Chapter VI: Preface (6)

=Woollen Yarn= in appearance possesses a fringe-like covering which gives it a fuzzy appearance. This is arrived at by using shorter wool than in the manufacture of worsted yarn and by giving it a twist. This fuzzy appearance distinguishes it from worsted yarn, which is a straight yarn in which the component fibres lie smoothly and parallel to each other. Woollen yarn is particularly suitable for the manufacture of cloths in which the colourings require to be blended, the fibres napped, as in Tweed, Cheviot, Doeskin, Broadcloth, Beaver, Frieze, Chinchilla, Blanket, and Flannel. Woollen yarn may be said to be a thread in which all the component fibres are entangled into each other and are in all different directions: this results in a yarn which is rough in appearance, non-lustrous, and more irregular than worsted yarn. It is only in this type of yarn that low-grade materials, such as mungo, shoddy, or extract, can be utilised. The fibres which constitute a woollen yarn are not as readily separated from the body of the yarn or cloth as in the case of worsted.

In the case of woollen yarn there are numerous systems for denoting the count, varying with the locality in which it is spun and the character of the product. In the United States there are two systems employed, but the one in most general use is known as the "American run counts." This is based on the number of "runs," each containing 1,600 yards, to the pound. Thus, a yarn running 8,000 yards to the pound is called a "5-run" yarn, a yarn with 5,200 yards to the pound is equal to a "3¼-run." In the vicinity of Philadelphia woollen yarn is based on the "cut," each cut consisting of 300 yards, and the count is the number of cuts in a pound. Thus, No. 30 cut yarn consists of 9,000 yards to the pound. A similar system prevails in England, where 200 yards go to the "cut," and the number of "cuts" per pound equals the count. In certain parts of England (Yorkshire) 256 yards go to the hank. The count is also arrived at on the basis that the number of yards per dram equals the count.

=Worsted Diagonal.=--The name explains itself and is applied to a worsted cloth having as its chief characteristic a prominent weave effect running diagonally--from left to right--across the face of the cloth. Generally in solid colours and finished so as to bring the weave into prominence.

=Worsted Lastings.=--A smooth, warp-faced, sateen-weave fabric woven from worsted warp and weft, having a plain-weave effect on the back of the fabric. Generally piece-dyed black. Worsted Lastings average 30 to 31 inches in width and 29 to 30 yards in length per piece. Met with in three grades of quality. Average Bradford price for the best grade was, for the 10 years ended 1914, about 31_s._ 5_d._ per piece.

=Worsted Yarn= is a straight yarn, _i.e._, a yarn produced from straight fibres; it is invaluable in the production of textile fabrics in which lustre and uniformity of surface are the chief characteristics. They enter into the manufacture of Zephyr, Saxony, Serge, Bunting, Rep, etc. Yarn is measured by a system of "counts"--the number of yards of yarn to the pound. It is put up in hanks of 560 yards each, and the number of such hanks that are necessary to weigh 1 pound determines the count, so that if No. 30 yarn is mentioned, it is a yarn 30 hanks of which, or 16,800 yards, weigh 1 pound. The main characteristic of worsted yarn is the arrangement of the fibres, which are so arranged that they are parallel to each other in a longitudinal direction.

The yarn thus produced is a smooth, lustrous, and level yarn, these qualities being absent in woollen yarn. The fibres which constitute a worsted yarn are more readily separated from the body of the yarn or cloth than in the case of a woollen yarn.

=W-Pile.=--This term is used to designate a fast pile and originates in the form taken by a piece of fast pile when removed from the fabric. In a fast-pile fabric the pile cannot be driven out through the back of the fabric by pressure applied to the pile, owing to the fact that the pile is virtually bound into the material and held in place by two threads from the top and one from behind. _See_ Pile Weave.

=Wright's Underwear, Imitation.=--This class of underwear is essentially a knit cotton underwear made from a combination of bleached cotton yarn and dyed yarn. The knit fabric is raised on the inside. The dyed yarn used in the manufacture of this class of underwear is often of a blue or brown colour.

