reference to textiles, denotes more a class of goods than any given
fabric. Chintz, Cretonne, and any other printed cotton fabrics which
enter into the manufacture of chair or sofa coverings, curtains,
hassocks, screens, etc., may be termed Printed Furnitures. This name,
however, seems to be unknown to both manufacturer and distributor,
and it is not in use in any of the many branches of commerce
concerned with textile fabrics. As a generic term it has its value;
but if it was ever used as the name of any given fabric, it is so
used no longer.
=Printed Lawns.=--As the name shows, Printed Lawns are Lawns which
have been submitted to a process whereby certain simple or complex
designs in either one or more colours have been impressed on their
surface. Lawn being a light-weight, soft-finished, plain-weave fabric
woven from cotton yarns varying from 1/40's to 1/100's or from a
linen yarn, the term Printed Lawn is therefore applicable to either a
cotton or linen fabric. The more correct designation would be either
Printed Cotton Lawn or Printed Linen Lawn. The majority of Lawns met
with are Cotton Lawns, and unless specially designated, a Printed
Lawn would be a cotton fabric. Whereas a plain White Lawn is coarser
than a White Cambric, a Printed Lawn, on the other hand, is finer
than a Printed Cambric. It varies in width from 27 to 45 inches.
=Printed Leno.=--When a Leno has been submitted to a process whereby
certain simple or complex designs in either one or more colours have
been impressed on its face, it is then known as a Printed Leno.
=Printed Muslin.=--As the name shows, Printed Muslins are Muslins
which have been submitted to a process whereby certain simple or
complex designs in either one or more colours have been impressed
on their surface. Muslin, like Lawn and Cambric, is an open,
plain-weave, light-weight, soft-finished cotton fabric. The better
qualities of Muslin may be recognised by their evenness of weave and
fineness of yarn, whilst in the lower grades occasional warp or weft
threads will be irregular, having the appearance of being thicker in
some parts than in others.
=Printed Reps.=--As the name indicates, this class of fabric is
essentially of rep construction, _i.e._, having as a predominant
feature a rep or rib running transversely across the face of the
cloth, which is described in detail under "Rep." When a cloth or
fabric of rep construction has had its face ornamented by having
certain designs or patterns impressed on it in either one or more
colours, it is known as a Printed Rep. This class of fabric is
generally met with as an all-cotton fabric, and unless specially
designated, the material so described would be a printed plain (in
the sense of not figured) cotton fabric.
=Printed Sateens.=--These are essentially light-weight cotton fabrics
finished to imitate Silk Satin, and the common Italian Cloth is a
sateen fabric. The ornamentation of Printed Sateens is the result
of a printing process whereby certain designs are impressed on the
surface in contradistinction to Coloured Sateens, in which the
ornamentation is produced by combination of coloured warp and filling
threads. _See also_ Sateens; Satin.
=Printed Satinets.=--An imitation of the true Satin in mercerised
cotton or other yarns which has been printed after leaving the loom.
The four-shaft satin weave, which does not fulfil the conditions
of the real Satin as regards order of intersections, is known as a
satinet weave and is the basis of this class of fabric. Similar to
Sateen, but somewhat lighter in weight.
=Printed Sheetings.=--This name is given to an all-cotton fabric
woven either as a four-shaft two-and-two twill or with a plain weave,
as in the case of low-grade sheetings, in which waste and condenser
wefts are used. The actual fabric is woven as described under "Grey
Sheeting," then "singed," "bleached," and "calendered" to prepare
it for the process of printing, which consists of impressing on the
face of the material certain designs in either one or more colours.
This term is very seldom met with in the trade and is considered a
misnomer.
=Printed Shirtings.=--Printed Shirtings are essentially an
all-cotton fabric woven with a plain weave, having the warp and
weft approximately of the same count, which have had their surface
ornamented by being submitted to a process whereby certain simple or
complex designs in either one or more colours have been impressed
upon them. Printed Shirtings, like all other cotton fabrics, undergo
a process of "singeing," "bleaching," and "calendering" prior to
being printed. The first process removes the surface hairs, which
form a sort of nap to the surface of the cloth, which if allowed to
remain would interfere with the uniform application of the colours,
and the other two processes further prepare the fabric for printing.
