Greige Fabric Inspection

Greige/Gray/Grey Fabric

Newly constructed fabric as it comes from the

mill is called as greige fabric

The goods must pass through various

processes to make it suitable for its intended
use

GREY
OPERATIONS

ROOM

Fabric inspection involves following three

processes
Perching
Burling
Mending

GREY
OPERATIONS
Perching It is a visual

ROOM
inspection and it is carried out

through the inspection table which consists of a frosted glass

with lights behind and above it.
The fabric imperfections like thick places, defects, yarn
knots, stains and other flaws are marked.
Burling It is the removal of yarn knots or other imperfection
from the fabric.

GREY ROOM OPERATIONS

Mending is the actual repair of imperfections.

The recent innovation by the use of laser beams.

The imperfections like stains, holes, thick places, loose ends

and protruding threads of warp and weft are detected.

Eliminates human error.

Sewing: After the goods have been inspected, checked and classed
in the grey room, according to quality and stamped, they are
sewn together, end to end, by sewing machines

Fabric Inspection

Principle
Importance
Types of Inspection
Requirements
Inspection Systems

Fabric Defects
Minor, Major and Serious
Woven & Knitted

Defects

Major Defect:
A defect that, if conspicuous (clearly visible) on
the finished product, would cause the item to be a
second.
A "second" is a garment with a conspicuous defect
that affects the sale-ability or service-ability of the
item.
Minor Defect:
A defect that would not cause the product to be
termed a second either because of severity or
location.

WOVEN FABRIC DEFECTS

Jerk-in (major/minor) - Caused by an extra piece of filling yarn being jerked
part way into the fabric by the shuttle. The defect will appear at the selvedge
Knots (minor) - Caused by tying of yarns together.
Burl Mark (major) - extra piece of yarn is woven into the fabric
Drawbacks (major) - Caused by excessive loom tension applied by some
abnormal restriction. When the restriction is removed the excess slack is woven
into the fabric. Usually the ends are broken
Dropped Pick (major) - Caused by the filling insertion mechanism on a
shuttle-less loom not holding the filling yarn, causing the filling yarn to be
woven without tension.

End Out (major) - Caused by yarn breaking and loom continuing to run with
missing end
Mixed End (major) - Yarn of a different fiber blend used on the warp frame,
resulting in a streak in the fabric
Mixed Filling (major) - Caused by bobbin of lightweight yarn or different
fiber blend used in filling. Will appear as a distinct shade/color change
Open Reed (major) - Results from a bent reed wire causing warp ends to be
held apart, exposing the filling yarn.
Slub (major/minor) - Usually caused by an extra piece of yarn that is woven
into fabric. It can also be caused by thick places in the yarn.
Often caused by fly waste being spun in yarn in the spinning process

Smash (major) - Caused by a number of ruptured warp ends that have been
repaired
Soiled Filling or End (major) - Dirty, oil looking spots on the warp or filling
yarns, or on package-dyed yarn
Stop Mark (major/minor) - When the loom is stopped, the yarn elongates
under tension; when loom starts again the slackness is woven into the fabric
Thin Place (major) - Often caused by the filling yarn breaking and the loom
continuing to run until the operator notices the problem

KNITTED FABRIC DEFECTS

Barre (major) - Caused by mixing yarn on feed into machine. Fabric will
appear to have horizontal streaks
Birdseye (major/minor) - Caused by unintentional tucking from
malfunctioning needle. Usually two small distorted stitches, side by side
Broken Color Pattern (major) - Usually caused by colored yarn on frame.
Drop Stitches (major) - Results from malfunctioning needle or jack. Will
appear as holes or missing stitches.
End Out (major) - Results from knitting machine continuing to run with
missing end

Hole (major) - Caused by broken needle

Missing Yarn (major) - Caused by one end of yarn missing from feed and
machine continuing to run
Mixed Yarn (major) - Results from wrong yarn (or wrong size yarn) placed
on feed. Fabric could appear as thick end or different color if fibers have
different affinity for dye
Needle Line (major/minor) - Caused by bent needle forming distorted
stitches. Usually vertical line

Press-Off (major) - Results when all or some of the needles on circular

knitting fail to function and fabric either falls off the machine or design is
completely disrupted or destroyed.
Runner (major) - Caused by broken needle. Will appear as vertical line.
Most machines have a stopping device to stop machine when a needle breaks
Slub (major/minor) - Usually caused by a thick or heavy place in yarn, or by
lint getting onto yarn feeds.

