THE YARN INSPECTION SYSTEM

4.3 Knitted fabric defects

Defects depicted in this section have been placed into defect types based on their similarity of ap-
pearance. All noted defect types can be clearly distinguished visually. There is at least one cause
given for each defect. During the preparation of this section, we have consulted various literature, as
well as International ISO Standard, ISO 8499.

4.4 Causes and images of fabric defect types

KNITTED FABRIC DEFECTS / CIRCULAR KNITTED FABRICS

Defect Type Short definition and consequences

Bunching-up Visible knots in the fabric are referred to as bunching-up. They
appear as beads and turn up irregularly in the fabric
Cloth fall-out Cloth fall-out is an area consisting of drop stitches lying side by
side. They can occur either when a yarn is laid-out or when it
breaks without any immediate connection.
Cracks or holes Large holes could be caused by weak places in the yarn, leading
the yarn to give way or break during loop formation. Small holes
are often the result of a broken yarn
Crease Hard fold. This defect is often caused when take-down rollers have
no sliding rings or by distortation of the yarns during wet pro-
cessing.
Drop stitches Drop stitches are the result of a defective needle. They also occur
when a yarn is not properly fed during loop formation, i.e., not
properly laid in the needle hooks.
Distorted stitches Distorted stitches lead to a very unsettled fabric appearance. They
are most disturbing in single-color goods- the fabric appearance is
skittery.
Horizontal stripes Horizontal stripes are caused by unevenness in the courses; they
traverse horizontally and repeat themselves regularly or irregularly.
Snagging Filaments or yarns have been pulled out of the fabric. If these are
not removed properly, the connection between courses is broken,
and this results in an appearance very similar to cloth fall-out.
Soil stripes Soil stripes can appear both in the direction of wales as well as
courses.
Spirality Spirality is distortion of a circular- knitted fabric in which the wales
follow a spiral path around the axis of the tube.
Tuck or double stitches Tuck or double stitches occur due to badly knitted or non-knitted
loops.
Vertical stripes Vertical stripes can be observed as longitudinal gaps in the fabric.

Table 38 Knitted fabric defects

From this table, two defect, drop stitches and spirality, are described in detail in the following para-
graphs.

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Drop stitches
Drop stitches are the result of a defective needle. They also occur when a yarn is not properly fed
during loop formation, i.e., not properly laid in the needle hooks (Fig. 122 to Fig. 123).

Fig. 122 Drop stitches / drop stitches, front side Fig. 123 Drop stitches / drop stitches, rear side

Possible causes:
Badly set yarn feeder
Yarn feeder wrongly threaded-in
Dial loop length not properly related to cylinder loop length, so that the loop jumps out of the nee-
dle hook
Bad take-up
Very dry material or insufficient yarn tension

Spirality
Spirality is caused by using yarns which are twist-lively. Twist liveliness (Fig. 124) is the tendency of a
yarn to twist or untwist spontaneously. The direction and degree of spirality is determined by the di-
rection and degree of twist liveliness. Generally, twist liveliness is considered a negative attribute of a
spun yarn, and it is responsible for many post-spinning problems, such as yarn snarling and fabric
spirality. The other reason for spirality is the knitting machine. This type of spirality is mostly caused
by using a high number of feeders. The comparable defect on a flat-knitted fabric is referred to as
wale-spirality (Fig. 125 to Fig. 126) [2, 7, 21 and 22].

Fig. 124 Twist liveliness [7]

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Fig. 125 Measurement before laundering, / Wale- Fig. 126 Measurement after laundering, / Wale-spirality
[14] [14]

Possible causes:
Twist lively yarn
Circular knitting machine

Precautions against spirality (caused by yarn) [2, 21 and 22].

Use a yarn which has a lesser tendency to twist or untwist spontaneously.
Use a yarn which has undergone steam or water treatments prior to knitting.
If possible, produce double-jersey structures instead of single-jersey structures.
Knit as tight as possible.
Use ply yarn instead of single yarn.
Use S-twist yarn and Z-twist yarn alternately (1. feeder: S-twist, 2. feeder Z-twist, etc.).
Use a yarn which has a twist direction contrary to the direction of the machine revolution.

Precautions against spirality (caused by knitting machine) [2, 21 and 22].

Use less feeders (e.g. instead of 96, use 48 feeders).
Be sure that fabric take-down equipment is working correctly and there is even tensioning,
spreading and winding of the fabric.
Perform wet-processing and finishing in the open-width form and use regulation systems against
spirality.
Use open-width take-down equipment at the circular knitting machine.

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5 Systems to control and avoid fabric defects

This chapter will explain how various USTER® tools and services can be used to control and to avoid
fabric defects. Chapter 5 gives a summary of all faults described, as well as an overview of the in-
struments and systems with which these faults can be detected and avoided. Additionally, recom-
mendations are given regarding quality management in the textile industry, especially with regard to
spinning mills and how they can improve their quality, as well as advising retailers on how they can
get the yarn quality they require.

5.1 Summary of fiber- and yarn-related faults and relevant USTER® tools

Fiber-related and yarn-related faults are listed in Table 39. The X marks in the table indicate which
USTER® product can be used to control and avoid these faults.

USTER TENSORAPID
USTER CLASSIMAT

USTER TENSOJET
USTER QUANTUM

USTER TESTER
USTER SLIVER
USTER AFIS

Fiber and yarn related faults

USTER HVI

QUANTUM
®

®
GUARD

Fiber-related faults
Immature fibers/ Immature fiber X X
Immature fibers/ Shiny neps or white specks X X
Short fibers X X
Neps and seed coat neps X X X
Trash and dust X X X
Color X X
Yarn-related faults
Seldom-occurring events / Thin places, thick
X X X X
places and neps
Long term mass variation X X X X X
Unevenness X X X X X X X X
Imperfections / Frequent thick places, thin
X X X X X
places, neps
Hairiness variation in fabrics / Pilling X X X X
Yarn contamination, foreign fibers X X X
Strength X X X X X X
Elongation X X X X X X
®
Table 39 The use of USTER products to control and avoid fiber and yarn related faults

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