Denim Dictionary A guide to denim terminology at Lands End

B Boot Cut: Jean leg that tapers to the knee, then flares slightly at the hem for a wider leg opening. Busted Seams: Seams that are pressed open so that they lie flat and smooth for a better appearance. Lands End ensures its seams are busted. (Available in 47IndigoTM and Handcrafted Denim). C City Waist: This is the lowest jean waist Lands End offers. Classic Waist: Jeans that sit slightly below the natural waist. Curvy Fit: A new fit in Lands End womens denim designed specifically for women with waists significantly smaller than hips. It prevents the waistband from gapping in the back on curvy women. Crocking: The process of removing dyes by rubbing the fabric. Crocking can occur under dry or wet conditions. Denim is notorious for crocking, which is very hard to control due to indigos dye properties. D Denim: Highly durable, typically all-cotton, fabric with a twill weave. Just as Lands End travels to Inner Mongolia to find the finest cashmere, Lands End knows the best sources and suppliers of denim. Details: Jean elements that create a unique look such as molded buttons on Hand-crafted Denim, thread color and stitching width. Dips: Immersing fabric yarns into dye vats. When denim warp threads are dipped in indigo-and then emerge to oxidize, the shade darkens achieving deeper degrees of depth. F 47IndigoTM: 47Indigo Denim is named for the way the yarns get their color: theyre dipped in indigo dye 46 times and then washed in one of four ways. The finished washes range from Indigo Rinse (the darkest), to one year, three year and five year (the most faded). Fit Labels: The inside label on jeans with fit information and size. Lands End features easy-to-read labels so reordering your favorite jeans is a snap. Page | 1

H Hand Crafted: Intricate detailing on high-quality denim products. Application whiskering and sanding details by hand to each jean, giving an individualized uniqueness to each pair made. This is the epitome of high-end denim. Hand Sanding: A special process of carefully running sandpaper across denim to create a naturally worn look. Hang Tag: The exterior tags on jeans with product and fit information. -more-

The Denim Dictionary from Lands End / Page Two

I Indigo: The blue to violet pigment in which cotton fibers are dyed to give denim its blue color. Indigo was originally extracted from the Indigofera tinctoria plant. Most indigos today are man made. Generally, yarns are dipped in indigo anywhere from 8 to 16 times, but can be more or less depending on final shade and wash desired. For example the Lands End 47Indigo jeans are dipped 46 times and rinsed once. Indigo Rinse: A rinse following dying that helps retain the indigo pigment. Lands End Indigo Rinse jeans are dark. Inseam: Length of inside leg seam. M Mercerization: Fabric or yarn is immersed in a caustic soda solution and later neutralized in acid. The process causes a permanent swelling of the fiber, resulting in an increased luster on the surface of the fabric, an increased ability to absorb dyes, and greater strength. Modern Waist: For women, these jeans sit below the waist. N No-waist Waistband: The waistband is cut all in one with the pants for a smoother fit and feel. P

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Premium: Usually refers to high-end denim used to make jeans. Lands End uses premium denim from sources in places such as Italy and Japan. Or, it may have high-quality spandex woven with the cotton fibers. R Relaxed Fit: A more generous fit with more room at the thigh and knee and a tapered leg. Ringspun Denim: Ringspun refers to denim cotton threads on ringspun jeans. Ringspun yarns are stronger because they are drawn and spun the old-fashioned way, rather than blown together like open- end yarns. They exhibit greater character because of natural variations called slubs that occur during spinning. Riser: Often referred to as a yoke on pants, this is the piece of fabric above the back pockets that is sewn in to create a rise below the waistband. It is typically triangular and adds shape to the jeans. S Selvage: This term derives from self-edge. Its a highly durable edging on a fabric bolt so that the fiber wont fray. Lands End incorporates selvage seams into its mens Hand-crafted Denim to create an authentic look and wear. Selvage Denim: Denim made on narrow-gauge looms the very same American looms used before the 1970s which are now in Japan. Shanks/Tacks: Metal buttons used on waistband closures. The shank is the front piece and the tack is the back. Lands End uses high-quality shanks and tacks that are either stamped with the Lands End logo or form molded such as in our Hand-crafted Denim.

-more-

The Denim Dictionary from Lands End / Page Three

T Tapered Leg: Jeans that narrow gently from thigh to ankle. Trouser Leg: A straighter, slightly fuller leg. Traditional Waist: Jeans that sit at the natural waist. W Page | 3

Weathered Edges: Slight wear-like nicks along the edges of pockets, waistlines and hems. Usually, these weathered edges occur after extended wash and wear or may be created on new jeans. Whiskering: The lighter-colored lines of whiskers that occur as jeans naturally wear. These typically appear as creases at the pockets or behind the knees. Lands End creates whiskering for a more natural, lived-in look. Workwear Fit: A new mens jean fit that is similar to the Relaxed Fit, but sits a bit lower on the waist, more eased in seat with a straight leg and wider leg opening.

Denim Index Abrasion:

The effect of any abrasive material on denim to give a worn appearance. Normally pumice stone are used to gain this effect.

Absorbency

The ability of a fabric to take in moisture. Absorbency is a very important property, which affects many other characteristics such as skin comfort, static build-up, shrinkage, stain removal, water repellency, and wrinkle recovery.

Acid wash:

A mottled stone wash effect developed in the mid 80s. Stones were soaked in bleach (normally potassium permanganate) and then added to the washer without any water. Rarely used after 1994.

Antique:

Any denim wash with heavy denim wash with heavy abrasion. The finish is often created with brushes or by sand blasting Page | 4

Aqua Denim :

The very 1st collection of water protective jeans ergonomic styling. Made for people who are into alternative mean of transport (scooters, rollerblades, bikes, skateboards)

Baggy:

First introduced in the LC range in 1978. Oversized at every possible point.

Bartacks:

28 stitches used to attach belt loops and reinforce seams.

Bell bottom:

Bottom based on the old sailors trouser, the bell bottom first appeared in the 60s and has re-appeared on an irregular basis ever since.

Belt loops:

First used on jeans by Levis in 1922 when belts became the popular alternative to braces.

Bleach:

(Normally Sodium Hypochlorite) Used to fade the indigo dye during washing.

Boot cut:

Cut The 90s version of the flare. Page | 5

Broken twill:

A weave construction that gives a mottled appearance to the garment. .

Brushed:

A soft, slightly furry finish originally obtained by mechanical methods but now simulated through a variety of washing techniques.

Bull:

Denim a heavy (14.5oz +) undyed 3/1 twill fabric that was particularly popular in the Far East during the 80s.

Bedford Cord

A cord cotton-like fabric with raised ridges in the lengthwise direction. Since the fabric has a high strength and a high durability, it is often used for upholstery and work clothes.

Blend

A term applied to a yarn or a fabric that is made up of more than one fiber. In blended yarns, two or more different types of staple fibers are twisted or spun together to form the yarn. Examples of a typical blended yarn or fabric is polyester/cotton.

Carding:

Carding straightens out the yarns prior to spinning.

Carrot: Page | 6

A baggy knee style with a tight bottom hem that was particularly popular in the mid 80s.

Chambray:

A term used for the lightest weights of denim generally bellow 6oz with 11 weave.

Chinos:

Classic, basic slacks often worn with jeans wear. A favorite of 50s teenagers and college students. The name comes from the nickname given to the fabric, because the tailors who worked with it were Chinese.

Coin pocket:

The characteristic fifth pocket found on the front of all true jeans (other name: watch pocket).

Corduroy:

Strong, durable fabric with a cotton ground and vertical cut pile stripes formed by an extra system of filling yarns. Often used as an alternative to denim in Jeanswear garments.

Cellulose

A material derived from the cell walls of certain plants. Cellulose is used in the production of many vegetable fibers, as well as being the major raw material component used in the production of the manufactured fibers of acetate, rayon, and triacetate.

Colorfastness

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A term used to describe a dyed fabrics ability to resist fading due to washing, exposure to sunlight, and other environmental conditions.

Crocking

A term used to describe how dye rubs off fabric on skin or other fabric.

Crosshatch

Mixing uneven yarns in both the weft and warped directions to create a unique type of denim that shows a square grid-like pattern in the weave.

Cotton

A unicellular, natural fiber that grows in the seed pod of the cotton plant. Fibers are typically 1/2 inch to 2 inches long. The longest staple fibers, longer than 1 1/2 inch, including the Pima and Egyptian varieties, produce the highest quality cotton fabrics.

Defoliant

A chemical that causes plants leaves to drop off earlier, used to speed up the harvesting process of cotton.

Denim:

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The stuff that jeans are made of. A sturdy cotton twill fabric characterized by a 31 warp faced weave, traditionally made with indigo-dyed yarn for the warp and natural yarn for the weft. First known as a work wear fabric, it later became popular as leisure wear and eventually was even used by high-fashion designers.-see Serge de Nimes-

Destroyed:

A finishing process that knocks holes in a perfectly good pair of jeans and doubles its price one of the stranger parts of the denim story.

Dips:

The number of times that the warp yarn is passed through the indigo dye bath normally 6 12.

Double Needle

A common seam on jeans where two stitchs run parallel to each other for reinforcement

Drainpipes:

The 60s jeans that you could never take off.

Dual Ring Spun

The process in which both the warp and weft threads are made of ring-spun yarn. It creates a much softer and textured hand than regular (single) ring-spun denim. Page | 9

Du Pont De Nemours :

A very innovative fiber company, which introduced the Du Pont elasthane fiber Lycra in the 50s. Du Pont is one of the initiators and pioneers in stretch denim qualities, which made a great impact on the jeans market in the early 80s.

Dungarees:

The typical farmers outfit that has become a fashion favorite.

Dyeing:

The process by which yarns are colored.

Durability

The ability of a fabric to resist wear through continual use.

Enzymes

Proteins that gives the stoning effect. Used in place of traditional pumice stone. They are used in textile processing, mainly in the finishing of fabrics and garments.

Enzyme Wash:

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The ecologically friendly version of stonewashing. Enzymes react with the cotton cellulose to give a similar appearance to a normal stonewash.

Elasthane:

Man-made elastic fibers that add stretch to denim for a comfortable fit.

Elasticity

The ability of a fiber or fabric to return to its original length, shape, or size immediately after the removal of

Embroidery

An embellishment of a fabric or garment in which colored threads are sewn on to the fabric to create a design. Embroidery may be done either by hand or machine.

Fastness:

A term used to show how well a garment has been dyed.

Finishing:

The final process in the manufacturing cycle. The term can either be applied to the washing or the pressing of the garment.

Fit:

Can be Slim, Regular, Comfort, Loose, Easy.

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Five pocket:

Three on the front, two on the back the sign of a classic jean.

Fly:

That essential gap on the front of the jean.

Fiber

The basic entity, either natural or manufactured, which is twisted into yarns, and then used in the production of a fabric.

Flame Resistant

A term used to describe a fabric that burns very slowly, or has the ability to self-extinguish upon the removal of an external flame.

Flame Retardant

A chemical applied to a fabric, or incorporated into the fiber at the time of production, which significantly reduces a fabrics flammability.

Garment dye:

Occasionally manufacturers dye the finished garment after production instead of using colored cloth. Many mothers despaired in the 60s when their children performed a similar process in the family bath.

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Genoa:

The Italian town that gave its name to the first Jeans.

Ginning

The process in which seeds are removed from picked cotton.

Grinding:

Creates the look of age and wear. It is generally applied to hems, seams, belt loops, pockets and waistbands

Hipsters:

The style that horrified tailors throughout the 60s with the waist barely reaching as far as the top of the hip bone.

Hand

The way the fabric feels when it is touched. Terms like softness, crispness, dryness, silkiness are all terms that describe the hand of the fabric.

