Glossary

Short, lightweight cotton-like fibers from the seed pod of trees of the family Bomb acabeae. A very brittle fiber, it is generally not spun. It is used for stuffing cushions, mattresses etc. and for life jackets because of its buoyancy and moisture resistance.

The basic protein constituent of wool and other hair fibers.

A heavily fulled or milled woolen fabric having a high lustrous nap and a 'grainy' face, kersey is frequently used in overcoats.

1. A light yellowish brown. 2. A khaki-colored cloth of cotton, wool or combinations of these fibers with manufactured fibers used primarily in military uniforms and work-clothes.

A large metal tank, capable of being heated uniformly, used for wet processing.

Process of boiling cellulosic materials in alkaline liquors in a kier at or above atmospheric pressure.

1. In fabrics, a place where a short length of yarn has spontaneously doubled back on itself. 2. In yarn, see SNARL.
Also see: KINKY THREAD LOOPED YARN CENTER LOOP LOOP-KNOT CURL

The doubling back of yarn on itself to relieve torque imparted by twisting or texturing.

See KINK

A method to evaluate the performance of fabrics, especially boys wear, when subjected to abrasion, stretch, and impact forces under conditions which simulate ordinary wear at the knee.

Abnormal behavior of a spinning threadline (especially in melt spinning) in which one or more filaments form an angle (knee).

A structure produced by inter-looping one or more ends of yarn or comparable material. (Also see KNITTING.)

See TEXTURING KNIT-DE-KNIT METHOD Also see: SPACE DYEING

In this method of texturing, the yarn is knit into a 2-inch diameter hose-leg, heat-set in an autoclave, and then unraveled and wound onto a final package. This texturing method produces a crinkle yarn. (Also see TEXTURED YARNS CRINKLE YARN.)
Also see: KNIT-DE-KNIT

A form of tricot knitting in which yarns on each bar of a two-bar machine are knit at alternate courses only. This type of knitting permits the use of heavy-denier yarns without creating undesirable bulkiness in the fabric.

A method of constructing fabric by interlocking series of loops of one or more yarns. The two major classes of knitting are warp knitting and weft knitting, as follows: WARP KNITTING MILANESE KNITTING RASCHEL KNITTING TRICOT KNITTING WEFT KNITTING CIRCULAR KNITTING and FLAT KNITTING.
Also see: KNIT FABRIC TRICOT

Prepared in the alkaline liquor consisting of sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate and sodium sulfide. Also called sulfate pulp.
Also see: SULFATE PULP

A yarn made by twisting a strip of paper manufactured from kraft pulp.

This yarn produced by tightly twisting plant fiber is sometimes used in carpet backings.

Continuous process for shrink-proofing wool tops in which there is a direct chlorination step with no intervening chemical reaction followed by anti-chlorination and neutralization. Provides better hand and strength than conventional shrink-proofing.

Continuous dye range for carpets. The unit wets the carpet, applies dyes and auxiliary chemicals by means of a doctor blade, fixes the dyes in a festoon steamer, and washes and dries the carpet in one pass through the range. An optional auxiliary unit maybe installed to randomly drip selected dyes onto the background shade for special styling effects. This process is called TAK dyeing.
Also see: TAK DYEING