Printing Methods; Methods of textile printing

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Methods of Printing 

There are three basic approaches to printing a color on a fabric. Direct, Discharge and Resist. Transfer Printing is comparatively a new method which is also gaining popularity Direct Printing. The most common approach for applying a color pattern is direct printing. It may be done on a white fabric or over a previously dyed fabric, in which case it is called overprinting. The dye is imprinted on the fabric in paste form, and any desired pattern may be produced. The dyes are usually dissolved in a limited amount of water to which a thickening agent has been added to give the necessary viscosity to the print paste. 

Direct Printing Method

The principle of direct printing is creation of a colored design by applying a dye or pigment directly onto a textile substrate (yarn or fabric). Discharge Printing. Another approach for applying a color pattern is discharge printing. The fabric is dyed in the piece and then printed with a chemical that will destroy the color in designed areas. Sometimes the base color is removed and another color printed in its place, but usually a white area is desirable to brighten the overall design. When properly done, discharge printing gives very good results; however, the discharged areas may literally fall out of the fabric if the goods are not thoroughly washed after printing (a rare situation today). The usual method of producing discharge prints is to print the design, such as polka dots, with a paste containing a reducing agent. A steaming follows and then there is a good washing to remove the by-products of the reaction. Resist Printing A third approach to obtaining a color pattern is resist printing. Bleached goods are printed with a resist paste––a resinous substance that cannot be penetrated when the fabric is subsequently immersed in a dye. The dye will affect only the parts that are not covered by the resist paste. After the fabric has passed through a subsequent dyeing process, the resist paste is removed, leaving a pattern on a dark ground. Their are several other methods also for printing textiles. Two are of significant commercial importance: the screen print method and the roller print method. A third method, heattransfer printing is a comparatively new concept & less significant. Other printing methods rarely used in commercial production of textiles are block, batik, ikat, and resist printing. Many textile printers print fabrics in both screen and roller methods. Most heat-transfer printing is done by printers that specialize in this method. 

Batik 

Batik cloth is made by a wax-resist process. The name batik originates in the Indonesian Archipelago, where resist printing has become an important art form. Wax is applied to the areas that the printer does not want to dye. In Indonesia a small, spouted cup with a handle called a tjanting is used to apply the wax. Melted wax is poured from the tjanting onto the cloth. When it hardens, the wax coats the fabric so that the dye cannot reach the fibers. 

If several colors are to be used, the process becomes somewhat more complex. For example, if a fabric is to be colored white, red, and blue, the artisan begins with a creamywhite cotton cloth. Those areas that are to remain white and those that are to be red are coated with wax. The fabric is now subjected to a blue dyebath, and the exposed areas take on the blue tint. The wax is boiled off and reapplied to cover the blue and white areas. When the fabric is placed in the red dyebath, the color penetrates only the uncovered areas of the design. After dyeing is complete, the fabric is treated with a fixative (a mordant) to make the colors fast, and a final rinse in hot water removes all traces of wax. For faster production a technique was devised whereby the wax could be printed onto the surface of the fabric with a device called a tjap. The design is carved on a tjap block, the block is 

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PRINTING

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Textile Printing

Printing has often been described as dyeing in a localized area to create patterned design. Creating design interest in fabrics can be accomplished in several ways, including yarn variation (novelty yarns). Weave variation (dobby and jacquard), and color effects in weaving. An additional color design can be created through the process of printing design shapes onto previously woven, knitted, or non-woven fabrics. 

Textile printing uses the same dyes or pigments applied to produce dyed fabric. The same principles of specific dye classes having select fiber affinities and the general fastness characteristics apply equally to printing and dyeing. 

The designs for printed fabrics are an important element of the printed fabrics industry. A continuous supply of new designs are required for this highly fashion oriented segment of the textile industry. 

Dyes or pigments used in dyeing are usually in a water bath solution. When the same dyes or pigments are used for printing, they must be thickened with gums or starches to prevent the wicking or flowing of the print design. The thickened solution, about the consistency of heavy buttermilk, is called the print paste. Some dyes cannot be used in printing pastes for reasons such as insufficient solubility and low color yield. 

