In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to the processes that convert the

woven or knitted cloth into a usable material and more specifically to any
process performed after dyeing the yarn or fabric to improve the look,
performance, or hand feel of the finished textile or clothing.

Stentering is a mechanical finishing process of textile. It is done for the stretching of fabric

by the stenter machine. In other words we can say stentering is done for
gripping the edges of a moving web to support the web during heating and
stretching operations.
A stenter (sometimes called a tenter) is a specialist oven used in the textile industry for drying and
heat treating fabric after wet processing.

A Stenter machine is an electrical machine in the textile industry for stretching or stentering
thin fabrics.
The purpose of the stenter machine is to bringing the length and width to pre-determine
dimensions and also for heat setting and it is used for applying finishing chemicals and also
shade variation is adjusted. The main function of the stenter is to stretch the fabric widthwise
and to recover the uniform width.

Finishing is a term used in the textile industry to describe the operations that turn woven or
knitted fabric into useable material, and more particularly, any technique conducted after
dyeing the fabric or yarn to improve the performance, look, or handle of the finished textile or
clothing.
A stenter (also known as a tenter) is a special oven used for drying and heat treating fabric after
wet processing.
Textile stentering is a mechanical finishing procedure. It is used by the stenter machine to
stretch the fabric. To put it another way, stentering is the process of grabbing the edges of a
moving fabric in order to support it during heating and stretching processes.
The stenter machine's aim is to bring the length and width to pre-determined proportions, as
well as for heat setting, adding finishing chemicals, and adjusting shade variance. The stenter's
main purpose is to stretch the fabric widthwise and then recover to its uniform width. Stenter
drying is an excellent way to achieve weft straightening and edge uncurling, and the necessary
machinery are installed at the entrance end. The two driving chains holding pins (or clips) to
retain the cloth edges for passage through the enclosed drying compartments are the most
important features of a stenter. The guiding arrangements are designed for precision pinning of
the edges, with the option of overfeeding the fabric to allow for any required fabric length
adjustments while the width is extended to the precisely set amount. Flow chart of stentering
process can be examined as follows:
 Fabric loading
↓
Centering
↓
Padding
↓
Weft straightening
↓
Lower overfeeding
↓
Expending
↓
Upper overfeeding
↓
Uncurling
↓
Pinning on
↓
Heat setting
↓
Air cooling
↓
Pinning off
↓
Unload plating

Fabric inlet

J – Box

Chemical tank

Bianco

Gripping chain

↓
 Dry chamber

Cooling r/r

J – Box

Fabric out le

Main Parts of Stenter Machine

1. Feed Zone

 Centering device
 Padding mangles
 Guide rollers

Fabric is at first put into the feed zone, which passes the fabric through the padding zone.

2. Chemical Padding Zone

 Chemical tank
 Squeezing roller

The cloth is run through a tray holding softening chemicals in the padding zone until it is entirely
saturated with softeners. Without refilling the chemical tank, a maximum of 250-300kg cloth can be fed.
The cloth is next passed to the bending control zone, where the squeezing rollers squeeze out any excess
softener.
A typical recipe for soft finish: Fabric construction: 88×38/10×10, oxford
1. Sapamine cws: 12 gm/lt
2. Argafix t-8 : 12 gm/lt
iii. Acetic acid: 1 gm/lt

1. Temperature: 60 – 70 ‘C
2. Fabric speed: 50 m/min
A typical recipe for water repellent finish: Fabric construction: 116×52/16×16, Twill
1. Ultra gaurad 600 : 20 gm/lt
2. Phobal RHP: 60 gm/lt
iii. Phobal XAN: 10 gm/lt

1. Paraset VA : 15 gm/lt
2. Appriton EM: 40 gm/lt
3. Acetic acid: 1.0 gm/lt
vii temperature: 150 – 160’C

vii. Fabric speed: 60 m/min

3. Bowing Control Zone

 Rubber bowing roller

 Sensor
 Expanded steel roller

The steel rollers travel to and fro to manage the horizontal stripes of striped fabrics, while the bowing
rollers set the bowing angles and reduce spirality.

4. Chain Entry Zone

 Sensor
 Brush roller
 Overfeed roller
 Selvedge uncurlers
 Pinning wheels
 Pinned chains
 Moving rails

The fabric travels from the under-feed or feed-in roller to the overfeed roller through the guide roller.
The fabric is subsequently fed via selvedge uncurlers and pinning wheels, which grab the moving rail's
pins. The fabric GSM is controlled by the chain rail in the same way that a chain dryer does.

5. Drying Zone

 Internal gas burner

 Blower
 Air ducts

The drying zone is responsible for both fabric drying and spandex heat setting. On a stenter, heat is
delivered at 200°C for spandex-containing materials like spandex S/J and 180°C for PES-containing
fabrics. Temperature is gradually increased for curing, and the curing temperature is fixed for the last
four chambers of an eight chamber stenter.

6. Cooling Zone

 Cooling rollers

The water and air cooler rollers are in charge of cooling the heated fabric that has just emerged from the
drying zone.

7. Delivery Zone
  To and fro plaiting system

With the help of a to and fro plaiting system, the fabric is piled and folded and is ready for
further processing.
The fabric is is piled and folded, ready for further processing with the help of to and fro plaiting
system.