Inspection

PRINCIPLE

Inspection

Detection of defects

Feedback of these defects to appropriate

personnel

Determination of causes of defects

Correction of the defects

IMPORTANCE
Fabric inspection is done to determine
its acceptability.
If inspection is not done, it may result in
(a)Loss of the material
(b)Loss of time
(c)Dissatisfaction due to poor quality
(d)Poor customer return

Inspection

Inspection is carried out mainly to appraise the quality of

products in terms of manufacturing defects and adherence to the
specifications and other requirements.

Normally, the visual inspection is carried out on the fabric to

examine the occurrence of yarn defects, fabric defects,
design/colors besides specification particulars.

In the earlier days, the inspection was mainly carried out to

segregate the defective products from the good products thereby
controlling the quality of products at the exit points.

Types of Inspection

There are two ways of doing inspection viz. 100% inspection

and sampling inspection.

The 100% inspection is generally carried out to segregate the

products quality-wise and perform mending activity for
products having mendable defects whereas the sampling
inspection mainly focus on sentencing the lot or batch for
acceptance or otherwise based on the sample.

This will lead to reduction in defects in the final product,

rejection level, replacement and thereby improve the quality of
the final product which results in quality image in the market

Requirements of Inspection

Inspection and Mending is to be carried out on a flat table

in a well illuminated/ ventilated place.

Inspection equipments/tools: counting glass, a good

calibrated measuring tape, metallic comb, clipper/plucker
needle.

CHECKING OF DIMENSIONS
MEASUREMENT OF WIDTH:
Width shall be measured at three different places of the fabric
and recorded.
While
oto

measuring width, care should be taken

remove the wrinkles/ crease gently from the fabric surface.

oto keep the measuring tape straight across the fabric horizontally
from selvedge to selvedge.
oto measure the width as far as possible near the center avoiding
the ends.
onot to stretch the fabric while measuring.

MEASUREMENT OF LENGTH:
Length

is measured by any of the following methods

oBy

passing through metre counter fitted roller.

oBy manually clipping the fabrics in the fold measuring frame.
oBy counting the number of metre fold in case of folded fabrics.
oCare

to be taken to ensure that the folds are of one metre length

by measuring a few folds.

CHECKING OF CONSTRUCTIONAL
PARTICULARS
ENDS PER INCH:
Ends per inch shall be counted at two places along the width of
the fabric and recorded.
PICKS PER INCH:
Picks per inch shall be counted at three places along the length
of the fabric and recorded.
Care

to be taken while placing the pick glass to see that the

edges of the template should coincide with the yarn. Ends/Picks
per inch may be counted for one inch. Also the picks should not
be counted at defective places like weft bars and cracks.

WEIGHT PER SQ.MTR.:

Pieces are to be weighed and recorded. Weight per square metre
to be calculated and recorded.
CALCULATION OF WEIGHT/SQ.MTR.:
Weigh the individual piece under Inspection and note-down.
Work out the sq.mtrs. of the piece by multiplying the length of
the piece in mtrs. and width of the piece in mtrs.
Calculate wt./sq.mtrs . as:
Weight in kgs.
--------------------------------------------------Length in mtrs. X Width in mtrs.

Inspection Systems
There are three different systems for grading the quality of
fabric, which are as follows:
SYSTEM . I (FLAW BASED)
In this system, depending upon the magnitude, defects are
classified as minor, major or serious.
Note:
1) Minor Flaws:

Minor flaws occurring more than one in number within 15 cms.

length of the cloth shall be reckoned as one minor flaw only

2) Major Flaws:
a)Major

flaws occurring more than one in number within a length

of 15 cms. of the cloth shall be reckoned as one major flaw only.
b)Major

flaws occurring in a consecutive length beyond 15 cms.

shall be reckoned as one major flaw each for every 15 cms. or
part thereof.