The application of a pattern to fabric by the use of dyes, pigments, or other colored substances may be effected by a variety of hand or machine processes. Freehand painting of designs on fabrics is probably the oldest technique for applying ornament, but hand painting is a time-consuming procedure. Furthermore, it does not always result in a uniform repeat of a motif that is to be used more than once. If a design is transferred to a Bat surface that can be coated with a dye and then stamped onto the fabric, the same design can be repeated many times over simply by pressing the decorated surface against the fabric. This process is known as printing. Over many centuries a variety of techniques for printing designs have evolved. Printing can be applied to warp yarns, to fabrics, or to apparel pieces-for example, slogans or pictures on T-shirts. 

In general, printing is a cheaper way of creating designs on fabric than weaving or knitting with different colored yarns. Printing can be done with dyes or pigments. For pigments it is necessary to use an adhesive to bind the colored substance to the fabric. Different methods for applying designs can be combined with a number of printing tools or machines to provide the printer with a variety of processes. 

Methods of Printing 

There are three basic approaches to printing a color on a fabric. Direct, Discharge and Resist. 

Direct Printing 

The principle of direct printing is creation of a colored design by applying a dye or pigment directly onto a textile substrate (yarn or fabric). Discharge Printing. Another approach for applying a color pattern is discharge printing. The fabric is dyed in the piece and then printed with a chemical that will destroy the color in designed areas. 

Batik 

Batik cloth is made by a wax-resist process. The name batik originates in the Indonesian Archipelago, where resist printing has become an important art form. Wax is applied to the areas that the printer does not want to dye. 

Methods Of Direct Printing 

Block Printing

The oldest method of printing designs on fabric is block printing by hand. It is not commercially important today because it is too slow 

Roller Printing 

Roller printing is the machine method of printing designs on cloth by engraved rollers. It turns out color-designed fabrics in vast quantities at the rate of 1000 to 4000 yards (914-3658 m) an hour. This method of producing attractive designs is relatively inexpensive when compared with any hand method. 

Rotary Printing 

A printing machine that utilizes seamless cylindrical screens made of metal foil was originally developed in Holland. This process is called rotary screen-printing. 

Screen Printing

Originally, this technique was referred to as silk-screen printing because the screens were made of fine, strong silk threads. Today, they are also made of nylon, polyester and metal. Screen printing is done with the use of either flat or cylindrical screens. 

Heat Transfer Roller Printing 

Like traditional roller printing, heat transfer printing is done by passing the fabric around a central drum or cylinder where it contacts a roller for transferring the design. The roller is followed by a heating zone to effect the sublimation of the dye. Since all colors are applied to the fabric at the same time, 

Other Printing Techniques 

Photographic Printing 

Photographic printing is done in a manner similar to the photochemical preparation of screens for screen printing. A photosensitive dye is coated on the fabric, a negative is placed over the fabric, light is applied, and a photographic type of printing takes place. 

Electrostatic Printing 

Electrostatic printing is an experimental process in which a plate with an electrostatic charge is placed behind the fabric. A stencil in the form of the pattern is placed over the fabric. Special powdered inks that can be attracted by the electrostatic charge are passed over the surface fabric, and the inks are attracted into and color the fabric in the open areas of the stencil. 

Flock Printing 

By imprinting an adhesive material on the surface of a fabric in the desired pattern, and then sprinkling short fibers over the hesive, a flocked print may be created.

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TEXTILE ECONOMICS; Product Costing Methods, Job Order Costing System and Process Costing

Product Costing Methods 

The Basic methods of product costing are: 

Job Costing: allocates costs to products that are readily identified by individual units or batches, each of which is independently identifiable. When using the job cost system, costs are accumulated for each individual unit produced, or each separate order of products. This method is especially useful when producing something that is unique or custom-made. Job order costing would be used bya caterer, a garage, a helicopter manufacturer, a construction company and a textbook publisher, 

Contract Costing: a subset of job costing which is applied to relatively large cost units which take a long time to complete, typically over a year (e.g. civil engineering projects, ship building, building and construction etc). A separate account is maintained for each contract. Contract accounts involve: 

• determination of cost of sales 

• annual comparison of value of work certified as a proportion of the contract value and the costs to date as a proportion of total costs as a means of assessing the profit that should be recognised 

• record of payments received on account 

• records future expenses and accrued expenses 

Guidelines for Determining Profit to Date on Contracts No Profit is taken if contract is at an early stage. Reliability (prudence) concept is applied and losses are recorded as incurred or anticipatedIf the contract is near completion a proportion of the profit should be recognised having regard to work certified and costs to date 

Process costing: is applied when goods or services are produced from a series of repetitive or continuous processes or operations and the costs of processing are charged to the process as a whole before being averaged out over the units produced during the period. Process costing is used in a variety of businesses including distilling, water distribution, textiles, paint mixing and glass manufacture. 

