Textile production process

Cotton Fabric

Cotton fiber undergoes several process to reach the stage of final cloth. The
processes are as mentioned below:

Ginning
Ginning is the method of separating the cotton fibers from the seedpods, and
sometimes with the sticky seeds. This is done in the cotton field with the help of
machines.

Spinning
Spinning is the succeeding step to ginning. This process involves the making of
yarn from the cotton fiber. The cotton yarns are made of different thickness in this
stage.

Weaving
Weaving is the most important process in the making of cotton cloth. In this
process, two yarn is placed to make warp and weft of a loom which successively
turn them into a cloth.
Fabric finishes and treatments
After weaving the cotton fabric passes through different processing stages till it
reaches to the state of final product. The stages are mentioned below, but it is
not necessary for the fabric to undergo all the process for e.g. grain bags cloth
are used unbleached.

o Singeing - This process burns off the fibers sticking in the goods.

o Desizing - This process involves removing the size material from warp
yarns in woven fabrics.

o Scouring - The cleaning part of the fabrics are involved in this process.
 o Bleaching - The fabrics are bleached here to make it more whiter and
lighter.

o Mercerizing - In this process, the fabric is immersed in alkali to make it

more strong, shining, durable, shrink free and stretch free.

o Dyeing - This process involves the changing of the fabric color by the
treatment with a dye.

Finishing - In this process, the fabric is treated with some chemicals or other
useful agents to make it qualitatively more better, for e.g. cotton is made sun
protected by treating it with UV protecting agent.

Leather Fabric

Pre-tanning

o Animal skin is cleaned and salted to prevent decay.

o The hide or pelt then is sent to tannery for trimming and sorting.

o Next, it is soaked in water to restore moisture content, which is lost during

salting process.

o It is treated mechanically with rollers and blades to remove fat/muscle and

flesh (Fleshing).

o During liming the skin is soaked in lime solution to remove the hair, inter-
fibrillary protein and epidermis.

o In De-liming the hide or pelt is washed in water containing ammonium

chloride or ammonium sulphate to neutralise it.

o Bating involves treating the leather with digestive enzymes to remove non-
fibrous protein.

o Scudding is done with a blunt knife to remove remaining hair roots, skin
pigmentation, and surface fats.

o Lastly, it is put in sulphuric acid to lower the pH.

Tanning
Tanning is the process where the leather gets the necessary feel and physical
characteristics. In this process, the collagen, an insoluble fibrous protein, which
carries the major property of the hide or pelt gets less susceptible to decay and
are kept flexible. This is done by removing the water molecules from the gap of
protein molecules and replacing it with chemicals that retain flexibility.

The main tanning processes are mineral/chrome tanning, vegetable tanning and
oil tanning.

o Mineral/chrome tanning is the most common and modern method, which

uses chromium salts. This makes leather water proof and stretchable.

o Vegetable tanning, or bark tanning is the process where the hide is

soaked in a solution of bark of oak/chestnut which is chopped or boiled.
The leather becomes moldable and can be tooled. Moreover when dry, the
leather will not stretch.

o Oil tanning is a process where fish and animal oil is used. The leather
becomes very soft and flexible. It cope up with wetted condition without
causing damage to the leather. Chamois leather is best example of oil
tanning.

Lubricating, Dyeing and Finishing

After tanning, the leather undergoes different processes according to the use of
the final product.

o Vegetable-tanned leather which are used for shoe soles is bleached,

lubricated and then run through rolling machines to make it firm and glossy.

o Chrome-tanned leather, for shoe uppers, is split and shaved and then
placed in a rotating drum for the dyeing process using several types of
coloring materials to give color fastness and durability.

o Before or after dyeing, it is rolled in a fat liquor containing emulsified oils

and greases. Next, the leather is pasted on glass or ceramic frames and
then passed through drying tunnels with controlled heat and humidity.
In the finishing process, the leather is coated with grain surface which contains
finishing compound. This is brushed under a revolving brush-covered cylinder.
For smooth finish, the leather is treated with a mixture of waxes, shellac or
emulsified synthetic resins, dyes, and pigments (to avoid painted look). Glazing is
done to achieve polished surface.

Silk Fabric

From Cocoon to Yarn

Silk from cultivated silkworms is more used though silk of wild worms is also
valuable. The worms feed on mulberry leaves and increases their body size by
nearly 10,000 times in a short span of time. The worm ceases to eat by the end
of thirty days and attach itself to a piece of straw and begins to spin its cocoon.
After the spinning of cocoon and before the hatching of the worm into a moth, the
cocoon is soaked in hot water unraveling and producing long size thread. This
fine thread is the basic component of silk yarn and fabric.

Washing and bleaching of the silk threads

The natural fiber extracted from the silkworm holds some glutinous substance
(gummy substance or glue) which is removed by washing and bleaching.

Weaving
Weaving is a process where the fabric is created by interlacing the warp yarns
and the weft yarns. It is either done by machines or hand. Hand woven fabric is
better than the machine woven. It can make delicate designs with different
colored thread. Modern machines use lances, projectiles, a jet of compressed air
to shoot the weft-yarn between the warp-yarns. It leads to greater yield and
productivity.

A good quality of silk begins with a warp of approximately 2,000 threads for one
meter width. 1,600 threads or 1,800 threads are considered to be poor quality
fabric. Loosely woven fabrics are difficult to sew.
Dyeing, Printing and Finishing
There are two main types of silk fabrics. One which is yarn-dyed or dyed-woven,
like taffeta, duchess satin and many pattern-woven fabrics. The other type is
piece-dyed fabrics, which is carried out after weaving, like crepes, twills, etc. The
dyeing process gives the silk different shades.

Printing is giving pattern to the fabric. It is either done by block-printing method,

roller-printing method or screen printing. Screen printing is widely used in silk
fabrics.

Embroidery process gives embellishment and the perfect finish to the fabric to
make it look more beautiful.

All fabrics has to be finished. It is here the fabric gets the desired appearance
and feel. Finishing process is either physical or chemical. It give treatments like
crease-proofing, water-proofing, fire-proofing, etc.

Final soaking in a chemical solution

This process helps to preserve the sheen and luster of the silk fabric. It adds
weight and makes the fabric soft, smooth, easy to iron and wrinkle resistant.