Hydrophilic Fibers

Fibers that absorb water easily, take longer to dry, and require more ironing.

Hydrophobic Fiber Page | 13

Fibers that lack the ability to absorb water.

Indigo

The dyestuff that puts the blue into blue jeans. Originally derived from a plant leaf, indigo has been used as a dye for more than 3000 years. Its characteristics allow the range of different wash finishes.

Inseam

The seam on the inside of the pant leg

Jeans

Originally worn by the Genoese sailors the modern jean was born in the USA in the mid 19th century. Key features are the 5 pockets, belt loops, metal buttons and rivets

Laundry:

The key point in the production process where jeans take on a life of their own as the raw denim is converted into the finished product in machines that take up to 250 pairs at a time.

Logo

The identifying mark for every self respecting brand.

Loom

The equipment on which denim and all woven fabrics are produced. Page | 14

Loop Dyed

One of three major industrial methods of dyeing indigo yarn

Lycra:

Stretch fiber, a trademark of the multinational fiber company DuPont de Nemours, introduced in the early60s. An elastic fiber. Erroneously identical with stretch.

Left hand twill

A more expensive weaving process than the traditional Right hand twill, that gives a slightly softer finish to the garment.

Mercerization

A caustic soda based process used to strengthen dyed fabrics.

Moisture Regain

The amount of water a completely dry fiber will absorb from the air at a standard condition of 70 degrees F and a relative humidity of 65%. Expressed as a % of the dry fiber weight.

Moisture Transport

The movement of water from one side of a fabric to the other, caused by capillary action, wicking, chemical or electrostatic action.

Nmes Page | 15

The original home of denim that was first known as Serge de Nmes. City in French Province that was once known as an important textile centre in the 17th century. Its name is the source to the word denim.

Open end

A spinning process developed to give a more even yarn allowing a uniform woven finish with few defects. An industrial, highly efficient type of yarn spinning technology that utilizes turbine machinery. Faster and less expensive than the original Ring-spun system, it produces denim fabrics that have a more regular, flatter appearance. Often referred to by the initials O.E.

Outseam

The side seam on any jean.

Overdyeing

This can take place before weaving, after weaving or with the finished product and is normally in a different color to add interest to the final appearance of the garment.

Oxidation

In denim manufacturing, when indigo yarn comes out of the dip and joins oxygen, penetrating the fiber.

OZ:

Abbreviation for ounces. Denim is weighed in oz. per square yard.

Panel Page | 16

The individual parts of a garment which are cut from a single piece of cloth. These panels are stitched together to form a garment.

Pedal pusher

The fifties version of the Capri pant that came down to just below the knee. Like the flare it regularly re-appears in all the best fashion ranges.

Padazoic

A dye used in the late 1960s early 1970s in place of indigo, which was in short supply and high demand.

Pigment dye:

A particular form of dyeing that reacts with the surface of the fabric rather than penetrating the whole yarn. This allows a variety of interesting finishes.

Pima Cotton

Originally grown in the 1900s in Peru, Pima Cotton is known for its long fibres, making it a very high quality, luxurious cotton. Pima Cotton was brought to America and got its name from the Pima Indians, who harvested this particular type of cotton.

Pocket stitching: Page | 17

The characteristic stitch mark on the back pocket.

Polyurethane

Provides a chemical resistance in the washing and dyeing process in order to achieve the desired denim wash/ color. It is the basis of a novel type of elastomeric fiber known generically as spandex. It is a man-made fiber (segmented polyurethane) able to stretch at least 100% and snap back like natural rubber

Premiere Vision:

Fabric exhibition held in Paris twice a year, in March and October, famous for its trend-setting and its timely offerings.

Polyester

A manufactured fiber introduced in the early 1950s, and is second only to cotton in worldwide use. Polyester has high strength (although somewhat lower than nylon), excellent resiliency, and high abrasion resistance. Low absorbency allows the fiber to dry quickly.

Pumice Stone

Lightweight and strong, this stone is used in the process of stone-washing apparel

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Resin Bake crease

A relatively new finishing treatment. The process seeks to replicate the look of permanent creases which normally would occur only after repeated wear and abuse heaped on specific areas.

Right hand twill

Typically a 3/1 weave in which the warp yarn crosses 3 weft yarns before going under the fourth. This gives the characteristic diagonal stripe to the fabric.

Ring spun

The original mechanical spinning method in which yarns were drawn together through a hoop or ring after the carding process. On the point of extinction at the end of the 1980s the process has now made a comeback. This process is slower and more labor- intensive than the more technologically advanced Open End process, and because it uses a longer fiber, results in a yarn that has a characteristic natural unevenness. This has come to be desirable because of its association with traditional denim. Regularizes are enhanced by stonewashing. The hand is softer than the open-end denim.

Ring-ring

Refers to denim in which both warp and weft are made of ring-spun yarn. The hand is even softer than in ring denim. It is the Ferrari of denim fabrics.

Ring Dyeing

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 Describes a quality unique to indigo dye in which only the outer ring of the fibers in the yarn is dyed while the inner core remains white.

Ring Spinning

The process that creates unique surface characteristics in a garment by feeding individual fibers into the end of the yarn while in its twisting zone producing an irregular authentic vintage look. Ring-spun yarns add strength, softness and character to jeans.

River Washing

The process that creates a naturally aged look by combining pumice stones and cellulose enzymes. The washer is first loaded with stones and fabric. The second stage introduces the enzymes and tumbled together to give denim a vintage, worn hand.

Rise

The length of fabric from the crotch seam to the top (or, depending on the maker, sometimes the bottom) of the waistband

Rivets

The two part metal reinforcements used to strengthen the front pockets on a traditional jean.

Sand Blasting

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A process of creating worn-out effect by blasting the garment with sand through a pressurized spray gun.

Safety stitch

The overlocked seam with a stitch running beside it used to hold together the front and back panels.

Sanforization

A patented process that minimizes the warp shrinkage in denim by passing it through a pair of offset rollers.

Scrapping

Partially worn out with a grinding stone, used on pockets, belts, and the reverse side of the legs.

Sea Island Cotton

Known for its silky feel and lustre, one of the best cotton fibres.

Selvage

The specially woven edge that is incorporated into every piece of denim to prevent fraying.

Serge de Nimes

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The original name for denim. It was a sturdy blue twill cloth produced in Nmes, southern France, in the 17th century.

Shrinkage

Today most washed jeans are pre shrunk removing the pleasure enjoyed by many teenagers in the 60s who spent many happy hours in the 60s sitting in the bath waiting for their jeans to shrink to fit.

Skewing

Refers to the occurrence of twisting that happens when the fabric shrinks more perpendicular to the twill line. Denim needs to be redirected or skewed to prevent the side seam from twisting to the front of the jean

Snow wash

Another name of acid wash. Check details there.

Slasher Dyeing

One of the three main methods of dyeing indigo yarn.

Spray

Pre or post-washing, localized or total application of chemicals to the jeans using a pressure gun to achieve the desired look.

Stitching Page | 22

The process of combining all the panels of a garment using threads. On average there are more than 200 meters of thread in every pair for jeans.

Stonewash

Jeans and pumice stones are put in a washing machine together to produce that aged appearance.

Stretch

Denim fabric made with a percentage of elasthane fiber in the weft, giving it a body-fitting stretch quality.

Spandex

Generic name for man-made fibers derived from a resin called segmented polyurethane. It has good stretch and recovery properties.

Specs

Specifications; a detailed statement of particulars, especially a statement stipulating materials, dimensions, and quality of work for something to be manufactured.

Selvage or Selvedge

The thin compressed edge of a woven fabric which runs parallel to the warp yarns and prevents raveling. It is usually woven, utilizing tougher yarns and a tighter construction than the rest of the fabric. Page | 23

Spandex Fiber

A manufactured elastomeric fiber that can be repeatedly stretched over 500% without breaking, and will still recover to its original length.

Tie-dye

A bleaching or dyeing technique in which the fabric or garment is tightly folded and tied at intervals with rubber bands. When submerged in bleach or dye, only exposed sections are affected, creating a distinctive pattern.

Twist

A term that applies to the number of turns and the direction that two yarns are turned during the manufacturing process. The yarn twist brings the fibers close together and makes them compact. It helps the fibers adhere to one another, increasing yarn strength. The direction and amount of yarn twist helps determine appearance, performance, durability of both yarns and the subsequent fabric or textile product. Single yarns may be twisted to the right (S twist) or to the left (Z twist). Generally, woolen and worsted yarns are S-twist, while cotton and flax yarns are typically Z-twist. Twist is generally expressed as turns per inch (tpi), turns per meter (tpm), or turns per centimeter.

Unwashed

Rarely found today but these are the jeans that have not been washed.

Used

Either second hand jeans or the heavily abraded finish that makes them look as though someone has spent a lifetime in them.

Wash Page | 24

The color and texture produced by the finishing process of washing the jean; creates varying results, such as an aged appearance or enhanced softness and can include applying colored dye and resin

Warp

The yarns that run along the length of a piece of fabric.

Weft

The yarns that run across the fabric normally undyed in denim.

Weight

The lightness or heaviness of the denim. Approximately 8 ounces is a breezy, cotton-y fabric; 14 ounces is on the hefty side

Whiskering

A fading of the ridges and creases in the hip and crotch area and back of the knees, which gives the appearance of aged denim; can also be the inverse dark creased in faded denim.

Work wear Page | 25

The original name for jeans. Today the word is used for garments which are worn during especial special tasks which are of blue-collar nature.

Silhouette

The fit of the garment. Particularly referred to fitting style and measurements.

Warp

In woven fabric, the yarns that run lengthwise and is interwoven with the fill (weft) yarns.

Water Repellent

A term applied to fabrics that have been treated with a finish which causes them to shed water, but are still air-permeable.

Weft

In woven fabric, the filling yarns that run perpendicular to the warp yarns.

Wrinkle Recovery

Similar to resiliency. It is the ability of a fabric to bounce back after it has been twisted, wrinkled, or distorted in any way.

Yarn

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A continuous strand of textile fibers created when a cluster of individual fibers are twisted together. These long yarns are used to create fabrics, either by knitting or weaving.

Zip

Originally invented in 1893 but perfected in 1913 the zip was the fly fastener of choice until the button re-emerged in the 80s as the classic jeans fastener.

Denim Terminology

3x1 vs. 2x1 weave

This refers to the number of weft threads per warp thread. Most denims have been traditionally 3x1 weaves, though lighter weight denims (under 10.5 ounces/sqare yard) often use the 2x1 configuration. [from LA Guy]

Acid washing

The quick definition can be summed up in one word, "horrible". Also called "Snow wash". This technique reared it head up in Italy in the late 80s. Basically you soak your pumice stones in bleach and tumble them with the jeans. Then neutralise. [from ringring]

Big E

"Big E" jeans refer to Levi's jeans produced before 1971, in which the red tab on the back pocket had the LEVI'S logo with a capital E. Post-1971 Levi's jeans are written "LeVI'S" on the red tab.

Broken Twill

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Instead of the twill running to the right or left, broken twill jeans (traditionally considered the cowboy-preferred denim) contain no distinct direction of weave. The weave is instead alternated right and left - the end effect resembles a random zig-zag. Wrangler made the first broken twill jeans in 1964. Broken Twill was designed to combat the twisting effect that was a characteristic regular twill (and considered a 'fault' by many at the time). By going on both directions, the tension in the yarns is balanced in Broken Twill. [additions from ringring]

Dual Ring-Spun

Also called RingxRing, Ring-Ring, Double Ringspun. Dual ring-spun denim is denim where both the warp and weft (filler) threads are made of ring-spun yarn. Typically only premium, more expensive denim brands use this method, as it is more labor intensive and thus more costly to produce. The result however, is a very textured denim, and is much softer than open-end or single ring-spun. You will know ringspun denim when you see it - the warp threads will be "slubby" at some points, and there will be little puffs of indigo thread. It is more obvious when looking at the weft threads (underside of the denim).