Job Order Costing System 

The basic records maintained in a job-costing system include: Job-cost sheet (also called job-cost record or simply job order): records all costs for a particular product, service or batch of products are recorded on the job-cost sheet from: 

Materials requisitions: detail materials and components drawn from stores for particular jobs are priced and summarised, and entered as direct material costs on the job-cost record. Labour time records: show the time a particular direct worker spends on each job and are summarised to give direct labour cost on ‘the job-cost sheet. The manufacturing overhead will often be based on these labour hours or otherwise separately calculated and entered on the job cost sheet separately 

Actual rate vs. predetermined rate (normal) costing system 

Job-costing systems uses actual costs of direct labour and materials to determine the cost of individual jobs. However, a problem arrives with overhead costs, which are dependent on what is happening to the other jobs that are in process at the same time and can only be known after the event. Actual rate costing is a method of job costing that traces indirect costs to a cost object by using the actual indirectcost rate(s) times the actual unit of absorption base (direct labour, machine hours etc.), Predetermined rate (normal) costing systems use estimated amounts (at a normal level of activity) for the manufacturing overhead costs that are applied to each job and estimated amounts for the absorption base to calculate a predetermined overhead rate. This rate is based on the total estimated overhead costs for the period and the estimated usage of the absorption base (e.g. machine/labour hours). 

General Approach to Job Order Costing 

The following seven-steps approach is used to assign actual costs to individual jobs 

l Identify the chosen cost object(s) 

2.Identify the direct costs of the job 

3.Select the cost-absorption base(s} 

4.Identify the indirect costs associated with each cost-absorption base 

5.Compute the rate per unit of each cost absorption base to allocate indirect costs to jobs 6.Compute the indirect costs allocated to the job 

7.Compute the cost of the job by adding all direct costs assigned to it 

Process Costing 

Process costing (a.k.a. continuous operation costing) is a method that is applied when goods or services are produced from a series of repetitive or continuous processes or operations and the costs of processing are charged to the process as a whole before being averaged out over the units produced during the period. ‘A process costing system involves the costs of producing similar items being accumulated and allocated to the products by averaging costs over large number of nearly identical products. The average cost per unit is calculated by dividing the total production cost by the number of units produced. Process costing would be used by businesses such as food processors, household product manufacturers, chemical processors and oil refiners.. 

General approach to process costing 

I. collect cost data for the period on production cost report; 

2. prepare statement of physical flows and equivalent units of output for the period; 3. ascertain the total costs to be accounted for this period; 

4. calculate the cost per equivalent unit; 

5. apportion cost between finished output and work-inprogress; and 

6. check that all costs accounted for 

Similarities between process costing and absorption costing 

Both track the same manufacturing cost elements: DMs, DL, 

DEs and Mfg OhdsBoth involve WIP, FG and COGS 

Differences between process costing and job costing 

• No. of WIP accounts: PCS have many WIP accounts whereas 

JCS have one WIP account 

• Documentation to track costs 

JCS = job cost sheet 

• PCS = production cost report for each process 

• Point at which costs are totaled 

JCS - mfg costs totalled on completion 

• PCS - mfg costs totalled at fixed time intervals 

• Unit cost computation 

JCS - total job costs/no of units produced 

• PCS - total period costs/units produced in the period 

WIP and EQU/V ALENT UNITS 

Processes rarely deal with solely with completed units and therefore we need ‘to deal with output in terms of completed units and those still in the process at various stages of completion in the process. The notion of Equivalent Units enables work in process to be expressed in terms of completed output. 

Equivalent units may be defined as: A notional quantity of completed units substituted for an actual quantity of incomplete physical units, when the aggregate work content of the incomplete units is deemed to be equivalent to that of the substituted quantity of

TEXTILE ECONOMICS; Cost Terminology, Classification and Basic concepts

Cost and Cost Terminology: 

Cost is a resource sacrificed or forgone to achieve a specific objective. It is usually measured as the monetary amount that must be paid to acquire goods and services. A cost must not be confused with an expense, that is that part of costs of the goods or services that has been used up in the process of generating revenues. Actual Cost is the cost incurred (a historical cost) as distinguished nom budgeted costs. 

