Brushing  I Calendered Cloth  I  Cropping  I  Felted Cloth  I  London Shrunk  I  Nap Finished 

Piece Dyed  I  High Temperature Setting

Brushing or Raising

After a normal wet finish the fabric is fed through rollers of either metal or natural bristles in order to raise the surface of the cloth.



Calendered Cloth

Calendered cloth has been subjected, in finishing, to heat while under pressure between rollers, which produces a smooth, glossy surface, and is applied to a great variety of cotton, linen, etc., fabrics.



Cropping

To produce a 'cleaner' surface to the cloth, it is passed through "cutting rollers' which crop excess fibres and hair that protrude onto the surface.
Top

Felted Cloth

In the felting, milling, or fulling process a wool cloth is moistened with warm soapy water, and is subjected to the intermittent applications of pressure in length and in width. Under the influence of the pressure and moisture the fibres are matted and interlocked. The cloth shrinks in width and length, and from a bare thready structure as it leaves the loom it is changed to a dense, full, and compact structure. The matting and interlocking of the fibres is largely dependent on the prominence of the epithelial scale structure, and the best felting wools are the fine merinos and the poorest the smooth lustrous wools and hairs. Woollen fabrics will felt much more readily than worsted fabrics, and for heavy felting the yarns should be as soft spun as possible. As weft may be more slackly twisted than warp, the shrinkage is generally greater in width than in length, and a cloth should be set in the loom to allow for the amount of contraction that will take place in the felting process.
Top


London shrunk cloth

All-wool cloth which, after the ordinary finishing operation, has been passed several times, without tension, through hot and then cold water, and afterwards slowly dried by hanging on poles in a warm chamber to make it thoroughly shrunk. In another method the cloth is folded in wet sheets, in which it lies for 24 hours, after which the wet sheets are removed, and the cloth lies for another 24 hours in a pile before it is hung up and dried. The thoroughly shrunk condition is particularly required by tailors in order that there will be no irregular shrinking of the cloth when it is damped and hot-pressed; the made-up garment also keeps its shape better during subsequent wear.
Top


Nap Finish

The fibres are first made to stand vertically from the foundation of a woollen cloth, as in the velvet pile finish, and then are rubbed into the form of small curls or nubs.
Top


Piece Dyed Cloth

Woven cloth with the yarn in the grey condition, scoured, and then dyed, this being the most convenient and economical method of applying colour to a fabric.
Top

High Temperature Setting

After a normal finish the cloth is subjected to heat and pressure far in excess of anything in the normal life of the cloth. This effect produces a high performance, smooth and lustrous fabric.
Top

Holland & Sherry Textile Guide