Textile Testing

‘Textile’ literally means material that is made by uniting yarns or fibres together to form a mat or sheet of any unlimited length or width manufactured by weaving, knitting, felting, bonding etc. having been used for covering, warmth, personal adornment and even to display wealth, from immemorial. There are many fibrous structures in nature, but it is only these which can be spun in to yarns suitable for weaving or knitting which can be classified as textile fibres. In order that it may have commercial value, a textile fibre must possess certain fundamental properties. It must be readily obtainable in adequate quantities-at a price which will not make the end- product too costly. It must have sufficient strength elasticity and spinning power. The later property implies a measure of cohesion between individual fibres, which will give strength to the yarn when they are twisted together. The spinning of fibres, no doubt has helped when there is a certain amount of surface roughness or serration and it is also promoted by fineness and uniformity in diameter. In addition to these fundamental properties, there are other which are desirable such as durability, softness absence of undesirable colour, and an affinity for dyes. Some fibres have few and others have many of these properties. Some of the valuable properties such as colour or softness, may be latent and the object of finishing process is to develop them to the highest possible extent without anyway damaging the fibre. Textile testing enables to explore this truth which are or may be done in different stages like fibre, yarn and in fabric and the result is revealed by showing the speciality. Thus it is a valuable aid to the textile manufacturers, distributers, retailers and to the most, the consumer.