Cost Object is any activity, product, service or other item for which we can make a separate cost measurement. Examples would include a product, sales area, TV advertising campaign, employee, delivery van etc. 

Costs Classification 

Costs may be analysed into: Manufacturing costs (factory/ production) - Direct: labour, materials and variable overhead Indirect: manufacturing support Non-manufacturing costs - Selling and Marketing, Distribution, Research and Development Finance, General & Administrative 

Handout: Cost classification 

There are two basic stages of accounting for costs: 

1) Cost Accumulation: the collection of cost data in some organised way based on some natural classification such as materials or labour, using an accounting system. 

2) Cost Assignment: involves 

(a) tracing accumulated costs to one or more cost objects; and 

(b) allocating/apportioning accumulated costs to one or more cost objects such as activities, departments, products, customers etc. 

Handout: Basic cost concepts: 

Cost Assignment Methods

Traceability is the ability to assign a cost directly to a cost object in an economically feasible way using a causal relationship. Tracing is the assignment of costs to cost objects using either an observable measure of the cost object s resource consumption or factors that allegedly capture the causal relationship. “ Drivers are factors that cause changes in resource usage, activity usage, costs and revenues. Resource drivers measure the demands placed on resources by activities and are used to assign the cost of resources to activities by allocation and apportionment. 

For example, factory rates apportioned by floor space or supervisor time allocated to different production departments. 

Resource drivers also allocate/apportion service activities to production activities. Activity drivers measure the demands placed on activities by cost objects and are used to assign the cost of activities to cost objects. For example, the number of inspection hours used to assign the cost of inspection to individual products, or machine hours as a basis for absorbing departmental indirect costs. 

Direct tracing is the process of assigning costs to cost objects based on physically observable causal relationships (direct materials and labour). 

Driver tracing is assigning costs using drivers, which are causal factors. Often this means that costs are first traced to activities using resource drivers and then to cost objects using activity drivers. The driver approach relies on identification of factors that allegedly capture the causal relationship. 

Handout: Functional cost classification 

All costs can broadly be classified into manufacturing and non-manufacturing costs. Manufacturing costs include all costs of converting raw materials into completed products and non-manufacturing costs are all costs other than manufacturing costs. Manufacturing costs can further be divided into direct costs and indirect costs. 

• direct costs of a cost object are those that are related to a given cost object (product, department. etc.) and that calibe traced to it in an economically feasible way. Direct costs can be divided into direct materials and direct labour (and possibly direct expenses). 

• indirect costs are related to the particular cost object but cannot be traced to it in an economicallyfeasible way instead the costs are allocated to cost objects. 

Identifying product costs for a manufacturing firm 

There are typically two major cost elements: 

• Direct costs 

• Indirect overhead Cost 

The direct costs include direct materials, labour and expenses. 

The overhead costs include indirect material, labour and expenses split between: 

• Establishment costs (expenses incurred in providing the product or service environment [factory overheads] 

• Selling and Distribution costs (all costs of marketing and distributing the product); Administration costs (all costs of directors, managers and administrators and their associated expenses in terms of office overheads) 

• Finance costs (all costs of borrowed capital including interest and expenses incurred in raising funds) For product costs we are concerned with direct costs and establishment costs. 

Direct vs. indirect materials 

The cost of those materials and components that can be directly and conveniently traced to a unit of product are called direct materials (e.g. steel, windscreen-wipers or gearbox In a car). _Materials not directly traceable, and those extremely small in monetary value, are typically called indirect materials (e.g. dishwasher detergent in a fast-food restaurant, oil for production equipment, rags for cleaning or screws in a furniture factory) 

Direct VS. indirect labour 

The costs of production labour that can be directly and conveniently traced to a unit of product are called direct labour (e.g. workers on an assembly line, or chef in a restaurant) is direct labour, while labour costs that are not directly traceable, or those extremely small in monetary value, are typically called indirect labour (e.g. storekeepers, foremen, or secretaries) 

Production/factory/manufacturing overheads 

All costs related to the manufacturing operations, except for direct materials and direct labour, are called production/factory/ manufacturing overhead. Examples of such costs include, factory rent, factory rates, factory heating and lighting, depreciation of plant and equipment, insurance of the factory, and store costs.

Water Pollution Reduction in the Textile Industry

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Why was the project undertaken? 