3) Selvedge Defects:
a)In

case of furnishing fabrics all selvedge defects like pulled in

selvedge, wavy selvedge etc. of minor nature are also to be
reckoned as major flaws.
b)Defective

or damaged selvedge exceeding 5% of the length of

the piece in case of furnishing fabrics are to be reckoned as
serious flaw.
c)All

types of selvedge defects or weaving defects very close to

the selvedges are not to be reckoned in case of fabrics used for
making garments/made-ups.

ACCEPTABILITY CRITERIA FOR

FLAWS:

The acceptability level for first quality fabric is usually established

by mutual agreement between the buyer and the seller.

The different types of fabrics have different point levels of

acceptability depending upon their end use.

Some of the commonly followed standard for acceptability for the

above mentioned systems are listed here

Note:
Minor flaws : @ 25 per 100 meters maximum are
acceptable.
Serious flaws: No serious flaw is acceptable.

Sample
size (m)

Acceptd no.
of major
flaws

Sample size
(m)

Standard.A-1 Standard A

Acceptd no. of
major flaws

Standard.A-1

Standard A

1200

29

40

350

10

1175

28

39

325

1150

27

38

300

1125

26

37

275

1100

26

36

250

1075

25

35

225

1050

25

34

200

1025

24

33

175

1000

23

32

150

975

23

31

125

950

22

31

100

SYSTEM . II (4-POINT SYSTEM)

The 4-point system, also called the American Apparel

Manufacturers Association (AAMA) point grading system for
determining fabric quality, is widely used by producers of
apparel fabrics and by the Department of Defence in the United
States

Fabric flaws or defects are assigned point values based on the

following:

Length of defect in fabric, either length

or width

Points allotted

Up to 3 in. (7.5 cms.)

Over 3 in. (7.5 cms.) up to 6 in (15 cms.)

Over 6 in. (15 cms.) up to 9 in. (23 cms.)

Over 9 in. (23 cms.)

Holes and openings

(largest dimension)

Points allotted

1 in. (2.5 cms.) or less

2
4

Over 1 in. (2.5 cms.)

The maximum number of defect points to be counted against

any one linear yard/metre is four points.
Overall, fabric quality is assessed on the basis of the number of
defect points per 100 sq yards/sq mtrs. of fabric.

ACCEPTABILITY CRITERIA FOR FLAWS:

Normally fabric rolls containing up to 40 points per 100 sq yds.

and 48 points per 100 sq mtrs. are acceptable.

However, based on the price line and end product more or less
than 40/48 points per 100 sq. yds./100 sq mtrs. respectively may
be accepted.

Example - 1

A fabric roll of 120 yds. long and 48 in. wide contains the
following defects:

2 defects up to 3 in.
5 defects over 3 in. but less than 6 in.
1 defects over 6 in. but less than 9 in.
1 defect over 9 in.

Points/100 sq. yds

Total points scored in the roll

--------------------------------------------------Fabric width x Total yard inspected

Answer?????????????????????????????????????
?

2 defects up to 3 in.
2
points
5 defects over 3 in. but less than 6 in.
= 10 points
1 defects over 6 in. but less than 9 in.
= 3 points
1 defect over 9 in.
1
points
TOTAL
points

x1=2
5x2
1x3
x4=4

=19

Therefore, Points/100 sq. yds.

Total points scored in the roll x 3600
=
--------------------------------------------------Fabric width in inches x Total yard inspected
19 x 3600
=
--------------48 x 120
=

11.9 defect points/100 sq. yds.

So if the acceptance criteria is 40 points/100 sq. yds. then this

roll is acceptable.

Example - 2:
A fabric roll of 100 m long and 150 cm wide
contains the following defects:
3

defects up to 7.5 cm.

6 defects over 7.5 cm. but less than 15 cm.
2 defects over 15 cm but less than 23 cm.
1 defect over 23 cm.
Answer?????????????????????????????

SYSTEM . III (10-POINT SYSTEM)

No linear yard of fabric is assigned more than 10

points, no matter how bad or frequent the defects are.

Acceptability criteria for flaws:

Fabric is considered of first quality if the number of

defect points are less than the number of yards of
fabric inspected.

In the case of fabrics wider than 50 in., the fabric is

considered of first quality if the total defect points do
not exceed the number of yards of fabric inspected by
10%.