=Printed T-Cloth.=--This fabric is an all-cotton plain-woven fabric,
generally woven from poor-quality yarn, which, after leaving the
loom, has been bleached and printed. This fabric answers the
description of a Printed Calico and would by many be known under that
name. Beyond the actual manufacturer, the jobber or exporter, and
those merchants in such markets as Manchester and China where the
term is currently used, few even in the textile business would know
the value of the term _T_-Cloth.
=Printed Turkey Reds.=--Fabrics designated as Printed Turkey Reds are
essentially all-cotton fabrics of good quality dyed turkey red (_see_
Dyed Real Turkey Reds) and subsequently ornamented by having certain
designs impressed on their surface in either one or more colours.
They are usually plain woven or of small twill weave.
=Printed Twills.=--This term is applied to all cotton fabrics of
twill weave, having the diagonal effect or twill running across
the face of the fabric, which subsequent to being woven have been
ornamented by having certain designs, either simple or complex,
impressed on their surface in either one or more colours.
=Printed Velvet (Cotton).=--Like a Plain Cotton Velvet, this fabric
is virtually a Velveteen, _i.e._, an all-cotton pile fabric, which
has been ornamented by having certain designs or patterns impressed
on its face in either one or more colours.
=Printed Velveteen (Cotton).=--This fabric, like all true Velveteens,
is an all-cotton pile fabric which has been ornamented by having
certain designs, whether simple or complex, impressed on its surface
in either one or more colours.
=Printers.=--Plain-woven cotton cloths either exported plain or more
often used for printing. Burnley Printers, or "Lumps," are usually 32
inches wide by 116 yards in length and 16 square, _i.e._, 16 ends and
16 picks to the quarter inch. Glossop or Cheshire Printers are about
36 inches by 50 yards and average 19 ends and 22 picks to the quarter
inch. Printers are generally well woven from pure yarns of good
quality. A variety woven from low-grade yarns is also manufactured.
=Pure Silk Plush.=--A pile fabric, not often met with woven entirely
from silk, _i.e._, having both pile face and back warp threads
of silk. Woven as a Velvet but with a somewhat longer pile. Most
branches of the trade consider a Pure Silk Plush to be a fabric
having an all-silk pile, irrespective of whether the foundation
fabric is silk or not.
Paul H. Nystrom, in his book, "Textiles," states that Velvets and
Plushes are so generally part cotton that a Silk Velvet or a Silk
Plush should be considered as having a cotton back unless it is
definitely stated that it is "silk backed." The term "pure silk"
when applied to a plush qualifies the pile of the fabric and not
the fabric as a whole; it does not mean that the fabric is composed
entirely of silk.
=Pure Silk Velvet.=--An all-silk pile fabric, not often met with
woven entirely from silk, similar to an all-silk Plush, from which it
differs only in length of pile. The pile of Velvet is shorter than
that of Plush. A Pure Silk Velvet is generally understood to be a
pile fabric having an all-silk pile, irrespective of the nature of
the foundation fabric. Velvets are so generally part cotton that a
Silk Velvet should be considered as having a cotton back unless it is
definitely stated that it is "silk backed." "Silk," or "pure silk,"
refers to the pile and the pile only, in the general acceptance of
the trade, and not to the fabric as a whole; it does not mean a
fabric composed entirely of silk.
=Raised Back Cloths.=--Fabrics requiring a "raised back" are usually
warp faced and weft backed. By constructing the cloth in this
manner, the raising machine, in the subsequent processes, partially
disintegrates the weft fibres and gives that soft and woolly feel
which one is accustomed to in such cloths as Swansdown, Cotton
Trouserings, and some classes of fabrics used for dressing-gowns,
pyjamas, etc.
=Raised Cotton Cloth.=--Any material woven in all cotton and having
either one or both sides "raised" or "napped" would be a Raised
Cotton Cloth. The "raising" or "napping" of the cloth is a process
which the fabric is put through with the view of giving it a soft
"woolly" feel. By passing the fabric, whilst it is tightly stretched,
over a revolving cylinder which has its surface covered with small
steel hooks or teasels, the surface of the fabric is scratched and
the short fibres of the yarn used in the weaving are opened up
and raised, resulting in a nap covering the whole of the surface.