Enzyme wash

The environmentally friendly way to stone wash jeans, through the application of organic enzymes that eat away at the fabric, i.e. the cellulose. No pumice stones are used. When the desired colour is achieved, the enzymes can be stopped by changing the alkalinity of the bath or its temperature. A final rinsing and softening cycle is next, before the jeans are ready to be sold. Still frowned upon by companies such as Howies, who prefer to use rubberised "Eco" Balls to wash their jeans. [from Cake]

Left Hand Twill

This refers to the direction that the denim is woven. Left hand twill denim is softer to the touch than right hand twill, and was originally used by Lee denim. Now used by other denim companies such as 45rpm, Kunna, and Lee Japan. Left hand twill is easy to spot, as the weft threads appear to move upward and to the left as opposed to upward and to the right.

Mercerised Denim

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Mercerising for denim is used to increase lustre, by passing the denim through a bath of caustic soda. It's a process carried out after the denim is woven and vastly different to the more commen method of mercerising yarn. As it significantly increases the cost and lead times of denim production, it is a relatively rare process. (not that many consumers would notice). [from ringring]

Microsanding

Sanding is basically done 3 ways: Sandblasting, (see below), Machine sanding - just like machines that you'd use to sand a wooden table, and Handsanding aka Handbrushing - just a piece of folded fine sandpaper. All three methods are used in various ways, on the flat surfaces (tables, ironing boards), on the dummy (inflatable dummies, sometimes standing, sometimes flat, sometimes 'seated') and various templates can be used to create a 3D effect. Any sanding can be enhanced with chemical whiteners. [from ringring]

Overdye

Basically dyeing over the fabric or jeans to add another tone of colour. Most often used is a 'yellowy' overdye to create a 'dirty' look. Also can be applied with spraygun or paintbrush for local colouring (ie. if you wanted just 'dirty knees'). [from ringring]

Redline

Redline refers to a colored warp thread that is run through the selvage edge of denim fabric. This is not indicitive of the quality of the jeans so much as it is a signature of the maker, and a way for Cone Mills to differentiate between the denim they made for different companies. Lee denim had a green (or sometimes blue) warp thread on their selvage, and Wranger used yellow.

Right Hand Twill

This refers to the direction that the denim is woven. The opposite of Left Hand twill, this weave is much more common, as almost all jeans are woven with right hand twill. The weft (filler) threads will be visible in upward-right diagonal lines on right-hand twill jeans. Page | 29

Ring-Spun

The method in which the yarn is produced; ring-spun cotton is spun on a ring instead of more modern method of open-ended spinning. The result is a softer denim, that is more imperfect than open-ended and has individual texture that is often desired by denim admirers.

Rope Dying

The best method of dying denim, most (should be all) upscale denim manufacturers use this method. It refers to twisting the threads of yard into a rope-like shape, then dipping the rope into a bath of indigo. It is often dipped multiple times - the more bathing of the yarn, the darker the shade.

Sandblasting

As it sounds, compressed airguns shoot sand onto jeans to create abrasion. Sometimes a 'tracer' dye is added so that the 'shooter' can more accurately judge the volume and accuracy. Very fast, but quite a clumsy way to achieve fading. [from ringring]

Sanforizing

Sanforizing denim is a method of stretching and manipulating the cloth in the factory prior to any washing so that any shrinking during future washes will be minimalized. It is important to note if your raw jeans are sanforized or not before determining what size to buy, non-sanforized jeans will shrink 7-10%, while sanforized jeans will shrink 1-5%. It is often advised to give non-sanforized jeans a warm soak before wearing them to get the shrinking done before you create wear marks on the jeans.

Selvage (Selvedge) Denim

Selvage and selvedge mean exactly the same thing - different companies spell it differently and there apparently is no "right" way to spell it. It comes from the phrase "self-edge" which refers to the edge being finished by the loom instead of sewn together after weaving. [thanks Page | 30

Geowu]. Selvage is the term commonly used to refer to denim that has been produced on a shuttle loom. Since the amount of fabric produced from a shuttle loom is significantly narrower than a projectile (wide) loom, the cotton consumption is higher and the time required is greater. In selvage jeans, you will see the actual edge of the fabric where the weaving stops and is finished by the loom, as opposed to denim woven on a projectile loom, where the fabric has been cut off at the ends. The "redline" selvage is Levi's signature and was used in all their jeans up to 1982, before Cone Mills nixed them for the more modern projectile looms, which are faster and much more efficient.

Stone washing

French husband & wife team, Marithe & Francois Girbaud claim to have pioneered this technique of washing jeans in a machine with small pumice stones. Independently, the Japanese jeans company, Edwin also make this claim. The pumice stones are generally taken from southern Italy (the whitest and most expensive), Turkey and Indonesia (darkest and cheapest). Some claim that washing jeans with dark stones give the jeans a 'dirty' look, although this can be countered somewhat with extra rinsing in the laundry.

Unwashed Denim

Also called rigid, or raw denim. Typically when denim is manufactured it is sent to a laundry to undergo many washing processes to give it a worn look. Unwashed denim, however, is not washed before it is sold to the customer (although some companies will sell a one-wash jean). It is stiff, and depending on the weight can feel as though you're walking in sheet-metal. It will also be very dark and will sometimes appear black. Traditionally, all jeans were sold unwashed and it was up to the customer to break them in.

Warp Thread

Warp threads are the indigo-dyed thread. Also commonly called "surface threads," as they account for a majority of the thread you see on the surface. It is the opposite on the underside of the jeans, where the weft (filler) threads are more visible, and the warp threads are in the minority. They are woven in and out of the weft thread vertically to create the denim twill.

Weft (Filler) Thread Page | 31

Weft, or filler, threads are traditionally ecru-colored, however many companies now bleach their weft threads or dye them. The weft is visible mostly on the underside of the denim, but resemble diagonal stripes on the surface. They are woven in and out of the warp threads horizontally to create the denim twill.

Whiskering

Also known as 'Cat's Whiskers'. These are the crease lines around the crotch. Industrially these can be done with laser, sandblasting, machine sanding, handsanding and abrasive rods. Same techniques are used for 'knee whiskers' (whiskers on the sides of knees) and 'honeycombs' (crease marks on the back of the knee). [from ringring]

Abrasion The process of making garments look worn and aged by scraping or rubbing the surface of the fabric causing abrasion.

Acid Wash The finish that gives indigo jeans sharp contrasts by soaking pumice stones in chlorine and letting the stones create the contrast.

Bartak Stitching that reinforces places on jeans such as flies and pocket openings.

Bleach A chemical used to make denim fade.

Carding The process in which raw cotton is separated and cleaned to make a sliver.

Cotton After blooming, this plant turns from white to purple, providing the well-known textile that withstands high temperatures, accepts dyes well, and increases in strength when wet. The quality of cotton is determined by the length of fibres; the longer the fibres, the higher the quality.

Crocking A term used to describe how dye rubs off fabric on skin or other fabric.

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Crosshatch Mixing uneven yarns in both the weft and warped directions to create a unique type of denim that shows a square grid-like pattern in the weave.

Defoliant A chemical that causes plants' leaves to drop off earlier, used to speed up the harvesting process of cotton.

Denim The word denim is believed to be a derivative of the French term, serge de Nmes, a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp fibers, producing the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric distinguishing denim from cotton duck.

Dips What fabric or yarn are called when dipped in dye.

Double Needle A common seam on jeans where two stitchs run parallel to each other for reinforcement.

Dual Ring Spun The process in which both the warp and weft threads are made of ring-spun yarn. It creates a much softer and textured hand than regular (single) ring-spun denim.

Enzymes Proteins that speed up chemical processes. They are used in textile processing, mainly in the finishing of fabrics and garments.

Enzyme Wash A more environmentally sound way to create a stone wash, organic proteins are used to eat away at the indigo.

Finishing The overall processes performed on a garment giving it its unique look.

Five Pocket Jeans Most frequent design for denim: two back pockets, two front pockets and a coin pocket inside the right front pocket.

Ginning The process in which seeds are removed from picked cotton.

Hand The term used to describe how denim feels. Page | 33

Indigo A blue dye obtained from indigo plants. The chemical structure was synthetically produced in 1987. Indigo's inherent features are good colorfastness to water and light and a continual fading. This allows the blue color in jeans to always look irregular and individual.

Jean Possibly derived from the French work "genes", it was first used to describe the type of pant worn by Genoan sailors.

Laundry A facility that takes unwashed jeans and processes them; i.e. stone wash, sandblasting, finishing, etc. It is essential in creating commercial denim and has become as important as fabric development.

Left-Hand Twill A weave in which the grain lines run from the top left-hand corner of the fabric towards the bottom right. Usually in piece-dyed fabrics, left-hand twill fabrics are woven from single piled yarns in the warp. They often have a softer hand feel to them after washing.

Loop Dyed One of three major industrial methods of dyeing indigo yarn.

Open-End Spinning A spinning process in which individual fibers are fed into a high-speed rotor shaped like a cup where they begin to accumulate. The yarns produced using this method are not as strong as the ring-spun yarns of the same size.

Overdye A dying process in which additional color is applied to create a different shade or cast on the garment.

Oxidation In denim manufacturing, when indigo yarn comes out of the dip and joins oxygen, penetrating the fibre.

Padazoic A dye used in the late 1960's - early 1970's in place of indigo, which was in short supply and high demand.

Pigment Dyes Dye that lack the ability to grab onto the fibers and must be held to the fabric with resins. Page | 34

Pima Cotton Originally grown in the 1900's in Peru, Pima Cotton is known for its long fibres, making it a very high quality, luxurious cotton. Pima Cotton was brought to America and got its name from the Pima Indians, who harvested this particular type of cotton.

Polyurethane Provides a chemical resistance in the washing and dyeing process in order to achieve the desired denim wash/ color. It is the basis of a novel type of elastomeric fiber known generically as spandex. It is a man-made fiber (segmented polyurethane) able to stretch at least 100% and snap back like natural rubber.

Pumice Stone Lightweight and strong, this stone is used in the process of stone-washing apparel.

Ring Dyeing Describes a quality unique to indigo dye in which only the outer ring of the fibers in the yarn is dyed while the inner core remains white.

Ring Spinning The process that creates unique surface characteristics in a garment by feeding individual fibers into the end of the yarn while in its twisting zone producing an irregular authentic vintage look. Ring-spun yarns add strength, softness and character to jeans.

River Washing The process that creates a naturally aged look by combining pumice stones and cellulose enzymes. The washer is first loaded with stones and fabric. The second stage introduces the enzymes and tumbled together to give denim a vintage, worn hand.

Rivet A metal accessory that is used for reinforcement of stress points as well as nonfunctional ornamentation.

Sanding Process that makes the surface of a garment soft by rubbing aggressively with paper containing small loose grains of worn rock.

Sea Island Cotton Known for its silky feel and lustre, one of the best cotton fibres.

Selvage The edge of a fabric that is woven so that it will not fray or ravel. Old 28 to 30 inch shuttle looms produce denim where selvages are closed, whereas on the larger modern weaving machines the weft yarn is cut on every pick, creating what is called a fringe selvage. Page | 35

Skewing Refers to the occurrence of twisting that happens when the fabric shrinks more perpendicular to the twill line. Denim needs to be redirected or "skewed" to prevent the side seam from twisting to the front of the jean.

Slasher Dyeing One of the three main methods of dyeing indigo yarn.

Spinning A process used to create yarn or thread where short fibres are twisted together. These yarns will be used to weave into cloth or used in sewing. Longer fibres like silk are not spun.