Length of defect, Warp

defects

Points allotted

Up to1 inch

1 to 5 inch

5 to 10 inch

10 to 36 inch

10

Filling defect (weft defect)

Points allotted

Up to 1 inch

1 to 5 inch

5 inch to half-width

Larger than half-width

10

Fabric Pre-Treatment

Series of cleaning processes/steps/operations that make the

fabric fit for the preceding/subsequent process e.g. Dyeing or
Printing or Finishing

Improper preparation is often the cause of problems

encountered in the dyeing and finishing steps

Preparation
Processes

Coloration
processes

Finishing
Processes

To ensure that
textiles has the
right physical
and chemical
properties for
subsequent
operations

To provide the
textile with color
for aesthetic or
functional
purpose

To provide
textile with
properties that
end-use
demands and
that have not
been provided
already by
earlier
processes

Examples:
Scouring
Bleaching
Heat Setting

Examples:
Dyeing
Printing

Examples:
Water
Repellency
Flame
Retardency

PREPARATORY OPERATIONS
The main objectives:
Removes all impurities from the fiber, both naturals and / or
those added during production that may interfere in subsequent
dyeing and / or finishing process.
Improve the ability of the fibers to absorb water solutions of
dyes and chemicals.
Impart the proper brightness or whiteness to fabrics according to
need, especially when brilliant or certain pastel shades are
desired.

The most effective and widely used method

Chemically enzymes are proteins of high molecular weights.

Amylases are the enzymes used in de-sizing.

They are two categories namely -amylase and - amylase

These enzymes can be derived from sources like animal

(pancreatic) and vegetable (malt and bacterial)

Enzymes & Condition for De-sizing

S.No Amylase

Conc. gpl

Temp C pH

5 - 20

50 -60

6 7.5

Enzyme
1

Malt

Pancreatic 1 - 3

50 -60

6.5 7.5

Bacterial

60 -70

5.5 7.5

0.5 - 1

Rot Steeping

This is the oldest and cheapest method because no chemical is

used in this treatment.

The fabric is soaked in warm water and at 35 40C

temperature and passed through a padding mangle and
squeezed.

It is allowed to stand for 24 hrs.

During the storage the bacterial growth takes place, which

helps effective removal of starch materials.

After that hot washed.

Advantages:
Most
economical
simplest process
Disadvantages:
Time consuming
Unevenness in de-sizing
No control over the process

and

Acid Steeping
In this method, dilute hydro chloric acid or sulphuric acid or a
mixture of both are used to hydrolyze the starch from the sized
fabric.
The fabric is steeped in 0.25% (10 gpl) of the acid, passed
through padding mangle and kept for 6 hrs at temperature
50C.
The starch present in the fabric is liquefied and is easily
removed by washing.
Since, acid can attack cellulose, care have to be taken to avoid
damage of cotton.
The fabric should be washed with hot water after de-sizing.

Advantage:
The time consumption
compare with rot steeping

is

reduced

Disadvantage:
There is no control over the process.

Oxidative De-sizing
In this process starch is oxidized.
The commonly used oxidative de-sizing agents are

Hydrogen per oxide

Sodium bromide.

Ammonium per sulphate

Hydrogen peroxide of 1-2 volume concentration & caustic soda

(7-15 gpl ) is prepared in padder
The cloth is first impregnated at room temperature and steamed for
3 minutes.

Advantages

Time required is less and the process is continuous.

Water

and energy consumption is less

Combination with other preparatory process such as
scouring and bleaching is possible
Excellent & uniform removal of size
Disadvantages

There may be possibilities of penta-chloro phenol

content in the de-sized fabric that may be harmful.
Expensive process

Degumming with Synthetic

Detergents

Synthetic detergents are now being increasingly used in place of

soap.

Their main advantage is that they permit continuos processing of

piece goods and the time of treatment is shorter by 40 minutes.

In this method, the material is treated with 2.5 to 5 g/l detergent

(Sandopan SRS liq. of Sandoz) at pH 11.2 to 11.5 for 30 to 60
minutes at boil, then rinsed thoroughly first with hot water and then
with cold water.

