Types of Fabric Defects with Causes and Remedies

Different Fabric Defects and Their Remedies:

During the manufacturing of woven fabric in the weaving loom, defects are produced. Some of these defects are visible, while others are not. Again, some defects may be rectified during and after weaving, while others may not. Some common fabric defects are presented in this article with their causes and remedies. Here, we presented Types of Fabric Defects with Causes and Remedies.

Fabric manufacturing is not a cakewalk that can be done. There are many types of fabric defects generated during the remanufacturing process. So, fabric testing is always a requirement from the customers. Different Types of Fabric Defects with Causes and Remedies in the following:

Common Types of Fabric Defects with Causes and Remedies of Textile Apparel:

Some common fabric defects are explained here, with their major causes and remedies.

1. Broken Ends:

If a warp yarn is absent in the fabric for a very short or long distance, then the defect is termed as broken ends. To avoid this defect, loom motion should be kept in the right position.

2. Broken Picks:

If a weft yarn is absent in the woven fabric for a very long or short width, it is known as broken picks. Loom motion should be maintained properly to avoid this defect.

3. Floats:

It is one type of defect where a weft or warp yarn floats over the fabric surface for a new centimeter length due to missing of interlacement of two series of yarns.

4. Weft Curling:

The weft curling defect is produced by inserting highly twisted weft yarn or weft running too freely. As a result it causes twisted of weft yarn and appear on the surface of the woven fabric.

5. Slugs:

When the weft yarn is unclean and contains slugs and its diameter is irregular, the defect appearing on the cloth is termed as slugs.

6. Stitching:

Stitching is a major defect, particularly in good-quality fabric. It is a common fault in which the ends and the picks are not interlaced according to the correct order of the pattern.

7. Irregular Pick Density:

If pick density, i.e., picks per inch (PPI), varies due to the mechanical defect, then thick or thin places may be produced in the woven fabric.

8. Hairy Cloth:

The fibers in the yarn have been roughened before, during, or after weaving.

9. Holes:

If there is any small holes present in the fabric, then it is a major defect.

10. Oil Spot:

This type of fabric defect is produced due to the application of too much oiling on the loom parts or from other sources. However, oil stains in most fabrics may be removed by sa couring process.

11. Starting Mark:

This type of fault or defect is termed as “starting place” in cloth are caused as a result of stopping and starting a loom. The fault appears width way of the woven fabric.

12. Unevenness of Yarn and Yarn Knots

This is the defect that spoils the external appearance since the unevenness of yarn or the yarn knots of the warp and weft are seen on the surface. In cthe ase of high-grade fabrics, the local unevenness or knots are removed in the repairing activity. Especially in woolen fabrics, before moving to the finishing process (after weaving), the knotting and mending of the parts with remarkable yarn unevenness and knots is done manually.

13. Unevenness of Yarn and Yarn Knots:

14. Weaving Steps and Weaving Unevenness:

Weaving steps means the yarn unevenness looks like lateral stripes. This occurs when the density of weft in some parts is coarse and in some parts it is tight. This fault is easily visible if the weft density is coarser. In colored fabrics, the parts with close density look darker, and the coarse parts look lighter. Thus, the fabric surface looks very bad. In addition, when it is not very clear that there are horizontal steps and when there is unevenness in the coarseness and tightness of weft density, it is termed as weaving unevenness (weft bars).

15. Twists:

During the dyeing, drying, and finishing of fabrics, the warps and wefts get rubbed by calendar rollers, etc,. and they get contorted to local irregular shapes. These are called twists. This fault can easily occur in fabrics with coarse density and the fabrics using yarns with smooth surface, such as silk, artificial silk, and synthetic fabric, etc.

16. Shine

This fault is seen easily in fabrics for which long fibers have been used, for example, silk fabrics, artificial fabrics, synthetic fabrics, etc. There is warp pull and weft pull. The former one is seen during warp arrangement (the activity of preparing to put the warp to the loom after arranging them together), paste application, and weaving when a part of the warp receives excessive tension.

Due to light reflection, the warp looks as if it is shining brightly, and the appearance is eye-catching. The warps in this case may be 1-2, but there also may be a collection of several of them. There are short warps, and there are also long warps of 1-2m. The latter is seen during the reeling or pressing down of wefts when the wefts are given excessive tension. The weft shines partially and looks bad. These faults can appear easily in fabrics of flat weave or gauze, such as Haburtae silk and silk pongee.

17. Glitter:

This fault is seen when the degree of warp and weft tension becomes partially uneven during warp arrangement, paste application, drum reeling, and weavin,g etc. Due to the light reflection, the yarn appears to be glittering in spots on the surface of the fabric. This is shown easily on fabrics using long fibers. It is especially striking in plain materials.

18. Pilling:

The drawback of wearing fabrics made with synthetic fibers and knit-wear undergarments is that small grain-light pills appear on the surface due to friction. This phenomenon is called as pilling. This phenomenon is commonly seen in woolen and cotton fabrics. But, since cotton and wool fibers are comparatively weak, though the pills appear, they wear out naturally and fall off.

There are some other faults that are visible after dyeing. Some fabric faults also occur during fabric dyeing. A few common fabric faults of these categories are mentioned below:

1. Shedding

The depth of shade of color may vary from one place to another along the length of the fabric when a role of fabric is dyed, which is termed as shedding.

2. White Spot:
If the grey fabric is made of cotton and in the cotton, polyester or other synthetic fiber is mixed to a negligible amount, after dyeing the polyester fiber remain white, showing white spot in the fabric.

3. Running Stripe Shedding:
Sometimes, as narrow stripe like color shedding effect is found due to a dyeing defect or fault in the solid color dyed fabric is termed a running stripe shedding defect.

4. Colored Spot:
Due to knots, slubs, neps, etc., present in the fabric, after dyeing, those places appear as colored spots.