Glossary of terms used on this site

During the scutching process, which is done to produce fibre long enough and straight enough to be carded and combed, short flax and hemp fibres are removed. The short fibres are the used to produce thicker rougher yarns. The short flax or hemp fibres are referred to as tow.

Towelling is used for drying and appropriately should be made from absorbent fibres, such as short to medium staple cotton. However, towelling is also made with linen and other natural, absorbent fibres. Can be woven or knitted with Jacquard patterns or simply in plain weave with the loops as extra warp. There are several types of towelling, which include: terry cloth or towelling, turkish towelling, huckerback towelling, honeycomb towelling, crash or knitted towelling also terry velvet. Terry, which is synonymous with turkish towelling usually to means an uncut loop, warp-pile fabric. The loops are created by applying a high tension to the ground warp and varying the tension of the pile warp, which is wound on a second backbeam. The pile is created by varying the position of the fell of the cloth with the position of the reed. The word towel comes from the High German word dwahan, meaning to wash, from which the modern German word zwehle comes.

Tram is medium twisted thread formed by twisting 2 to 3 silk yarns together with low twists of l00 to l50 tpm (twists per metre). It is moderately strong, soft and has a good handle (feel) and is mostly used as weft.

Refers chiefly to cotton trash meaning the foreign matter, such as sand, soil, stones, broken seeds and bits of wood found in the bales of raw cotton. Fine trash refers to cotton dust.

The French verb tricoter means to knit. The term tricot has become synonymous with fine warp knitted fabrics like milanese.

Usually refers to a type of narrow fabric generally used in decorating curtains, upholstery or clothing without any other functional use. See narrow fabrics.

A method of implanting a soft, spun yarn into a backing cloth to produce a pile fabric. Used in the manufacture of carpets and candlewick cloths.

A net fabric which was traditionally made of 100% silk and now can be made from cotton or man-made fibres. The distinctive feature of an hexagonal mesh was first produced on a type of lace machine in Nottingham, England in 1768 and in 1809 the bobbinet machine was invented. In 1817 the industry expanded when a factory opened in Tulle, France.

Curcuma domestica, a plant known as halda produces a fugitive yellow dye.

From the Hindu word tasar, derived from the Sanscrit tasara meaning shuttle. A variety of hard silk from the cocoon produced by the tussah silkworm, from the genus antheraea, which spins its cocoon on the branches of the terminalia tree, the leaves of which it eats. Often referred to as wild silk. Found in Japan, China and India.

A term given to a long list of medium weight, rough woollen fabrics, usually made with a 2-up and 2-down weave, such as twill weave or hopsack weave. Tweed can be made in solid colours, mixtures, blends, stripes, checks, with dobby patterns or Jacquard patterns, but all should traditionally be made of 100% wool. The word tweed came about by accident, by the slip of a London cloth merchant\'s pen in about 1840, when referring to a consignment of \'tweel cloth\' woven with a twill weave in the Borders of Scotland. Coincidently much of the tweed industry developed and remained for many years along the banks of the River Tweed, in the Borders of Scotland. Tweed has a variety of uses including jackets , suits, skirts and hats. Some of the most well known tweeds are: Bannockburn, Connemara, Harris, Irish, Knickerbocker, Linton, Lovat, Shetland and Thornproof.

A strong folded, doubled, plied or multi-plied yarn usually made of long staple vegetable or man-made fibres. Usually stronger than string.

The amount of twist in a yarn plays an important part in determining its character, in particular its hardness or softness and strength. Variation in twist will have considerable effect on the appearance of a fabric and shows in the dyeing and finishing. The measure of twist hardness is a number called the twist factor (twist multiplier).

Twist factor (measured in any indirect yarn count system such as cotton) = Twist, Turns Per Inch (T.P.I.) divided by the square root of the yarn count.
or
Twist factor (measured in any direct yarn count system, e.g. Tex) = Twist, Turns Per Inch (T.P.I.) multiplied by the square root of the yarn count.

Sometime Twist factors are calculated on the basis of Turns Per Metre (T.P.M.)

In the case of yarns which are spun by intermittent methods, for example the drop spindle, spinning wheel or Indian charkha, the twist is inserted into the yarn by rotation of the spindle, one turn of the spindle per one turn of twist in the yarn.  Yarns spun by the continuous methods twist is inserted into the yarn if one end is held and the other swung round in a circular path and simultaneously wound onto a bobbin or other type of collector. Testing the twist (T.P.I. or T.P.M.) of yarn can be done using a simple twist testing device.

There are three definitions of union cloths:

1. A fabric manufactured in England from a cotton warp and shoddy weft. The cloth is heavily napped.
2. A fabric made with the warp yarn of one fibre differing from the weft yarn of another fibre. For example it is common to find tea towels made with linen warps and cotton wefts.
3. A fabric woven from yarns made by twisting together single yarns of differing fibres, such as linen and cotton.