The disadvantage of this method is that

obtained.

soft feel is not always

Degumming with Enzymes

Treatment with some protein enzymes like trypsin or papain may dissolve the
sericin gum. The treatment is time consuming and involves three step process.
This treatment is longer than that with synthetic detergents
I Step: The material is first treated with 0.5 g/l soda ash ; 0.5 g/l Glaubers salt ;
3 g/l penetrating agent like Imerol XN liq. (Sandoz); at boil for about 1 hour.
II Step: It is then treated with 1-5 gpl sericin dissolving enzyme(trypsin or
papain),1gpl soda ash, 2gpl Glauber's salt at 45 0C.
III Step: The above material is treated in the 3 rd bath with 0.5gpl soda ash, 2gpl
sodium silicate, 2gpl penetrating agent and 0.5gpl Glauber's salt at boil for one
hour.

The reaction takeing place during scouring :-

Oils, waxes and free fatty acids are emulsified by the soaps

Pectin's are converted into soluble salts

Proteins are degraded to simple soluble amino acids and mineral

matter is dissolved

Dirt is removed and other added impurities are broken into soluble
products

Scouring of wool
Impurities present in wool are animal fat, suint (dried perspiration)
dirt and mineral matter.

Animal fat is a wax which can be removed by the formation of

emulsion with alkali.

Suint is soluble in water

The dirt and sand in the wool are removed during scouring by
mechanical agitation

CLEANING OF WOOL
The technique consists of passing wool fibres through a series of four long
narrow bowls containing soap or non-ionic synthetic detergents and
sodium carbonate at a temperature of 40-550 C.
Detergent

Soda ash

pH

Temperature

1-bowl

0.25%

0.25%

9-10

48-520C.

2-bowl

0.2%

----

10

46-500C.

3-bowl

0.1%

---

----

43-460C.

Fresh water wash alone

40-450C.

4-bowl

KIER BOILING

A kier is a cylindrical vessel capable of holding 250 to 5000

kgs of fabric. It is provided with temperature, pressure
gauge and safety valve.
For kier boiling, a mixture of 5-10 g/l caustic soda solution,
1% sodium silicate, 1% soap along with wetting agent.
The circulation of hot alkaline liquor through the fabric is
carried out under pressure ( at 25-30 psi and 130-135 C)
for period of 6-12 hrs, depending on the type of fabric.
In atmospheric scouring process (open kiering) ---- at 9598C for 4-6 hrs
After that hot and cold washes are given to complete the
process.

J-Box - CONTINUOUS SCOURING

In continuous machines, scouring can be carried out through a

series of J-Boxes for progressive de-sizing and scouring.

The de-sized and washed fabric is padded with strong alkali

solution (5-10 gm/lit NaOH or mixture of NaOH & sodium
carbonate), emulsifying agent and wetting agent.

J-Box CONTINUOUS SCOURING

After padding the saturated cloth, it enters in to J-Box where it
remains for 40-60 min in plaited form at a temperature of about
100C.
The cloth before entering J-Box is rapidly preheated by means of
steam in U- shaped heating tube.
The internal surface of the entire J-Box is very smooth to avoid
any friction on the moving cloth.

Oxidizing Bleaching agents:

Sodium hypo chlorite, Sodium chlorite, sodium
per borate, sodium per corbonate.

Advantages of bleaching with hydrogen peroxide :

Hydrogen per oxide is a universal and is used extensively for the bleaching of cotton
materials.

Hydrogen peroxide. Universal bleaching agent Almost all cotton, silk, wool ;
polyester/cotton blends are bleached with hydrogen peroxide.

It can be employed for bleaching fibers like wool, silk, polyester and other manmade fibers also, under a wide range of application conditions.

It requires less manipulation of fabric and hence less labor.

Advantages of bleaching with hydrogen peroxide :

Continued.

The loss in weight of fabric in bleaching is less than

that with hypochlorite bleaching.
Per oxide bleached are more absorbent than
hypochlorite bleached fabrics.
No possibilities of yellowing of fabric.

Sodium hypochlorite Bleaching:

The yarn or cloth after scouring is thoroughly washed before bleaching and is
squeezed or hydro extracted to remove excess of water as otherwise it would
dilute the bleach liquor (chemicking)

Since the bleaching is done in alkaline medium (pH 10-11) the alkali, which
is present in the material has to be neutralized with dilute mineral acid. It is
referred as souring

Sodium hypochlorite
Bleaching:
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
Powerful and economical
method of processing

Excessive chlorine may cause

pollution

Free from the defects of

bleaching powder

All protein impurities must be

completely removed before
bleaching otherwise the fabric
may turns yellowish
Residual chlorine must be
removed.

