Singeing:

The objectives of singeing of fabrics are;

1. Surface hair helps to trap air in the fabric when its is

immersed in water, this means that it takes longer for water
to enter the fabric since it must it must first displace the air.
Singeing, therefore, helps to increases the fabric’s
wettabillity.
2. It creates a smooth surface for printing on. It may be possible
to print fine detail on a hairy surface but once the hair moves
again after printing, the detail will become fuzzy and
indistinct.
3. To emphasize the woven structures of the fabric it that is
considered desirable.
4. It prevents a “frosty” appearance after dyeing. A hairy fabric
which has been dyed may have a somewhat “cloudy” or
“frosty” appearance; the projecting dyed hair give the fabric
surface the appearance of being patter than the body of the
fabric.
5. To prevent or minimize the tendency of blend fabrics
composed of cellulose and synthetic fibers (mainly polyester)
to form pills. Pill are the little balls of fiber that arise on the
surface of some fabrics as a results of the abrasion that
occurs during usage.

Singeing is continuous process carried out on dry open-width fabric. It

may be done on one side only or on both sides of the fabric but I every
case it is necessary to do it at very high cloth speeds. Speeds of 150 to
400 m/min are typical to avoid scorching the fabric. This I usually the
first stage in a preparation sequence. Cotton woven fabrics would
normally be singed but knitted fabric would not.

To be suitable for singeing, the fiber needs to be one that does not
form hard, black residues when it burns or one that does not easily
melt. Cotton and other cellulose fibers behave ideally on singeing
because they form a light, dusty ash which is easily removed
afterward. Wool on the other hand forms a hard residue and fabrics
composed of acrylics fiber, for example may discolor and distort when
singed.

Immediately after passing through the singeing region of the machine,

the fabric is quenched by running it through water or steam-box to
extinguish any remaining sparks and embers.

The tendency to pilling can be

controlled:
 By the fiber producers
 By the spinner, knitter
or weaver
 By the finisher
1. Heat setting
2. Shearing after brushing
3. Singeing after shearing
4. Finish decatising as
final operation.
In short

Gassing of the yarn is, therefore, often avoided, and replaced by

singeing the fabric. This involves for the most part woven fabrics -
often shirting and blousing - but knitted fabrics are also singed to
achieve the highest quality.
The effort involved is less than for gassing the yarn. Singeing can often
be combined with other processes during finishing, which also reduce
costs. The drawback of this process is that only those hairs can be
burned off which protrude out of the fabric. Fiber ends bound into the
fabric structure cannot be eliminated.
In order to achieve better results, the singeing process is therefore,
frequently repeated Fibers are still lost and hairs trapped in the thread
intersections can also free themselves quickly later during use.
Possible soot residues are potential sources of faults in subsequent
processes.