Overview
The term textile industry describes the industry in which the production, processing,
manufacture, and distribution of fabrics occurs. Fabrics are made using raw materials that
are transformed into yarns and then knit or woven together. The starting point for any
textile or apparel product is the raw fiber. To go from fiber to finished
garment, the process is generally as follows:
1. Fibers are most commonly transformed into yarn
2. Yarns are intertwined by either a weaving or a knitting process to form fabrics, or knit
directly into garments.
3. Fabrics are cut into garment components; components are sewn into garments.
4. Garments may be embroidered, dyed, “stone washed,” or otherwise further
processed.
Color may be imparted to a fabric at the fiber, yarn, fabric, and / or assembled garment
stage through dyeing and / or printing processes.
Fibers
Fibers are the raw material for any textile product. They are thin, flexible, hair – like
strands of matter that range in length from a few centimeters to hundreds of meters.
Short fibers (from a few to many centimeters in length) are called staple fibers. Long,
continuous fibers are called filament fibers.
Fibers are the smallest units from which fabrics are made, by on process or another.
Some fibers are short, other is very long, some are kinky, others are straight and smooth,
some are scaly and some are twisted.
Varieties of Textile Fibers (according to nature of source)
1. Naturalfound in nature in fibrous form. Example: vegetable fiber, animal fiber and mineral
fiber
2. Man-madetransformed by man from non-fibrous sources. Example: natural polymer and
synthetic fibers
3. Manufactured –
made from cellulose or protein Example: viscose rayon, acetate, olefins
The difference between “manufactured” and “synthetic” fibers is that the manufactured
fibers are derived from naturally-occurring cellulose or protein, while synthetic fibers are
not. And manufactured fibers are unlike natural fibers because they require extensive
processing (or at least more than is required by natural fibers) to become the finished
product. The category of “manufactured” fibers is often called regenerated cellulose”
fibers. Cellulose is a carbohydrate and the chief component in the walls of plants
Major Steps in Textile Industry
Singeing The verb ‘singe’ literally means ‘to burn superficially’. Technically, singeing
refers to the burning-off of. Loose fibres not firmly bound into the yarn and/or fabric
structure. Singeing is an important part of pretreatment. This is the burning off of
protruding fiber ends from the surface of the fabric. If not done properly, unclear print
patterns, mottled fabric surfaces, and pilling results.
Singeing of fabric is done in order to achieve the following objectives.
 To improve pilling rating of fabric
 To give a uniform luster to the surface
 Removal of projection fiber.
DESIZING The removal of sizing material is called desizing. It is done in desizng chamber.
In this way the sizing material is removed.
Types of Desizing
Following methods are used for desizing.
• Water Desizing
• Acid Desizing
• Enzymatic Desizing
1-Water De-Sizing
 It is the oldest method for desizing. For this purpose, we use hot water. If our sizing
material is soluble in water then it becomes soluble in water and is removed in this way.
2-Acid Desizing
 For acid desizing we use very dilute HCL or H2SO4 for 4---8 hours. It is done at room
temperature.
3-Enzymatic Desizing
 In this method certain enzymes are used for biodegradation of sizing material (starch)
such as amylase (C6H10O5) n amylase n(CO2) + n(H2O) +energy
Scouring
The term ‘scouring’ applies to the removal of impurities such as oils, waxes, gums, soluble
impurities and sold dirt commonly found in textile material and produce a hydrophilic and
clean cloth.
Objective of Scouring : Scouring removes all the waxes and makes the textile material
hydrophilic or water absorbent.
BLEACHING
Bleaching means the removal of the all color impurities. Woven and knitwear fabric that
made of wool, cotton and silk are not white. Owing to their natural color or contamination
in the preceding process, for fabric that have to dyed in pure white or any color, the has
to bleached. Bleaching is done by different methods such as
Hydrogen peroxide(H2O2)
Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO)
Sodium Chlorite (NaClO2)
Mercerizing
The luster, Dye affinity and tensile strength of the cotton can be increased by mercerizing.
This gives knitwear a smoother feel and higher dimensional stability. Mercerizing is
specially applied on cotton products such as bed-linen table cloth and fabric for dresses.
The material is treated with concentrated caustic soda solution .the fiber surface become
smoother so that the light reflecting ability and thus gloss is increased.
Dyeing
Dyeing is the process of coloring textile materials by immersing the in an aqueous solution
of dye called dye liquor. Generally the dye liquor consists of dye, water and other such
materials which increase the effect of dyeing. Heat is usually applied to the liquor.
Some specific dyeing materials are mentioned for some fiber materials. Different dyeing
materials are used for different fiber materials. Various dyeing materials exists, as the
fiber possess different reactive groups due to their chemical structure
Cellulose: • Direct Dyes • Vat Dyes • Reactive Dyes • Sulfur dyes
Wool: • Acid Dyes • Chrome Developed dyes
Polyester: • Disperse dyes
Printing
Printing is actually a type of dyeing. The main difference between printing and dyeing is
that in dyeing the fabric is given one color only by dipping in the solution of dye, whereas
in printing different colors are applied according to the requirement of design. 14
PRINTING MACHINE
 For printing usually four types of machines are used.
• roller printing machine
• multi roller printing machine
• flat belt printing machine
• rotary printing machine
FINISHING DEPARTMENT
In finishing department final process is done. The fabric is brought to finishing department
after bleaching, dyeing or printing. Many qualities are produced in fabric during finishing.
The Finishing process is divided into two major portions
1. Mechanical Finishing This is surface treatment of textile by means of special
mechanical processing machine. This process is used to developed the special fabric
characteristics e.g. Shearing, Gigging, Calendaring.
2. Thermal Finishing Thermal Finishing includes finishing process that requires warmth,
coating of chemical finishes and drying processes are belong to this group.
STANTER MACHINE
It is very important machine which is used to finish and dry the fabric. Its main purposes
are:
 Adjustment of fabric width
 Coating (chemical finishes)
The main parts of Stanter machine are:
 Chemical bath
 Stretching frame
 Drying chamber
 Cooling chamber