Sodium hypochlorite Bleaching:

To remove the residual chlorine, the fabric is to be
washed with sodium thio - sulphate (chlorine
destroyer) or hydrogen peroxide (weak solution) the
chlorine will wash away.
This treatment is called antichlor

Types of Bleaches
Full-Bleach
It is done generally when highest degree of whiteness is required and
going to be used as a white fabric for apparels or to be printed with
white background.
This is achieved by bleaching with hypochlorite followed by hydrogen
peroxide bleach.
Half-Bleach
It is done for fabrics meant for dyeing and printing where more
absorbency is required than the whiteness and fabrics going to be used
during finishing.
This is generally done using by bleaching with hypochlorite or
hydrogen peroxide of adequate concentration.

BLEACHING

CONTINOUS BLEACHING PROCESS:

In this process de-sizing, scouring and bleaching are combined

together. These are very attractive options since savings in time, energy,
labor, etc., are possible.

In this method, the fabric is padded with the enzyme bath and then
passed into a wet steam chamber at 960C- 1000C where the desizing
takes place in less than a minute.

The fabric after desizing is impregnated in a solution of 4-6% NaOH, 1-3

g/l wetting agent, and 1-3 g/l emulsifier at the period of 2-3 minutes.

BLEACHING

CONTINOUS BLEACHING PROCESS:J- B0X

The fabric after impregnation is taken out and piled into J-box at 98 0C and
allowed to remain there for two hours during which period the alkali reacts
with the impurities.

The fabric is then rinsed and impregnated with 1% hydrogen peroxide at

pH 10.5-using1% sodium silicate as a stabilizer and wetting agent.

The cloth after impregnation is again heated to 90-95C and stored for an
hour in J- box.

It is then rinsed thoroughly.

OPTICAL BRIGHTENERS- fluorescent whiteners (FWA)

The purpose is to obtain extraordinary brilliant whiteness to cotton

materials. Optical brighteners acts as fluorescent dyes and they are
colorless

They absorb light near to ultraviolet region ( below 400nm) and re-emit the
light in the violet blue visible region.

Near white bleached cloth, possesses a yellowness caused by absorption

in the blue region.

When FWA is applied, the blue florescence compliments the yellowness

and adds a bluish hue to the fabrics, which the eye appreciates as brilliant
white.
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically, as "the degree to which a stimulus can be
described as similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"

OPTICAL BRIGHTENERS
Application of Optical Brighteners:

The application of optical brighteners depends on the types of fibres.

classified as direct, disperse and cationic types.

The direct brightening agents are mainly used for the brightening of
cotton, linen, viscose and nylon materials.

The acid florescent brightening agents serve mainly for the brightening
of silk and wool fabrics.

The disperse florescent brightening agents are used primarily for

polyester, acetate and acrylic materials.

MERCERIZATION
Definition:
The treatment of cotton fabrics or yarns with a cold concentrated
solution of Sodium hydroxide solution for one minute or less is
called mercerization.

MERCERIZATION
Mercerization improves the following properties :

Internal reorientation of cellulose structure modified

Strength is increased to 15-25%; It also improves
elasticity and dimensional stability
Luster and feel further enhanced; It also improves
absorbency of water, dyes and other finishing chemicals.
Increases the uniformity of dyeing and improvising the
color yield by increasing the dye affinity, resulting
enhanced color fastness & saving in cost of dyestuffs

MERCERIZATION
Mercerization Process :
Fabric is padded with about 20-25% NaOH solution
containing a wetting agent.
Passed over several cans to allow a dwelling time of
approximately one minute.
During this time NaOH will penetrate the fibers and
react with them.

MERCERIZATION
Mercerization Process :
Continued.

At this stage the tension is applied lengthwise.

The fabric is then placed on a tenter frame and is pulled to its desired
dimensions (Tension is applied in both the warp and filling direction).
While on the tenter frame, the fabric is washed by spraying water until
the concentration of Sodium Hydroxide is reduced to less percent.
Then the fabric is washed by passing through several washers, one of
which contains a diluted sulphuric acid or acetic acid.