Grey fabric glossary

The words below are used every day in the Surat grey fabric trade. Definitions are kept short and general; practice can differ between markets and mills.

Taka

A folded piece of grey cloth, the unit grey fabric is sold in. Its length depends on the quality and the buyer – always check the metres per taka and the weight per taka.

Grey / greige

Cloth as it comes off the loom, before washing, dyeing, printing or finishing. "Grey" is the usual word in India; "greige" is common in the US and Europe. It does not mean the colour grey.

Warp

The threads that run along the length of the cloth. They are wound onto a beam and held under tension on the loom. Called tana in Hindi and Gujarati.

Weft

The threads that run across the width of the cloth, passed between the warp threads. Called bana or vano.

Pick

One weft thread across the cloth. "Pick" is also used for the number of weft threads per inch (PPI): "90 pick" means 90 weft threads per inch.

Reed

The metal comb on the loom that the warp ends pass through. It beats each pick into place and sets how closely the warp ends sit, so the reed number is a measure of warp density.

Denier

The weight in grams of 9,000 metres of yarn. Higher denier means thicker yarn. For filament yarn the number of filaments is often written after it, e.g. 75/36.

TPM

Turns (twists) per metre of yarn. More twist gives a crisper, grainier, crepe-like cloth. TPI × 39.37 = TPM.

FDY

Fully drawn yarn. Polyester filament yarn that has been fully stretched (drawn) during making. Smooth and flat, often with a sheen.

DTY

Draw textured yarn. Made from POY by drawing and texturing it, which gives crimp, bulk and some stretch. Feels softer and more spun-like than FDY.

POY

Partially oriented yarn. An intermediate yarn that is usually processed further – into DTY by texturing, or drawn and twisted – rather than woven as it is.

Selvedge

The finished edge along each side of the cloth. On a shuttle loom the weft turns back at each edge, giving a closed, firm selvedge. Shuttleless looms (rapier, air-jet, water-jet) cut the weft at each edge and need a separate edge binding.

Beam

The large roller that the warp is wound onto during warping, then mounted at the back of the loom.

Pirn

The small bobbin of weft yarn that sits inside the shuttle. Pirns are wound on a pirn winding machine.

Beam gaiting

Fitting a new warp beam on the loom and joining or drawing its ends through the healds and reed, so weaving can start.

TFO

Two-for-one twister. A machine that puts two turns of twist into the yarn for each turn of the spindle, used to make twisted yarn for georgette and crepe-style fabric.

RFD

Ready for dyeing. Cloth that has been pre-treated – washed, and bleached where needed – so it can go straight to dyeing or printing.

For how these terms fit together in a quality spec, see how to read a grey fabric quality spec.