Stone Washing Process that physically removes color and adds contrast using pumice stones. The longer the denim and stones are rotated the lighter the color becomes and more contrast occurs. The denim is then rinsed, softened, and tumble-dried.

Supima American Pima Cotton

Weft The un-dyed crosswise filling yarns used in denim weave.

Whiskering Term used to describe a denim that has a fading of the ridges in creases in the crotch area and back of the knees giving the appearance of aged denim.

Yarn Dye Refers to fabric where the individual yarns are dyed prior to weaving.

Stonewashing: A process that physically removes color and adds contrast. Jeans and stones are rotated together for a set period of time. The washing time dictates the final color of the fabric - the longer the denim and stones are rotated the lighter the color becomes and more contrast is achieved. The denim is then rinsed, softened and tumble dried.

River Washing: A washing process using a combination of pumice stones and cellulose enzymes to give denim a vintage, worn hand. The washer is loaded only with stones and fabric Page | 36

for the first cycle. Enzymes are introduced for the second stage in combination with the stones and they are tumbled until a naturally aged look is produced.

Indigo: The dye used for denim, initially taken from the indigofera tinctoria plant. The majority of indigo used today is synthetically made. Natural indigo has slightly red cast.

Tate-Ochi: Japanese term referring to occurrences of Iron-Ochi forming in vertical lines in vintage denim. As the thread width is not uniform in vintage denim, the color fades the most where the thread is the thickest. This creates a white or severely faded thread of several centimeters along a single vertical indigo thread.

Denim Washing Dramatic changes have occurred in the function and design of jean garments since the first pairs of jeans were created for gold miners during the California Gold Rush.The evolution of Page | 37

the jeans market led to the development of some unique and creative methods for the processing of denim garments.Originally, jeans were marketed and sold as workwear with primary emphasis on their durability and practicality.But when jeans were discovered and appreciated by consumers as general casual wear, they became fashionable, and new techniques were developed to enhance denim garments and make them more unique.These techniques include garment washing, stone washing, stone washing with chlorine, ice washing, and cellulase enzyme washing.Basically, all of these techniques involve the processing of garments in rotary drum machines.

The first generation of indigo jeans was stiff and uncomfortable when first purchased, due to the finishing techniques used for denim fabrics.Normally after weaving, greige denim is singed, finished with starch and a lubricant, and then mechanically shrunk.This mechanical shrinking did "break" the hand somewhat, but no other processing techniques were employed to provide a soft handle.Usually, consumers would take a newly purchased pair of jeans home and soften them by washing once or several times before the first wearing.Denim fabric continues to be processed using the same basic finishing system, but after being cut and sewn, denim garments may undergo additional processing.

The second generation of the jeans market evolution produced pre-washed jeans by the manufacturer.These jeans had a slightly faded appearance and a softer hand that felt comfortable, as though they had been laundered several times.This trend became fashionable as well, and consumers were willing to pay the extra cost involved for this additional processing.Consumers no longer had to bother "breaking-in" their jeans themselves with the added benefit that the jeans were already shrunk to size with little or no residual shrinkage.

Not long after the introduction of pre-washed jeans, the idea of using abrasive stones to accelerate the aging process was developed and "stone washing" was born, creating an even more "broken-in" look.Next, chlorine bleach was incorporated in these wash techniques and a whole new paler blue denim family evolved.Then, ice washing was developed, in which the porous stones are soaked in a bleaching agent and then tumbled with dry or slightly damp garments.This process has been given many names, including acid wash, snow wash, white wash, frosted, etc.Actually, the term "acid wash" is a misnomer since acids alone should never be used for this process.

Most recently, a cellulase wash procedure was developed in which cellulase enzymes were used to accelerate color and fiber removal.A reduced quantity of stones can be used to create a desirable washed down appearance.This process can be more efficient; since with fewer stones, larger load sizes can be processed, and there is less of an abrasive effect on the inside of the rotary drum. Page | 38

Yarn Requirements for Denim Page | 39

The denim units have a high production output. According to international standards a unit of 50 million metres per annum capacity is considered to be of an economic size. In India however units of 10 million metres per annum capacity have been operating.

The spinning capacity is usually determined by the performance in the dyeing range. For a 10 million metre capacity unit producing 12 ozs average fabric weight with a standard width of 150cms require denim yarn of 16 to 17 tonnes per day. Extending it further, the raw material requirement will be about 19 to 20 tonnes of cotton per day. Thus, spinning of denim yarn is really a large scale business because of heavy yarns and fabrics.

PLANT & MACHINERY

The following features in plant and machinery have become prerequisites for producing top quality denims:

A. Modern Blow room line with 4 to 5 beating points with micro dust extractor and very efficient automatic waste evacuation system. B. Modern High Production Chute feed cards with autolevellers and efficient automatic waste evacuation system. C. High Speed autoleveller Draw frame at finisher passage.

Open End Spinning

D. Modern Open End Spinning machine with automatic piecing and yarn monitoring devices like Corolab or Uster Polyguards.

Ring Spinning

E. High speed frames with bigger doff packages. F. Ring Spinning machines with Longer Lift and Larger Ring dia. G. Cone winding machines with efficient yarn clearers Page | 40

COTTONS USED

Let us first start with the raw material. Cotton fibre specifications of important Indian varieties used in denim yarns are given in Table-3.1.Various cottons are used, ranging from irrigated J-34 from North, hybrid Shankar-6 from Gujarat, windy V-797 of Saurashtra, lean season rescuer NHH-44 from federation, quilty Bengal desi to cosmic bunny to name a few from the Table [Table 3.1].

Often recycled waste, purchased comber noil of other mixings is also added.

Cotton fibre specifications of some imported cottons used in denim yarns are given in Table3.2. Here again cotton used, ranging from 32s to 36s of US upland cottons, trashy CIS cottons, to sticky Sudanese cotton.

This is because, denim fabrics that, whether we like it or not, are somehow getting close to commodity status, cannot ignore the very high raw material cost. In addition, over the years, process and technology improvements allowed the operational flexibility to use various cottons, leading to cost savings still meeting the quality standards required by customers. In addition, India has the sole distinction of producing many varieties covering all four species and their hybrids, each with limited availability. For example, V-797, [which is considered to be the seismic test for installing a wind mill, in the lighter sense] with higher Uniformity Ratio translating to better yarn, has limited availability geographically. With the increased demand from large scale denim businesses, the relative price cannot go beyond the better value cotton, say J-34. Cost, proximity and availability over-ride the variety preference.

Cotton Mixing Requirements For Denim Yarns

Cotton mixing specifications of important fibre characteristics for denim yarns engineered to meet seven major end-uses are given in Table- 3.3.

Upper Half Mean Length, Uniformity Index, Strength at 1/8 and Micronaire values as tested in HVI mode are to be maintained in a lay down. [Row 1 in Table 3.3]

Uniformity of average fibre properties in successive lay downs is far more important and desirable than a level of certain properties, that being difficult to achieve, is not easily maintained day in and day out. Page | 41

Open End

Coarse count yarn in denim refers to less than 8s Ne. and fine count is 9s to 16s. Mixing requirements for rope dyed warp open end yarns are higher and normally made from U rotors. [Row 2 in Table 3.3]

Mock-ring yarns are made in open end by the various devices available (amsler, caipo etc). Strength variability due to character (slubs) demands slightly better mixing. [Row 3 in Table 3.3]. Strength uniformity is far more important for Weft yarns used in very high speed air jets.

For fine counts and ring spinning, no doubt a good length and appropriate micronaire are a must. [Row 4, 6 and 7 in Table 3.3]

Quality fabrics can also be produced from Value mixings. This is because of the realization that heavy denim has strength far above realistic requirements. However the denim fabrics produced out of such yarns should not be meant for elaborate destructive garment washes. [Row 5 in Table 3.3]

Ring Spun

In spite of open end yarns have lower strength than ring spun yarns it has been enjoying mass market denim products due to cost angle. The raw material costs and the cost differential between ring and open end is discussed in Engineering of Denim Products

For aesthetic reasons, at least in the warp, several denim products are actually ring spun. Also core-spun elastic yarns for weft will always be made in rings.

Yarn Strength from Fibre Selection

Since the yarn strength is of special significance when processing denim yarns, especially open end yarns, it is important to know the effects fibre strength, fibre length and fibre fineness have on the yarn strength. Page | 42

The relationship between fibre properties and yarn strength of open end yarns for various counts are expressed in the form of equation.

The equation for calculating

CSP =735 x [UHML x Str - 3 x Str -255 -6.6 x UHML]^0.22 [72.5 x Mc/UHML + 16] x C

Where, UHML is Upper Half Mean Length in mm and Str is Strength in grams per tex as tested using HVI Mode Mc is Micronaire and C is Count in Ne

The above equation which uses Fibre characteristics as tested using HVI Mode is deduced from earlier ATIRA equation for predicting CSP of Open-end yarns using Fibre characteristics using ICC Mode.

CSP =720 x [2.5% SL x S - 300]^0.22 [72.5 x Mc/2.5% SL + 16] x C Where, 2.5% SL is 2.5% Span Length in mm S is Strength in grams per tex as tested using ICC mode Mc is Micronaire and C is Count in Ne

Cotton From Dyers Perspective

The colour of cotton fibre is important in gradation of cotton fibres. The calorimeter of HVI measures two colour components of cotton lightness and yellowness. Lightness is expressed as a percent reflectance (%Rd), and yellowness is expressed in Hunters scale (+b) values.

These values affect dye ability of denim warp yarn. With cost savings, proximity and availability taking more focus on selection of cotton, the dyer has to leverage operational flexibility to use various cottons and still hits the target shade. Page | 43

The % Rd, +b values of typical Indian and imported cottons are given in Table-3.4.

TABLE -3.4 : COLOUR COMPONENTS OF TYPICAL INDIAN AND IMPORTED COTTONS As can be seen from the Table, that V-797 is yellowier than J-34 and necessary corrections need to be done when switching over from yarn set made from J-34 to V-797.

Norms For Yarn Realization

The percentage yarn realization depends primarily on the process waste taken out at the blow room and cards. Of these the waste taken out in the blow room depends on the trash content of the mixing, the waste in cards and on the type of cards. It is therefore, necessary to use a separate norm for yarn realization for each mixing. Over and above the type of cotton used in denim mixings range from J-34 to trashy V-797. The norms for yarn realization which depends on the trash content in the mixing is given in the Table as a guideline.

A one percent reduction in yarn realization has almost the same economic impact on the mills profit as an increase of one percent in the mixing cost. The control of yarn realization is thus as important to a mill as the control of cotton and mixing costs. One may find the detailed pcedures for the control of yarn realization in Chapter 3, ATIRA Silver Jubilee Monograph Process Control in Spinning.

TABLE - 3.5 : NORMS FOR YARN REALIZATION Notes:

Yarn Production 1.Yarn realization (%)= -------------------------------------------------------------------- x 100 Bale Cotton +Waste of other mixings +Purchased Wastes

2. Usable wastes of the same mixing, added back are not considered while determining the yarn realization.

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3. Yarn realization can also be obtained from the following formulae. These can be used for quick estimates. Yarn Realization (%) = 93.44 1.30 x Trash in mixing (%)

4. The values given in the table are arrived at by considering the waste levels as follows: Invisible loss: 1.5% on mixing fed Sweepings : 1.5% on mixing fed Usable Waste: (% is based on material fed at each process) Card Sliver 0.5%, Draw frame Sliver: 0.6%, Speed frame: 0.5%. Ring frame Pnemafil 1.0%, Roving ends: 0.4% Open End Sliver: 0.3%

5. The percentage trash in the mixing is for the mixing inclusive of usable waste and waste of other mixings added.

6. When comber noil is added to the mixing, the yarn realization will be lower than that given in the Table. For every 10% comber noil addition in the mixing, the yarn realization will come down by 1%

7. The yarn realization values given the Table are for ring doffs weighed without conditioning, wherein the time lapse between doffing and weighing is very short. If doffs are conditioned and weighed, the realization will be higher by about 1.0 to 1.5%.