During the 1970’s Hammarsdale was being developed as an industrial Hub to provide employment in KwaZulu. The textile industry in particular was being attracted to the area. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry constructed the Hammarsdale Waste Water Treatment Works (HWWTW) to service the new industrial hub. There was poor environmental planning for the expanding Hammarsdale Hub. Because of this the quality of water in the Sterkpruit River was declining and the organic capacity of the HWWTW was at its limit. The effluent discharged by companies to the HWWTW was in certain circumstances highly corrosive and in one instance led to sewerage pipes being damaged and requiring replacement. Inlet screens designed to remove excessive materials were producing 25 cubic meters of waste per week that had to be disposed of at a low hazard waste disposal site. 

The high strength organic coloured effluents from the textile industries together with that arising from a chicken abattoir overloaded the works thus resulting in the colouration of the Sterkspruit River. This pollution was exacerbated since the treatment works was not designed to remove salts from the textile industries, which passed directly through the works into the River. Unfortunately the salt issue remains a problem but two companies, Gelvenor and Dano Textiles are investigating recycling their effluent and implementing cleaner production technologies to reduce the load. 

In 1982 Umgeni Water took over the HWWTW who assisted the University of Natal to deal with the issue of capacity by involving the Hammarsdale Industrial Conservancy in a campaign to persuade industry to reduce industrial waste loads. These efforts to minimise waste and encourage cleaner production resulted in energy, water and effluent treatment savings, but still there was little improvement in the quality of effluent delivered to HWWTW. At this stage Umgeni Water was applying an effluent tariff at a flat rate, which did not account for effluent strength. As a result there was no legal or financial incentive to reduce effluent loads. 

What Processes were undertaken? 

The incorporation of Hammarsdale and the nearby township of Mpumalanga into eThekwini Municipality and the Water Services Act of 1997 were significant factors leading to the reduction of effluent load. The Water Services Act stipulated that Municipalities were to become Water Services Authorities. Etekwini Municipality chose to own and operate Hammarsdale WWTW and having by-laws to support the collection of sewerage rates and to levy an additional charge for high strength effluent. 

The by-laws required that companies discharging to the Hammarsdale WWTW were permitted. A cooperative agreement between the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority and eThekwini Municipality led to the development of a five year integrated pollution control permit. The permit set targets for effluent colour. The permit also placed stress on waste minimisation / source control techniques which would reduce the salinity and therefore the electrical conductivity (a unit used for the measurement of the salt content of water) of discharged effluent. 

This approach to tariffs and pollution control permits was the innovative spark which led to the accelerated development of waste minimisation / source control techniques which could ensure that the effluent from the textile industry was at an acceptable standard. 

The development of the waste minimisation / source control technology, which was installed at Gelvenor, was funded by the European Union and the Water Research Commission. Gelvenor was identified since it was an ISO 14001 compliant company and, together with the potential trade effluent incentives was the most likely to succeed. This was an important decision, as the area needed a successful example to market the idea of cleaner production and better environmental controls. 

Project Description This project has two main components. The first is the five-year integrated pollution control permit, which sets targets for effluent colour, electrical conductivity and places stress on waste minimisation / source control techniques. 

The second component was the development of the waste minimisation / source control technology, which could benefit companies through reduced tariffs. In Gelvenor’s case this led to a reduction of chemicals, water and electricity in the production processes, and the discolouration of water was addressed through coagulation and settlement of the dyestuff in its effluent. 

What Positives have resulted from this project? 

Positives Hammarsdale Industrial township is now on the road to becoming more economically and environmentally sustainable. This has happened for various reasons. 

Firstly, the cost of utilities has been reduced to companies. Once cleaner production technology has been installed in the textile industry this can lead to reduced water use because consumption can be reduced if the treated effluent is recycled. For example, recycled water can be used in cooling towers and in air conditioning plants and this could lead to a savings of 40% on water. Further uses for the recycled water will be for dying, in toilets and for cooking. 

Because the quality of the effluent has improved, Gelvenor is being charged at a lower tariff, which can lead to a savings of R100, 000 per month. Using the same incentive scheme Rainbow Chickens also reduced its wasted load by 50%. This means that there is 25% less waste to treat at the works and therefore eThekwini, does not have to extend HWWTW with massive savings. The use of the cleaner production technology has released capacity at HWWTW, which can now be used to extend sanitation to approximately 8500 households in nearby Mpumalanga. 