=Yarn, Cotton, Grey or Bleached.=--In its unqualified form the term Cotton Yarn is used to describe "single" yarns, and Cotton Yarn, Grey or Bleached, is understood to be cotton thread and carded yarn, warps or warp yarns, in singles, whether in bundles, skeins, or cops, not advanced beyond the condition of singles by grouping or twisting two or more single yarns together and not advanced beyond the condition of bleached by dyeing, colouring, printing, gassing, or mercerising.

Cotton yarn is subdivided into three groups,--coarse, medium, and fine--according to count:--

No. 20's count and under = coarse.
Nos. 21's to 40's = medium.
No. 41's and over = fine.

Cotton yarn is sometimes found as a Mercerised Grey Yarn. The fact that cotton yarn is in the unbleached state does not necessarily mean that it has not been advanced beyond that stage; it may be in the grey and at the same time be mercerised. _See_ "Cabled Yarns" and "Folded Yarn."

=Yarn-dyed.=--Yarn-dyed goods are made of yarns that are dyed before being woven or yarns spun from wool that has previously been dyed. Yarn-dyed may be distinguished from piece-dyed fabrics by unravelling the threads of each kind. Yarn-dyed fabrics show that the dye-stuff has penetrated through the yarn, while in the case of piece-dyed fabrics the dye-stuff has not the same chance of penetrating the yarn as completely.

=Zephyrs.=--Lightly constructed, coloured, plain-woven cloths, well finished, in the pure state, principally woven from fine cotton yarns. There are also silk and cotton woven Zephyrs and woollen Zephyrs. _See_ Madras.

=Zibeline.=--The French name for Sable, used to designate a dress or cloaking material having a hairy surface.

INDEX.

INDEX.

A.

_Page._

Actual, 1

Agaric, 1

Albatross, 1

Alhambra Quilt, 1

All Wool; _see_ Woollen, 108

All-over Leno; _see_ Dyed Lenos, 29

Alpaca, 1

Alpaca Wool, 1

Alpacianos, 2

American Run Counts; _see_ Woollen Yarn, 109

American Sheetings, 2

Angola, 2

Angola Yarn or Wool, 2

Angora, 2

Angora Goat, 2

Animalised Cotton, 2

Armure, 3

Artificial Silk, 3

Astrakhan, 3

B.

Back Cloth, 3

Backed Cloth, 4

Baffetas, 4

Baize, 4

Balbriggan, 4

Bale of Cotton, 4

Baline, 4

Balzarine Brocades, Dyed, 4

Balzarines, 5

Bandanna, 5

Barré, 5

Basket Cloth, 5

Batiste, 5

Bayadère, 6

Bayetas, 6

Beavers, 6

Beaverteen, 6

Bedford Cords, 6

Beetle Finish; _see_ Silesia, 83

Beige, 6

Bengal Stripes, 6

Bengaline, 6

Binding Cloth, 7

Bishop's Lawn; _see_ White Lawn, 104

Bleached, 7

Bleached Domestics, 7

Bolting Cloth; _see_ Étamine, 33

Bolton Sheeting; _see_ Grey Sheeting, 39

Bombazine, 7

Book Muslin; _see_ White Muslin, 105

Book-fold Muslin, 7

Botany, 7

Bouclé, 7

Bourette, 7

Broadcloth, 8

Brocade, 8

Brocades, White; _see_ White Brocades, 103

Brocatelle, 8

Broché, 8

Broken Twill; _see_ Twill Weave, 93

Brown Sheeting, 8

Brown Shirting, 8

Bugis, 8

"Bump" Yarns, 9

Bundle; _see_ Cotton Yarn Measures, 17

Bunting, 9

Burlaps, 9

Butcher's Linen, 9

Butcher's Muslin; _see_ White Muslin, 105