Managing Waste

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There was a time when blow room and carding non-re workable wastes used to be just that: non-re workable, except perhaps for surgical cotton. Attempts have always been made to reuse flat strips.

The full recycling of all opening and carding wastes, using a new line of machinery from Trutzschler and others, is attempted by few with a success . Its obvious importance in Denim manufacture lies in the overall weight on the final cost represented by the cost of cotton .Because of heavy yarns and fabrics, if one can save 3 or 4% on cotton costs, the impact on the bottom line can be remarkable.

This clean material has some residual trash in it not too different from the cotton used. Naturally there are more short fibres. The yield will be approximately 50%, in other words from each 2 kgs of raw waste we get 1 kg of clean recycled cotton. This material is baled again and fed to the mix at the lay down. Normally 10% is used. A loss of some 0.5 to 1.0 cN/tex is then unavoidable, but with 10% it will be manageable.

SPINNING PREPARATORY PROCESSES

Blow Room

The raw material for Denim yarn is cotton, the type and quality of which varies tremendously, not only from country to country but within India and even within regions. Because of this variation it is difficult to envisage a standard line to meet all cases and manufacturers of opening and cleaning machinery have to be able to configure a line to meet the requirements of each individual customer. In general, Modern Blow room line with 4 to 5 beating points with micro dust extractor and very efficient automatic waste evacuation system will be adequate to ensure satisfactory opening and cleaning.

In the case of variations within regions it is not uncommon to have fluctuation of colour from bale and therefore blending becomes very critical if shade variations from lot to lot in the finished cloth are to be kept to a minimum.

It is already mentioned in the beginning that denim units have a high production output This necessitates, the modern method of opening bales. That is to use an automatic bale plucking machine which removes small size tufts of raw material from a line of bales and feeds Page | 46

these pneumatically to a blending machine. This ensures a uniform tuft size being fed to the blending and cleaning machines. However, the disadvantage is that removal of foreign material. In traditional blow rooms it is the practice to pre-open the bales and create a stack mixing. This ensures easy removal of foreign matters. It is important to have both options available to maintain the ability to satisfy all the variables.

For feeding recoverable waste and small blends of fibre material it is recommendable to integrate a pre-mixer.

V-797 and CIS cottons have considerable amount of trash, as high as 15%, as a result of geographic conditions and bad picking practices. In addition to trash, the fine clay of the soil, on which the cotton grows, permeates everything. It is also important to use pre cleaners to handle trashy cottons. Tandem cards used in the past, was successful in yarn quality considerations, but cost considerations turned it into an impossible proposition. The yarn realization as well as the clean cotton cost will be impacted by the use of high trashy cottons. [See 3.2.3 Norms for Yarn Realization]

It is also possible to integrate a waste recycling line to recycle non re workable wastes from blow room line and cards to bring down cotton cost [See 3.2.4 Managing Waste]

For denim yarns produced from open end spinning systems, probably the most important characteristic of the sliver is its cleanliness with particular care to be given to dust removal.

Particularly in ring spun Denim yarn, a high incidence of nep in the yarn will cause uneven dye uptake during the warp yarn preparation. It is observed that modern blow room lines create neps, upto an increase of 100% over neps in raw cotton that will still allow the carding machine to be able to remove most of these objectionable faults.

Cards

The card is absolutely decisive for the quality of the denim yarns and for the efficiency of the production. It was possible to double the card production during the past 25 years.

The carding quality is decisively influenced in the areas of cylinder, flat. Cylinder speed, clothing fineness and distance between cylinder and flat are deciding factors. Page | 47

Monitoring and controlling the carding process is critical in ensuring minimal fibre damage. Instruments such as AFIS [Advanced Fibre Information System] can be used to generate information of processes that precede yarn manufacturing. The carding process is very aggressive and, if not adjusted properly, can reduce fibre length causing short fibre. This phenomenon is especially true in the new high speed carding machines. If card flats are adjusted too close to the main cylinder, the nep and trash removal is improved, however the result can also be a reduction in fibre length and an increase in short fibre content. Replacing new cylinder wire or regrinding the wire will cause a temporary increase in short fibre content but this should return to normal in a relatively short time.

The measurement of short fibre content will have some variability due to the natural variation in raw cotton. The following guideline will give an idea on how much increase is significant.

SFC(w) SFC(n) Significant Increase >3% >6%

Increase in short fibre content less than these values are not significant and should not be considered a processing problem.

Draw frames

The requirements of Draw Frames are as follows:

i) Drawing mixes stock coming from different cards, producing a more even sliver of a more uniform quality.

ii) The high friction between fibres, especially in modern high speed frames, tends to eliminate remaining dust adhering to fibre surfaces.

iii) The fibre parallelization induced by drawing (remember a card web has fibres randomly oriented) is essential for ring roving and spinning and is helpful in open end to achieve a combination of high draft at the opening roll and good yarn uniformity.

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One or Two Process of Drawing:

No doubt, the making of ring yarn with good staple cotton needs the parallelization at two drawing passages.

Several studies have been conducted to see the effect of the number of draw frame passages on the yarn properties of rotor yarn. The original general rule suggested is

i) If you make fine counts, maintain the two processes. ii) If you go to coarse counts, one process all you required. iii)If you are processing very short fibre material you are better off straight from the card.

Because most cotton drawing system need a fairly uniform fibre length diagram to produce slivers of good short term evenness, it is obvious that materials with short fibre contents have little to gain from even a single passage.

On the other hand, use of draw frames is also advantageous from the point of view of blending and cleaning.

It has already been several years since cards have been offered with auto-levellers. Most of these can be classified as:

-truly short term auto-levellers -long and short term auto-levellers

The truly short term auto-regulation, now virtually abandoned, measures the sliver thickness coming out of the card by means of short variable drafting zone which attempts to adjust sliver weight to the nominal value. But as card speeds increased, and also can sizes and weights, the increased inertia of the system made accurate corrections very difficult. Even the speed of the coiler has to follow what the correction dictates. Also even if the average sliver weight could be maintained, the short term sliver evenness does deteriorate from the lack of fibre control at the small drafting zone.

Page | 49

Nowadays, all long and medium term auto levelers operate by adjusting the rate of feed to the card, in fact adjusting the total draft of the machine. It is sound in principle, but does not guarantee short term uniformity and is not so easy in many cases to have every card adjusted to exactly the same average value.

This is one reason why the averaging effect of at least one passage of drawing is still necessary. The new high response short term auto-levellers provide an ideal complement and very even slivers are now possible, totally free of count drift and with very acceptable short term irregularity.

It has also been observed that the direction of majority hooks has little influence whereas the number of draw frame passage has a marked effect on yarn strength. It is also important to maintain count and strength variability to the lowest as the yarn breaks in spinning are correlated to the yarn breaks on the weaving machine.

Thus, we can modify the original rule as

i) Two passages for ring spinning and ii)one passage for coarse count open end spinning provided, the Count CV% of yarns produced is about 1.0% [or not exceeding 1.2%] and warping breaks per million metres of warp is about 0.3 [or not exceeding 0.5]

Quality of Feed Sliver

Standards for Trash and Nep Levels

In ring spinning, trash particles are thrown harmlessly off the yarn as it balloons whereas in rotor spinning, they tend to become embedded along with dust particles in the rotor groove. The impurities and dust which accumulate in the rotor groove not only impair the operating conditions of the machine and cause rapid wear of the rotor surface but are also responsible for lower yarn quality and increased yarn breakage rate. In order to minimize end breaks, the total trash percentage of sliver fed to the rotor machine should not exceed 0.5% as tested using MDTA.

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Particularly in ring spun Denim yarn, a high incidence of nep in the yarn will cause uneven dye uptake during the warp yarn preparation. It is observed that modern blow room lines create neps, upto an increase of 100% over neps in raw cotton, that will still allow the carding machine to be able to remove most of these objectionable faults. The nep content expressed in neps/gram as tested using AFIS should not exceed 150.

Mill Studies: Health Checks at Spinning Preparation Processes

In addition to level of neps at feed sliver, AFIS [Advanced Fibre Information System] can also be used as a powerful process control tool for scanning the processes that precede yarn manufacturing periodically.One such analysis, done Product wise and Process wise in seven different mills, four open end spinning and three ring spinning, is summarized in Table 3.6.

TABLE - 3.6 : NEP LEVELS AT SPINNING PREPARATION AND PROCESS ANALYSIS The product wise analysis refers to Level of neps at mixing, Blow room and Card sliver. The process wise analysis refers to nep increase at Blow room and nep reduction at card.

It is important to arrive the product standards, considering the end use requirement for card sliver. Once the level of card sliver neps required are decided, the level of neps required at blow room material and target level at mixing can be arrived. This is by working backwards with the use of process standards for nep increase in blow room and nep reduction at cards.

The standards used in the analysis are as follows:

Nep/gram at Card Sliver : 120 Card Feed : 400 Mixing : 200 Nep increase at Blowroom: 200% Nep reduction at Card : 70%

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As can be seen from the Table, the blow room nep generation was high at OE Mill1, OE Mill2 and OE Mill 4 Feeder 2. It is observed that Long and bent material transport duct lines were the reasons for nep generation in OE Mill 4 Feeder 2.

Slivers made from OE Mill1, OE Mill2, OE Mill 4 Feeders 1, 2 and , RS Mill 5 feeder1 had excessive neps. It is also observed, that the overall rep removal efficiency of cards in OE Mill 1 and 4 were very poor due to poor condition of wire points.

In addition, the cards whos performance was too poor than the rest were identified and given in remark though individual values could not find place in this summarized report.

SPINNING PROCESS

Denim plants have both open-end and ring denim capabilities, although a majority of the capacities are open-end, which historically cater to mass-market denim products. However, open-end plants are also able to manufacture specialty denim fabric with changes to their processes. Ring spun denim is of a higher quality and commands higher prices in the denim fabric market.

The following pages describe the merits and limitations of the systems in general, inclusive of non denim yarns, so as to understand and derive maximum benefit from both systems.

Ring Spinning: Merits and Limitations:

Ring spinning had remained unchallenged for almost 150 years, since its inception. However its limitation in regard to production speeds was well realized which made its position quite vulnerable to new spinning technologies like rotor spinning. Subsequent to this realization, renewed attempts made the maximum production speed has increased to 25000 rpm by i)by extending the maximum traveller speed to 45m/sec and using ii)smaller ring diameter and bobbin lift. However, this has not prevented rotor spinning applications in coarse denim yarns as these yarns demand higher ring diameter and bobbin lift. Today the problem of excessive knots due to smaller ring package is of little consequence due to efficient splicing systems available at winding. Another serious problem of excessive initial end breaks due to greater number of doffs has been solved by the employment of efficient automatic piecing devices. Additionally there are support systems such as automatic roving transport to the Page | 52

ring frame, automatic roving rupture if the yarn is not pieced in three successive attempts in order to reduce incidence of roller lapping.

The merits which makes it unique ever are i)It produces the strongest yarn, it is the bench mark among all 100% staple fibre spinning systems for various types of fibres and their blends. ii)It can produce yarns with a large range of twist, density from very low to very high. No other spinning system can match this unique capability of catering from knit to voile yarns. iii) It can be used for all types of fibres and can spin from very coarse to extremely fine yarns. iv) The desired hand, crisp or soft as per requirements can be imparted using the ring yarns.