The financial and environmental sustainability of certain companies has improved due to reduced water bills and effluent disposal costs yet improving environmental controls. These savings would more than finance the cleaner production technology at a rate of R4.5 million per annum. Gelvenor’s profit margin would increase after paying off the equipment cost over five years but Rainbow would recoup its costs in less than two. 

Because water effluent is cleaner the ecosystems of the Sterkspruit River and the Shongweni Dam will automatically improve. This will also improve the sustainability of farming in the immediate area and nature reserve surrounding Shongweni Dam will also have cleaner water input. 

Negatives: 

The only negative is that it is difficult to address the salt issue since technology for salt removal from water is extremely expensive. Two companies however are investigating the salt removal and re-use of the water. 

What were the most important lessons learnt in this project? 

Co-operative governance really works. Because of the shortage of skills national and local government teamed up with international experts, local academics and parastatal organizations in order to address a common goal. No action by an individual organization would have succeeded on its own. Stakeholder collaboration need not be on a formal basis provided that the goal is clear, but does require a champion. 

Stakeholder collaboration can extend the use of the technology. 

-The University of KwaZulu-Natal is researching with Water Research Commission funding the re-use of saline effluents from textile mills. 

-Dano Textiles is investigating cutting-edge technology using nitrogen blankets in its dye-baths to reduce the quantity of sodium hydrosulphite and thus the salt content of its effluent. 

-Dye-bath effluent treatment trials have been launched using excess anaerobic sludge digestion capacity at Mpumulanga wastewater works. 

The cost of technology can be prohibitive. De-salination technology, despite major strides still remains a prohibitively expensive means of treating textile mill effluent. Farming still remains a problem because of salinity issues but the aesthetics and the organic contamination from Hammarsdale would improve.

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Warp Knitting, Production of warp knitted fabric

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Knitted fabrics are divided into two general types: (1) those produced by weft knitting, where one continuous yarn forms courses across the fabric; (2) those produced by warp knitting, where a series of yarns forms wale’s in the lengthwise direction of the fabric. 

Warp Knitting 

This form of knitting is very different from standard hand knitting; the earliest warp knitting machine was Crane’s tricot machine (England), built about 1775. In warp knitting, a yarn is fed to each needle from the lengthwise direction. A bar guiding the yarns to the needles can move from side to side, or to the front or back of the needle, so that the loops can be interlocked in a zigzag pattern. Very wide (over 400 cm, nearly 170 in.), flat fabric can be produced by warp knitting, at speeds in the order of 1,000 courses per minute, giving almost 3 m2/min (3.6 sq. yds./min). The two main machine (fabric) types are tricot and raschel. 

Diagram of simple warp knit fabric. 

Tricot warp knitted fabric: Tricot is a machine with one needle bar (spring beard type) and one to three guide bars, +0 3++most are two-bar or three-bar. The spring beard needle, accepting mainly filament yarns, has limited the depth of texture that can be achieved in tricot fabrics; some fine spun tricot, produced on machines with hybrid needles, was introduced many years ago, but does not seem to have taken hold in the market place. Tricot does not ravel, can curl somewhat, and has almost no stretch or “give” lengthwise but a little crosswise. 

Raschel warp knitted fabric: Raschel is the other main warp-knitting machine. Fabric from these machines may be of any weight or thickness from lace to carpet; the one feature they share is a pillar-and-inlay effect; Wales like hand crochet chains forming the “pillar” with other yarns laid in to form patterns or the main body of the fabric, usually making up the right side. Raschel machines have one or two needle bars (usually latch, but may be spring beard), set horizontally on wide or narrow machines with 1 to over 30 guide bars. The multi guide bar types are used mostly for laces; most of our moderate-priced laces are knit on this type of machine. They do not have the depth of texture that the twisted Leavers laces or the embroidered Schiffli laces have. Powernet, knit on the raschel machine, incorporates elastomeric yarn to give one- or two-way power stretch for contour fashion Variations on raschel-type machines include crochet, ketten raschel, and Cidega machines. The latter, similar to raschel, can knit various fabrics side by side, and so is used for many narrow trims called “braids,” such as gimp and ball fringe. 

Minor Warp Knits: Simplex is a machine with two horizontal needle bars and two guide bars, producing a double tricot type of warp knit in a fine gauge, with two threads to each loop. The needles in one bar are directly behind those in the other, in much the same way that needles in the weft knit interlock are aligned; like interlock, simplex looks like plain-stitch jersey on both sides. The fabric is very firm and stable, used for its greater firmness in lounge wear, uniforms, and gloves.

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