric
Textile manufacturing is a major industry. As textiles are often coated it makes sense to consult the global coated fabrics market. According to Markets and Markets, the global coated fabrics market is looking forward to an annual growth rate of more than 4%.
Textile manufacturing converts fibre into yarn, and yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into clothes. Different types of fibre are used to produce yarn. Cotton remains the most important natural fibre, followed by flax, jute, hemp as well as bast and leaf fibres. Also protein fibres (wool, silk) and synthetic fibres are widely applied. There are many variable processes available at the spinning and fabric-forming stages coupled with the complexities of the finishing and colouration processes to the production of a wide ranges of products.
Weaved and knitted fabric manufacture
The weaving process uses a loom. The lengthway threads are known as the warp, and the crossway threads are known as the weft. The warp is presented to the loom on a warp beam. The weft passes across the loom in a shuttle, that carries the yarn on a pirn.
Knitting by machine is done in two different ways: warp and weft. Weft knitting is similar in method to hand knitting with stitches all connected to each other horizontally. In a warp knit there are many pieces of yarn and there are vertical chains, zigzagged together by crossing the cotton yarn.
Textiles are often coated to obtain composites, consisting of a flexible substrate and a polymeric coating. The coating may be on one side, or on both sides with the same or a different polymeric coating per side.