Open End Rotor Spinning: Merits and Limitations:

The rotor spinning system has the following merits and possibilities: As can be seen from the process sequence, i)the speed frames and cone winding machines can be dispensed with. ii)the productivity per position is 6 to 8 times that of ring spinning. iii) It is extremely amenable to automation viz auto piecing, auto cleaning and auto doffing. Features like Online Quality Monitoring can also be opted for. iv) The rotor yarns are extremely regular and have much lower levels of imperfections and faults as compared to ring yarns.

The inherent drawbacks / limitations of the rotor spinning system are: i)The rotor yarn strength is lower than ring yarns. ii)Longer fibres (>32mm) offer no advantage in regards to yarn quality and /or productivity. iii) the yarn twist required for optimum strength is higher than ring yarns. iv)the biggest drawback of rotor yarns is the harsh feel of the fabrics made out of them. v) The minimum number of fibres required in the cross section of rotor yarn is around 100 to 110 compared to 50 required for ring yarns. Therefore the quality of rotor yarn deteriorates when finer yarns are spun on this system.

Rotor Selection:

Rotor size, rotor groove configuration, rotor speed and rotor surface treatment all have a decisive influence on the structure and properties of a rotor yarn. Page | 53

30, 33 and 36mm rotor diameters are used for finer yarns and 40 and 46mm rotors are useful for coarser yarns. A small rotor cannot accommodate the fibre mass needed for a coarse count in its narrow groove, and a possible overfeeds in case of yarn rupture would quickly choke the rotor cup.

It is a common misconception that yarn quality deteriorates with small smaller rotors and higher rotor speeds.

The grove configuration determines whether a yarn is bulky or compact, weak or strong, more or less ring-yarn-like etc. Most manufacturers of rotor spinning machines offer an array of different rotors. The grooves normally used in Denim applications are as follows:

S Groove Rotors produces a bulky yarn which is weaker than yarn spin in any other rotor. It yields an excellent uniformity and is suitable for cotton with above-average trash content and for all synthetic fibres.

U Groove Rotors possesses good self-cleaning properties as far as dust is concerned, but trash particles can still jam the groove and cause moir. The yarn strength is higher than that from an S-rotor. For these reasons U-rotor is preferred for denim yarns.

T Groove furnishes the strongest yarn due to its narrow, recessed groove, especially in fine counts. It is also the leanest, most compact yarn, having a low number of hairs per yarn cross section. Yarn torques is also higher, indicating a more ring-yarn-like structure. It is susceptible to initial deposits, but then the self cleaning effect sets in, maintaining uniform yarn properties. It is unsuitable for trashy cottons. It may also not be useful for denim warp yarns for rope dyeing where the higher yarn torque may cause problems in rebeaming.

Opening Zone

The opening roller wire specifications should be chosen as per fibre specifications, The general principle to be followed for deciding opening roller speed is that the higher the speed, the lower the yarn unevenness, the faults, the yarn strength and the breaking extension, Lower opening roller speeds should be used normally be used for the following: i) longer, finer and crimped fibres Page | 54

ii) coarser and cleaner sliver iii) lower rotor speed

The range of speeds normally ranges from 5000 to 8000 rpm.

The influence of other machine and process parameters on rotor spinning yarn properties in general are well documented in two references given at the end which we suggest for further reading.

YARN QUALITY PROFILES

Yarn quality profiles can be presented in many different ways. E.g. in table or graphic form. One example, shown here in Tables 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9 details the properties of yarn spun on both the rotor spinning and ring spinning systems and tabulate the yarn quality levels achieved with different yarn counts. The specific information on rotor groove and end use, whether it is meant for warp/weft, rope/ slasher are provided for interesting comparisons. Each of these Tables corresponds to the Fibre characteristics of different mixings, coarse count open end, fine count open end and ring spinning mixings , as provided earlier in Table -3.3 in this treatise.

If one studies critically, the data shown in these Tables confirm many of the statements made throughout this book.

COTTON, PROCESS AND YARN TESTING

In order to monitor yarn quality consistently and efficiently, a testing laboratory equipped with modern instruments is an indispensable tool for the spinner. A good sampling plan (size and frequency of test samples) keeps track of sliver quality and yarn quality in such a way that in case of deviation from set quality standards, corrective action can be taken immediately. The sampling plan usually varies from plant to plant and should represent a careful balance between the prevailing quality requirements and the cost of testing. The Table 3.10 lists the most commonly used testing instruments to determine specific cotton, process tests and yarn properties. These instruments are fairly well standardized throughout the world; they are not operated not only in yarn spinning plants, but also in research laboratories, textile inPage | 55

stitutes, universities and at machinery manufacturers. The following brief describes the uncommon tests yarn torque and fancy yarn testing.

Determination of Yarn Torque

A simple and fast method to evaluate yarn kinkiness, bulk, and hand is the so-called Torque Test.

Two leas (skeins) of the same yarn are connected by slipping an O-ring in each end as the skeins are pulled off the reel. This double skein, suspended in a vertical position with the lower ring released turns due to its own torque. The number of turns reveals very useful information about the yarn structure, internal dynamics and its behavior in subsequent processes, such as kinking and snarling, as well as fabric properties such as skew, bulk and hand.

Torque measurements range from near 0 (no torque) to 6 (very high torque). Subjectively comparing the soft or harsh feel of yarn skeins provides good clues to the hand of the fabric.

Determination of Fancy Yarn Parameters:

Recently, the usage of characteristic yarns, such as slubby and multi count yarns, both in ring spinning and open end rotor spinning system in denims are on the rise. These yarns need additional monitoring of Slub parameters. Fancy yarn module of UT-5 serves this purpose with testing of Slub parameters -Slub frequency, Slub Length and Mass increase in addition to yarn diameter, yarn density and shape. The fancy yarn properties of typical characteristic yarns are given in Table-3.11 . ON SHUTTLE LESS LOOMS

Traditional denim weaving had been done with the rapier looms and projectile looms for a long time. But with the development of the air jet weaving technology, the main flow of the denim weaving has been changed to Air Jet Loom due to its suitability to mass production.

The general guidelines in selection of various types of shuttle less weaving machines are as follows: Page | 56

Rapier is known for its versatility in weaving fancy fashion materials of different constructions like suiting, upholstery, furnishing etc.

Air Jet weaving machine is most suitable for mass production.

Projectile is suited for dress material, industrial fabrics, heavy denim and geotextiles in single or multiple widths.

An evaluation on the application of various methods of weft insertion carried out by the Textile Machinery Society of Japan is given in Table 5.1

As can be seen from the Table that Air Jet Weaving scores in high productivity and labour savings however suffers in high energy costs and yarn wastage. Projectile scores well on both parameters, that is energy saving and fabric quality. More over, running cost will be the lowest for projectile during extended machines economic life beyond capital life. However, these ratings may be different in Indian context and for specific denim applications.

ON AIR JET LOOM

The important features of Denim weaving on Air Jet Loom are as follows:

a. High Productivity: As an actual production in the mill, 900 rpm is achieved already with the latest models of different makes.

b. Start Marks: The rush motor emits 1200% torque at the time of start and avoids start marks. Electronic let off, ensures the even warp tension from the full beam to the empty beam. Electronic let off is also equipped with the programmable kick back function which controls the cloth fell position at the start according to the loom stop duration. The second feeler is equipped to detect blow off of weft yarn.

c. Special arrangements for the Denim Weaving of Coarse Yarns:

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I. Reinforced loom structure for heavy duty weaving. II. Reinforced let-off motion for heavy warp. III. Intermediate rocking supporter to make a strong beat without bending for heavy fabric. IV. Positive cam motion for high speed operation for the heavy load of warp.

d. Stop Market Prevention:

i) Automatic Leveling Device: It automatically closes the shed after a loom stop by leveling all the shafts and prevents warp strain which may create corrugate marks.

ii)One Pick Insertion System: To minimize stop marks, a special weft insertion system functioning at the time of restart can be equipped with. When the loom is started first pick is automatically inserted just before the first beat. By avoiding the beat- up without yarn at reverse rotation, this system prevents the corruption of the fabric construction and prevents corrugate marks.

e. Devices for a coarse count weft:

The following are some of the arrangements equipped to use a coarse count yarn for weft. i) Balloon Breaker reduces the weft tension due to ballooning. ii) Auxiliary main nozzle is installed before the main nozzle to insert a coarse weft with less air pressure. iii)Stretch nozzle is furnished to give adequate stretch to the weft for a perfect insertion of a coarse weft.

f. Labour Saving:

This is realized with a large size packages and loom automation. Automation includes automatic pick finding for easier weft repair and automatic defective pick remover.

REQUIREMENTS FOR HIGH INSERTION RATES IN AIR JET WEAVING

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weaving profitability is the result of weaving productivity. The higher the weaving machine speed and efficiency the higher the productivity. As soon as speed is increased however, weaving machine efficiency, which is affected by loom down time on warp and product changing on repairs and yarn break repair times and also quit markedly by the number of warp and weft stoppages falls a rule.

The standards for loom stops per hour is given in Table-5.2

In air jet weaving, the proportion of weft stoppages to total is high, and their reduction is therefore of great importance for increased efficiency in air jet weaving processes. In addition, fewer warp yarn breaks, their faster repair and short setting times are the key for high production. It is not the speed of the machine, but the number of picks actually produced that is the deciding factor in modern weaving. The important points are i)the factors which guarantee high insertion rates ii) the humidity levels iii) the factors which lead to a high fabric quality.

Influence of Yarn:

The yarn breaks in spinning are correlated to the yarn breaks on the weaving machine. It is important to maintain count and strength variability to the lowest. The standards for Count CV% and Strength CV% is given in Table- 5.3. The count CV% will be higher by +0.5 where auto levelers are not existing on finisher draw frame. Therefore it is necessary to use two passage draw frames where finisher draw frame is equipped with auto levelers particularly fine, ring and characteristic yarns.

In case of OE spinning there is an interesting correlation between high residual trash- content and increased yarn breaks in weaving. The norms for residual trash content at feed sliver are 0.5%.

The weft insertion performance depends to a large extent on the level of weak spots. The standards for Uster Tensojet Tensile properties are given in Table-5.4. Percentile 0.1% values given in Col 5 and 6 for Elongation% and Force in cN is a tool for identifying the weak spots in the yarn lot and estimated performance on loom.

Influence of Weaving Preparatory on the Cloth Production System:

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Tight ends, lost ends, pieces of yarn or lint dragged onto the warper beam are performance killers in air jet weaving. Therefore the accurate functioning of the stop motion on the creel plays a key role.

Warper beams should not contain any grooves, high edges or crossed ends. They should be made with bobbins of adjusted length and run off the creel without crossing ends and at uniform tension. In this manner yarn breaks on the sizing machine can be almost eliminated.

During sizing, the lengths run at creep speed should present less than 4% and a moderate size application control system should be used. For air jet weaving, two size boxes and real wet splitting should be used in case of warps with more than 70% cover density, in order to reduce the hairiness of the yarn. The use of size add on control seems to be essential when operating with two size boxes, because there are no two size boxes, because there are no two size boxes which, in spite of exactly identical setting, produce exactly the same size add on. The differences measured may reach as much as 4% in absolute figures.

Over drying, particularly when sizing cotton yarns should absolutely be avoided.

After waxing, (0.2 to 0.5%) of the warp ends generally improves its performance.

Finally the warp ends should be fixed by tapes in such a way that they can be entered into the harness without crossing.

Factors influencing the performance of the warp in the weaving machine:

The shed geometry in front of the reed is to a large extent designed by the builder of the machine. When setting the back shed and harness stroke the weaver is required to choose the proper setting, also when determining the warp tension. These settings have an important impact on the performance of the machine. It is therefore essential that these settings are optimized with utmost care and by using modern measuring instruments.