Working Principle
Convection is used for drying in a stenter frame. Blowers blow hot air on both the top and
bottom of the fabric as it travels through the machine's chamber. It has an unending chain on
each side of its frames to hold the fabric by both selvages as it enters the chamber. The gap
between the chains can be widened or narrowed. There are burners and blowers in each
chamber. Each chamber's temperature can be adjusted independently. There are two systems
for fabric gripping in stenter; to hold coarse fibers like twill fabric, a clip is used and to hold fine
fabric, pins are used.

Functions of Stenter Machine

Stenter machine needs to perform multiple tasks at a time because it is a multipurpose machine. The
main functions of a stenter are;

 The stenter machine controls the fabric's width deformation.

 A stenter machine prevents shrinkage of the fabric.
 The stenter machine applies a heat setting to certain fabrics, such as synthetic, lycra, and
blended fabrics.
 A stenter machine must be able to make and finish the chemical treatment.
 The machine controls the fabric's knit.
 In a stenter machine, the moisture balance is maintained.
 The spirituality is also controlled by the stenter machine.
 During this machine operation, GSM remains in the desired ratio.
 The stenter machine can also dry the fabric.
 The stenter machine applies a curing procedure to resin and fabric that is water resistant.

Working process of stenter

The fabric enters the machine by a batcher or a trolley, then passes through the
guide rollers and tensioners to the solution tank. Various finishing auxiliaries
are placed in the solution tank. The cloth is padded in the solution tank before
being removed and fed through the squeezing rollers, which squeeze it to the
appropriate percentage. The fabric is then straightened with the weft
straightener.
The fabric is gathered from the batcher or trolley to the scray in the feeding
unit, and then it is fed through the padders, where the finishes are applied and
shade variance is occasionally addressed. The weft straightener, also known as
mahlo, receives the fabric. The purpose of the weft straightener is to set the
bow and also to hold the weave of the fabric with clips and pins. The pins have
the disadvantage of making holes in the selvedge, but the stretching of the pins
is larger than the clips. These clips and pins are connected by an infinite chain.
There are sensors that detect and remove faults in the weave. The machine has
8 to 10 chambers, each with a burner and filters to separate dust from the air.
The circulation fans move air from the bottom to the top of the chambers,
while exhaust fans remove all of the heated air. The warp yarn is stretched
using attraction rollers.
There are sensors that detect and remove faults in the weave. The machine has
8 to 10 chambers, each with a burner and filters to separate dust from the air.
The circulation fans move air from the bottom to the top of the chambers,
while exhaust fans remove all of the heated air. The warp yarn is stretched
using attraction rollers. After stentering, the fabric's width can be increased to
1.5-2 inches. The machine's speed ranges from 7 to 150 meters per minute.
Each chamber can hold 3 meters of fabric.
Controlling Parameters

1. Nip pressure:
It is examined by checking liquor pick-up. It should be uniform throughout the
width and length. To obtain uniformity the necessary action is to check the
surface of padding mangle and adjust the pressure (pneumatically or
hydrolytically).

2. Bow and heading (skew) controllers:

During processing visual checking is necessary. There should be no bow or
heading in the fabric. The synchronisation of photo cell, heading and bowing
rollers is to be checked. The hardness and alignment of bowing rollers are to be
checked.

3. Chamber temperature:
Checking is by dial or digital thermometer. It is to be set as per the process and
quality. The necessary action is to regulate oil supply in the radiator. Proper
functioning of solenoid valve and digital controls are to be checked and
confirmed.

4. Dwell time:
This may be checked during the finishing process with a stopwatch. Dwell time
depends on the material quality and time recommended for the particular process
and is to be regulated accordingly.

5. Overfeeding:
Overfeeding is allowed during heat setting so that the fabric can recover from the
stress applied on it at various stages of its production by shrinking and becoming
dimensionally stable. During overfeeding fabric is fed to the stenter faster than
the running speed of the fabric. If the shrinking is to be allowed in width-wise
direction then the chains are kept closer and are not stretched.

 Method of checking: to check % overfeed a certain length of cloth is marked

before heat setting and the length between the marks is measured again after
the process.
 Action: the required optimum overfeed of synthetic and blended fabric of a
particular variety during heat setting is to be assessed beforehand.

6. Underfeeding:
During underfeeding speed of the fabric feed to the stenter machine should be
less than the output. This is done to stretch the length of the fabric.

7. Expanders and uncurlers:

During this process, usually the working of uncurlers is to be checked. Pneumatic
uncurlers and mechanical uncurlers are generally used.

 Standard: there should be no crease on the fabric.

 Necessary action: the smooth working condition of the uncurlers and smooth
revolution of the expanders are to be checked.

8. Blower:
Proper functioning of the blower during the finishing process is to be checked.

 Standard: proper air circulation.

 Necessary action: for proper air circulation, the air filters are to be cleaned.
The fan direction is to be checked – air is to be taken from out to in.

9. Width of the fabric:

Width is decided by the distance between the chains and it is to be checked at the
delivery end. Proper working of width adjusting shaft is to be ensured.
10. Leakages of thermic fluid:
There should be no leakages. If many small brown spots are seen on the fabric it
means that there are small leakages where the fluid falls as a spray. Larger brown
spots on the fabric may indicate bigger leakages.

Setting parameters for different of knit fabric