Following two factors have a particular influence on the behaviour of the warp: i) yarn traction force Page | 60

ii) yarn hairiness

A too high warp yarn traction force is leading to overloading the warp ends. As the yarn traction force is not constant during weaving, the peak tensions which generally appear in the bottom shed, particularly in the middle of the warp should be taken into consideration. These peak values should not exceed 5 to 6 cN/tex, depending on the quality of the yarn.

The importance of the setting of the warp stop motion is often under estimated. Its position has a direct influence on the back shed and thus on the yarn traction forces in the bottom and top sheds. The vertical position of the warp stop motion should therefore be set very precisely. It changes the asymmetry of the shed.

Atmospheric Conditions

Relative humidity have a great impart on the performance of the weaving machines. The optimal dissipation of temperature and humidity over the machines, that is the warp, is generally not reached, because the sources of heat within the weaving machine disturb the climatic conditions. Numerous yarn breaks are caused by dust, lint and fibre accumulations. The best experiences have been made with air conditioning systems whereby humidified air is conducted over the machine, whilst the dust loaded exhaust air is evacuated through floor opening under the back shed, and because the descending flow of the conditioned air is assisting the sedimentation of the lint. At the same working conditions for the personnel are improved. It is surprising how much cleaner the machines and the whole weave room are, compared with systems whereby the exhaust air is evacuated in the alleys, or worse, through the outside walls.

Table -7.6: Weaving - Typical Denim Constructions

TABLE-7.7 : PRODUCTION CALCULATION

The following information is an estimated performance for weaving 14.5 ozs indigo denim. Page | 61

a)Fabric : Indigo Denim 14.5 ozs/square yard Warp Yarn : 100% Cotton Ne 7s Indigo Dyed Weft Yarn : 100% Cotton Ne 6s Grey Warp Density: 60 ends/inch Weft Density : 40 picks/inch Width : 66.5 inches Weave : 3/1 b)Reed Space : 68.5 inches 2 Colour Weft Mixing Positive cam shedding Motion, 4 shafts -Denim Weaving Arrangement c)Estimated Loom Speed : 900 rpm d)Estimated Production Per Loom: i)Daily Production (linear length) = 900 rpm x 60min x 24h x 0.92 eff x 0.0254 / 40 ppi = 757 metres/day/loom ii)Monthly Production (linear length) = 757 m x 30 days =22713 metres/month/loom

The following standards for denim fabric quality in terms of inspection, packing, shade and physical requirements are of general nature considering varied requirements of end-uses / customers, however holds good for major universe.

This chapter details classifying fabrics according to color and defects so that the fabrics are made to garments at ease with defects eliminated, grouped according to shade and perform satisfactorily.

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INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS

Fabric Group Classification According to Yarn Type

Group One

All Basic Denims (OE/OE)

Group Two

All Denims (RING/OE) & (RING/RING)

Group Three

Specialty Denims: Linen Denims, Vintage

Acceptable Defect Point Levels According to Yarn Type

TABLE-11.1:DEFECT POINTS PER 100 SQUARE YARDS TABLE-11.2:DEFECT POINTS PER 100 SQUARE METRES TABLE 11.3: QUALITY CATEGORISATION OF DENIM FABRICS

Defect Grading:

A. Point Grading System: Denim fabrics are normally graded using the 4-Point system. This numeric grading system is endorsed by ASTM, AAMA (American Apparel Manufacturers Association) and ECMA (European Cloth Manufacturers Association). All defects which are clearly visible from one meter (three feet) are scored as defects and demerit points assigned according to severity. Page | 63

B. Length of Defect Points: Demerit points are assigned to warp and filling defects as follows (Defects in any direction)

v 1 point - Defects 7.5 cm(3) or less v 2 points - Defects exceeding 7.5 cm(3) up to 15 cm(6) v 3 points - Defects exceeding 15cm (6) up to 22.5cm(9) v 4 points - Defects exceeding 22.5 cm(9)

C.Counting of Lengthwise 4 Point Defects: No linear meter is penalized more than 4 points.

v Defect length 22.6cm (9) to 100cm (40) 1 no of 4 point defect v Defect length 100.1cm (40.1) to 200cm (80)2 no of 4 point defects v Defect length 200.1cm (80.1) to 300cm (120)3 no of 4 point defects v If length of defect is more than 3 meters (120) the length containing the defect is removed.

D. Full Width Defects:

v A full width defect running over 6 in length shall be removed. v More than four full width defects per one hundred linear meters shall not be accepted as first quality. v A full width defect in first or last three meters of roll shall not be allowed.

E. Flagging of Defects:

v Only 4 point defects are flagged with a metallic sticker. One may find the metallic sticker at the start of the defect. Metallic flags should be a minimum of 2 cm wide and 7.5 cm length. v Defect points 1, 2, 3 shall be counted but not flagged. v All splices shall be flagged. Page | 64

v All holes shall be removed. There must be two or more yarns broken at the same place to consider a defect as a hole.

F. Roll Length and Splicing:

v Roll length tolerance should be agreed upon the first delivery. Say maximum 135 meters and minimum 85 meters. v No pieces shall be accepted as first quality with length less than 30 meters. v No roll shall be accepted as first quality containing more than one splice. v The shade continuity between parts must allow for the mixing of garment components within a garment. v Two part rolls should be identified as such, No more than 25% two part roll should be allowed in any shipment.

G.Shading:

v No pieces shall be accepted as first quality that exhibits a noticeable degree of shading from side- to -side or side- to centre. v No pieces shall be accepted as first quality that exhibits a noticeable degree of shading from end to end.

Skew

A. All 3/1 and some 2/1 twill fabrics for bottoms require skewing. Since the optimum skew varies depending on the fabric (anywhere from 5% to 9%), this must first be determined by the supplier and agreed upon before bulk fabric orders are placed. Target for individual rolls = +/- 3%

B. No fabric shall be accepted as first quality exhibiting more than 3% skew movement.

Waviness

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No roll shall be accepted as first quality exhibiting a noticeable degree of looseness (waviness) or tightness along either or both selvages.

Ripples or puckers in the body of the fabric, which prevents the fabric from lying flat when spread in a conventional manner, is unacceptable.

The woven selvage or fringe should be the same on both sides of the fabric. Tolerance wavy selvage: 2% in length

Width

Cuttable width variations must meet the minimum fabric width specification. In addition width variation within a roll should not exceed 2 cm.

PACKING REQUIREMENTS:

Put- up- Specifications

A. Fabric shall be rolled onto a spiral-wound tube with necessary wall thickness [OD: 60 mm; ID: 45 mm] and strength [Radial Crushing Strength > 500 Kgf for 8 length] to insure it reaching to customers in good condition, provided it is handled by reasonable and acceptable methods.

B. Rolls are wrapped in such a manner that will protect the fabric from all types of damage during transportation and storage.

C. The outer edge of each roll shall be taped down to prevent unrolling during shipment and storage.

D. Roll Identification

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Two stickers must be attached one to the end of the roll and another on side of the roll. The stickers shall contain the following information. 1. Roll /Bale Number. 2. Fabric Style number 3. Shade Group 4. Roll length in meters 5. Roll length in yards 6. Fabric width in inches 7. Total square meters 8. Demerit points per 100 square Yards 9. No of fabric pieces 10. Gross weight in Kg 11. Net weight in Kg 12. Quality Category 13. Total number of 4 point defects 14. Total number of Demerit points 15. Security code

COLOUR EVALUATION / SHADE GROUPING

Option 1: Instrumental Shade Evaluation Procedure of Wash Swatches

Instrumental Color Measurement: The color measurement shall be carried out using Spectrophotometer.

Master Roll: Master roll shall be established during initial stages and will remain during the entire life cycle of the product. The procedure for selecting the master roll is given under the head Procedure for Selecting the Master Roll Instrumental Evaluation

Blanket Preparation: The blanket preparation procedure is given under the head Blanket Preparation Page | 67

Shade Evaluation: The color measurement shall be carried out using Spectrophotometer and shade grouping shall be carried out according to wash color reference of master roll. Before assessment, all fabric swatches must be conditioned for at lease 1 hour in a controlled atmosphere. Samples must be conditioned from a dry state. All measurements must be done as soon as possible after conditioning.

Classifying Rolls by Color Groups: LMD grouping shall be followed. (L= Light, M = Medium, Dark = D), the taper standards are defined as color difference (dEcmc) by Standard, Average, Range and Roll to Roll. L: C [Lightness: Chroma]

The tolerance to be followed is

Average : 1.2 Standard : 2.0 Range : 1.5 Roll : 0.5 L: C Ratio : 2.0

Visual Evaluation: All roll sequences shall be evaluated visually by laying the swatches in standard lighting conditions and remove abnormal rolls.

Light Conditions: Only D65 lamps are to be used to assess color. Make sure appropriate Number of lamps is used to obtain luminosity of minimum 1500 lux.

Identifying Color Groups: To facilitate classification of rolls, the rolls shall be identified with appropriate color stickers of L, M and D and the same shade group shall be mentioned in the packing list by tracking via roll number.

Swatch Service: The system shall be to send two set of unwashed and washed swatches to customers. The washed swatches are being sent so that customer can review the shade at their end and the unwashed swatches will be used for additional use if any.

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Option 2: Visual Shade Evaluation Procedure of Wash Swatches

Visual Color Assessment: Each wash swatch representing one roll in the shipment needs to be compared to the master swatch under standard light conditions.

Master Roll: Master roll shall be established during initial stages and will remain during the entire life cycle of the product. The procedure for selecting the master roll is given under the head Procedure for Selecting the Master Roll Visual Evaluation

Blanket Preparation: The blanket preparation procedure is given under the head Blanket Preparation

Shade Evaluation: Each wash swatch shall be evaluated versus reference shade swatch on shade, color, wash-down, abrasion and overall appearance. Based on this comparison swatches representing rolls shall be accepted/ rejected.

Light Conditions: Only D65 lamps are to be used to assess color. Make sure appropriate Number of lamps is used to obtain luminosity of minimum 1500 lux. Make sure a matt grey background is used with reference of Munshell grey N5 or N7 to assess colors.

Identifying Color Groups: To facilitate classification of rolls, the rolls shall be identified with appropriate color stickers of L, M and D and the same shade group shall be mentioned in the packing list by tracking via roll number.

Swatch Service: The system shall be to send two set of unwashed and washed swatches to customers. The washed swatches are being sent so that customer can review the shade at their end and the unwashed swatches will be used for additional use if any.

Option 3: Visual Shade Evaluation Procedure of Unwashed Swatches

Visual Color Assessment: Each wash swatch representing one roll in the shipment needs to be compared to the master swatch under standard light conditions. Page | 69

Master Roll: Master roll shall be established during initial stages and will remain during the entire life cycle of the product. The procedure for selecting the master roll is given under the head Procedure for Selecting the Master Roll

Shade Evaluation: Each unwashed swatch shall be evaluated versus reference shade swatch on shade, color and overall appearance. Based on this comparison swatches representing rolls shall be accepted/ rejected.

Light Conditions: Only D65 lamps are to be used to assess color. Make sure appropriate Number of lamps is used to obtain luminosity of minimum 1500 lux. Make sure a matt grey background is used with reference of Munshell grey N5 or N7 to assess colors.

Identifying Color Groups: To facilitate classification of rolls, the rolls shall be identified with appropriate color stickers of L, M and D or D+, D, D- and the same shade group shall be mentioned in the packing list by tracking via roll number..

Swatch Service: The system shall be to send three set of unwashed swatches to customers.

Blanket Preparation

Swatch Size: Use uniform swatch size of 8 x 6

Preparation of Blankets: All blankets for washing shall have standard shade swatch from Master Roll. Swatch shall be cut from every roll of a shipment each 8 x 6. Identify each roll no at the back of the swatch. In case of light weights identify by serial nos at the backside corner with indelible ink. Waste material of same style

Wherever less number of swatches is available use dummy swatches of same style nos.

Do not use washed swatches for dummies.

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v Dummy swatch size shall be of same size as that of blanket swatches.

v To make wash load if required, use dummy swatches of same style only.

v Sew the two panels together to avoid entangled panels in washing.

v All panels from one shipment to be washed in same wash load.

Washing of the Blankets: Wash blankets according to the recipe for various classes of products.

Procedure for Selecting the Master Roll

Instrumental Evaluation

v From the average of the washed lot select about five roll which are near to the average values. v Check their UNWASHEDED L*a*b* values, these must belong to 555 block. If not then select 5 more rolls near to average values from the washed lot. v The roll which belongs to 555 shade block, check the preceding and succeeding rolls L*a*b* values, these must also belong to 555 shade block. This will ensure that there is no shade variation within the roll. v Now check the consistency of the complete beam. There should not be much variation within the beam. v The dyer will use the yarn latti of this particular beam as shade reference for dyeing.

Visual Evaluation

v Select about five rolls which represent middle of the washed lot. v Check unwashed swatches as well, for their true representation of the middle of the lot. Page | 71

v Check the preceding and succeeding swatches. These must also belong to the same shade. This will ensure that there is no shade variation within the roll. v Now check the consistency of the complete beam. There should not be much variation within the beam. v The dyer will use the yarn latti of this particular beam as shade reference for dyeing.

TESTING REQUIREMENTS - PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Product development concerns itself with modifications or extensions provided to ideas so as to improve the functioning, the cost, and the value-for-money of the product. Development efforts improve the performance of the product, add options and additional features and even add variants of the basic product. On the whole, development effort is innovative vis--vis research which is more inventive the thrust being on developing new product ideas, technologies and processes.

The tradeoff between research and development is an important strategic decision for most organizations.

Variety or Standardization

There are two distinctly different priorities that can affect the product development.

By adding variety, an organization attempts to satisfy the varied needs and tastes of customers and competes on non-price considerations as well.

On the other hand standardization / simplification offer: -reduction in total inventory of yarn -reduction in extra or unutilized ends -reduction in accessories/ reeds -reduction in change over times Page | 72

-simplifies many operational procedures -reduces need for many controls -lower unit costs

Now the two caveats to trade off are # a family of similar products is much simpler to produce than a family of dissimilar products. # it is not enough to produce a product but it has to be produced so that there is an added value as perceived by the market

Modularization: Middle Path Buddhas Way

One method used to obtain variety or perceived variety and yet hold down cost is through modularization. A product is deigned using modules or sub assemblies that are interchangeable and each different combination of modules gives a new variety of the product.

1 Warp sheet X 3 Colors X 3 Weaves X 3 Wefts -------------------------1x3x3x3= 27 Products ----------------------------X Tints X Garment Washes X Blasting/Brushing X . X X ... Page | 73

For example one warp sheet, three colors, three weaves and three wefts will give 1 x 3 x 3 x 3 =27 varieties, yet making large quantities of standard modules.

This is illustrated with two typical basic denim constructions. The grey construction details are given in Table-13.1.

Volatility in Cotton prices

Denim mills are searching for ways to produce denim fabrics of the highest quality at competitive prices. The engineering from raw fiber to finished fabric results in superior denims when modern fiber and manufacturing technologies are consistently applied throughout the processing chain. However, the cost of these engineered products delivered to the market place demands, in addition the prudence in tackling the volatility associated with the raw material, mainly cotton.

The Raw Material Cost [RMC] per metre of 150 cm width basic OE denim, for various denim weights over a decade is depicted below in equation, for the sake of simplicity:

RMC/metre = 2.3 x ozs per sq.yd. + 8.4 +/-0.4

That is cotton cost per metre for a 10ozs OE denim is Rs.31.4 [Ranging 27.4 to 35.4]

The engineering of denim fabrics utilizes, ring spinning or open end rotor spinning or their differentiated innumerable characteristic yarns + modern fabric forming and finishing techniques and commonly available but selected cotton fibers. The mixing specifications for different yarns are given in Table-13.3. Cotton Mixing Specifications of Important Fibre Characteristics for Denim Yarns (HVI Mode).

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The following equation depicts the cost differentials between Ring denim and Rotor denim in a simplified way:

RMC Ring per metre = RMC OE per metre x [1+ozs per sq.yd/100]

That is cotton cost for a 10 ozs ring denim is Rs.31.4 + [1+10/100] = Rs.31.4 x 1.1 = Rs34.54.

Engineering

Hence the engineering of denim fabrics begins with the selection of appropriate combination of cotton fibre characteristics for different yarn types with the aid of modern HVI instruments. The mixing specifications for different yarns are given in Table-13.3. Cotton Mixing Specifications of Important Fibre Characteristics for Denim Yarns (HVI Mode).

Once fibre characteristics are known, yarn quality and processing performance can be predicted. Last column in the Table-13.3 provides an iNDEX for various yarn types which can be used as a composite measure to arrive at a variance with respect to actual yarn quality of various yarn types including individual characteristic yarns.

The equation for calculating

iNDEX=735 x [UHML x Str - 3 x Str -255 -6.6 x UHML]^0.22

Where UHML is Upper Half Mean Length in mm and Str is Strength in grams per tex as tested using HVI Mode

The above iNDEX which uses Fibre characteristics as tested using HVI Mode is deduced from earlier ATIRA equation for predicting CSP of Open-end yarns using Fibre characteristics using ICC Mode.

CSP =720 x [2.5% SL x S - 300]^0.22 [72.5 x Mc/2.5% SL + 16] x C Page | 75

Where 2.5% SL is 2.5% Span Length in mm S is Strength in grams per tex as tested using ICC mode Mc is Micronaire and C is Count in Ne

The spinning parameter Twist Multiplier and important yarn parameters, such as strength, count and their variabilitys of various yarn types are provided in Table-13.4. Spinning Parameters and Yarn Quality. Rope dyeing technology demands less torque yarns in warp which are made from Urotors. The H values of Yarns made from U rotors as tested in Uster evenness testers are higher by 2.0 to 2.5 numbers in comparison with the yarns produced from T rotors

Cover Factor

To obtain better performance on the loom and fabric yield, a guideline for cover factor in developing new fabric constructions is given in Table-13.5 and classified under 3 categories for

i) Rings ii) Bulky Open-ends and iii) Shrinking Stretches.

B.Grey construction is used for calculations.

C.The formula used = Threads per inch --------------------------- -------- X 100 [28 X Square root of Count] Changing Trend in Yarn Preferences

Beginning of twenty first century saw the explorations in different yarn options. The below list is arranged by their usage in volume, starting with warp followed by their use in weft. Page | 76

Crosshatch / Streak / Rain Denims

Recently, the usage of characteristic yarns, such as slubby and multi count yarns, both in ring spinning and open end rotor spinning system in denims are on the rise. These yarns need additional monitoring of Slub parameters. Fancy yarn module of UT-5 serves this purpose with testing of Slub parameters -Slub frequency, Slub Length and Mass increase in addition to yarn diameter, yarn density and shape. Aggressive slub parameters tend to lower Yarn Strength and poor performance at subsequent processes. The minimum tenacity values as tested using Uster Tensorapid for satisfactory performance level is given in Table10.4 in Row 3 and 7. Beyond which compromise needs to be made among Slub parameters or performance levels or cotton fibre characteristics.

Chinos

Two ply chino denims in indigo dyed shade have a unique soft hand feel, Fabric cover and a luxurious appeal.

Tencel Denim

Woven century luxury cellulosic fibre made from specially grown woods and transformed in non-chemical process which give feel of silk and comfort of cotton.

Stretch Denims

For stretch denims, Core-Spun Cotton Spandex, Poly Spandex and Type -400 yarns are generally employed. Core-Spun Cotton Spandex yarns in denims range 10s to 16s Ne and uses generally 70 denier filament; though 40, 55 and 120 denier filaments are also available. The Spandex % of Core-spun cotton spandex yarn ranges from 3.5 to 5.5 %. The twist multiplier is 4.4.

Union Denims

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Denims are differentiated with weft yarns to create Union Fabrics. The union denims produced in large volumes uses the following weft yarns in the same order Polyester Texturised Filament, Stretch yarns of Poly Spandex and Type -400 yarns, and Pre-bleached Linen Yarns.

Poly Denim

Polyester Texturised Yarns in denim applications range 300 to 600 denier, with a tenacity of 4.0 g/tex and 20 to 27% extension. Bulk which is expressed in %HCC (Hot Crimp Contraction) is about 40 and nips per metre ranges from 70 to 90 for better performance. Grey as well as dyed yarns are being used.

Poly Stretch Denim

Poly spandex yarns used in denims range 150 to 300 denier with 6 to 12 % spandex. Nips per metre for better weaving performance is 100 to 130. Type -400 yarns from Invista used in denim applications range 150 to 600 denier with a bulk of 50% HCC and nips per metre of 35 to 50.

Linen Vintages

Pre-bleached Linen yarns range 9s to 16s Ne [or 25 to 44 Lea]. Though these yarns have very high strength of over 3000 csp and 20 cN/tex, due to low elongation of 2% and the natural variation in yarn, the loom performance as well as full width defects is poor in comparison with normal denim.

Value Engineering

In accordance with the value engineering, quality fabrics can also be produced from Value mixings given in Table -11.3 Row 5. However the denim fabrics produced out of such yarns should not be meant for elaborate destructive garment washes. Page | 78

Addition of 10% Recycled Waste

The full recycling of all opening and carding wastes, using a new line of machinery from Trutzschler and others, is attempted by few with a success . Its obvious importance in Denim manufacture lies in the overall weight on the final cost represented by the cost of cotton .Because of heavy yarns and fabrics, if one can save 3 or 4% on cotton costs, the impact on the bottom line can be remarkable.

This clean material has some residual trash in it not too different from the cotton used. Naturally there are more short fibres. The yield will be approximately 50%, in other words from each 2 kgs of raw waste we get 1 kg of clean recycled cotton. This material is baled again and fed to the mix at the lay down. Normally 10% is used. A loss of some 0.5 to 1.0 cN/tex is then unavoidable, but with 10% it will be manageable.

Control of Yarn Realization

A one percent reduction in yarn realization has almost the same economic impact on the mills profit as an increase of one percent in the mixing cost. The control of yarn realization is thus as important to a mill as the control of cotton and mixing costs. One may find the detailed procedures for the control of yarn realization in Chapter 3, ATIRA Silver Jubilee Monograph Process Control in Spinning.

Mock Rings

Various attempts to duplicate superior denims made from ring yarns with rotor yarns of mock or slubby have always failed in fabric strength properties, fabric hand and appearance due to differences in yarn structure and yarn properties. Still one wonders how much of the present so-called ring spun Denims are such and how many are mock ring made in open end.

Other Value Offerings

Cotton rich polyester denims are with superior hand feel, luster and colour contrast for fashion market. One may find a deep value in using dyed polyester texturised filament yarn in Page | 79

place of costly yarn dyed cotton weft for high fashion denim. Poly Spandex yarns are replacing core spun lycra yarns in the value universe. Within Poly Denims, the denier is getting coarser day by day from 300 to 450 to 600. Though, Linen Vintage denims are not in high volume, there are efforts to replace it with Jute (Indian Linen) in the value proposition.

Successful strategies in denim mean profit, often (now) even survival. Engineering the fabrics on continual basis provides a way to achieve both quality and cost benefits of substantial proportions. At the same time full manufacturing flexibility through modularization is being maintained, enabling the denim mill to meet new and changing trends in raw material and fashion.

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