Raised Cotton Cloths allow of the use of coarse inferior yarns
and are better looking than had they not been raised. The raising
hides defects of weave and produces a warmer, better-looking cloth
than could be produced by any other process at the price. Raised
Cloths, like certain Flannelettes, are sometimes chemically rendered
"fireproof."
=Ramie, Rhea, China Grass.=--A fibre obtained from a plant of the
nettle family which grows in India and China. The fibre is strong
and lustrous and lends itself to the weaving of various materials,
especially underclothing, and it is used also in the manufacture of
incandescent gas mantles.
The diameter of ramie and china grass fibres is from two to three
times that of flax. Ramie and china grass are not absolutely
identical, the latter containing 78 per cent. of cellulose as
compared with 66 per cent. in ramie. When spun into threads they
produce a lustrous effect. Effects resembling silk-woven textures are
produced with the finest yarns, and when dyed in delicate shades they
give a brilliancy comparable with silk.
=Ratine.=--A wool material similar to a Chinchilla, but having
smaller tufts with wider spacings between. This material is always
plain woven and is of comparatively recent creation; it can be
described as a very rough surface dress fabric, properly in part of
wool, but now also made entirely of cotton. The characteristic rough
surface is caused by the use of special fancy weft threads which are
composed of two or more different size yarns so twisted together as
to produce knob effects at intervals in the thread. A more expensive
fabric is made of filling threads composed of braided yarns. The
trade now applies the name to imitation effects produced by terry
weaves, Turkish Towelling fabrics, bouclé and bourette effects.
=Rayé.=--This is the French term for "striped" and is applied to
patterns running longitudinally with the warp in textile fabrics,
produced by employing a special weave or two or more colours of warp
specially arranged.
=Reed and Pick= are terms applied in the cotton industry to the
number of threads in a given space--usually ¼ inch or 1 inch--in the
warp and weft respectively. These terms are not generally employed,
however, in all textile districts; the term "make" or "ends and picks
per inch" is applied to worsted cloths, whilst "sett" and "shots" are
used with the same meaning in the linen industry.
The word "counts," which refers to the number or thickness of yarn,
is sometimes erroneously used in this connexion, probably owing to
the fact that the expression "counts to the 1-inch glass" is also
used in reference to reed and pick.
=Rembrandt Rib.=--Applied to women's stockings having groups of five
drop-stitches, separated by 1 inch of plain knitting running the full
length.
=Rep.=--The name Rep is used to designate certain fabrics that have
as a predominant feature a rep or rib running transversely across the
face of the cloth. The term may also be applied to the actual weft
rib which appears in the material.
Reps are what is known as warp-ribbed fabrics, _i.e._, fabrics
with the rib or rep running weftways, and for that reason may be
considered the opposite of cords. The term "warp-ribbed" might at
first sight appear to designate a rib running warpways, that is to
say, in the longitudinal direction of the cloth, whereas a warp rib
is a warp surface weave in which, owing to the thickness of the weft
picks or to the grouping of a number of weft picks together, the warp
threads are made to bend round them, and being thus thrown to the
surface produce a ribbed appearance across the piece. Reps, unless
specially designated, are dyed plain cotton fabrics with an average
width of 32 inches and a length of 32 yards per piece.
=Resist or Reserve Printing.=--This style of printing is a process
used to obtain white figures on a coloured ground by means of
printing the designs in substances that are impervious to the dye
into which the cloth so printed is subsequently placed. The cloth
is dyed, but all parts of it which were covered by the resist agent
remain white.
=Reversible Cretonnes.=--The salient features of Cretonnes are
the bold type of highly coloured designs with which the fabric is
ornamented through printing. The weave employed for this style of
fabric is either plain, twill, satin, or oatmeal weave; the width of
the material varies from 25 to 50 inches. Sometimes, though rarely,
a small brocaded effect of fancy weave is introduced. Reversible
Cretonnes differ from ordinary Cretonnes in that they are printed on
both sides of the fabric. A recent variety of Reversible Cretonne,
called a Shadow Cretonne, is purely a warp-printed fabric, sometimes
containing yarn-dyed threads. A Cretonne printed with the same
design on face and back would be known as a Reversible Cretonne,
whilst the same fabric printed with one pattern on the face and a
different pattern on the back would be known as a Duplex Printed
Cretonne.
=Rib.=--The name given to any kind of cord effect or to a weave in
which either, owing to the interlacing or to the yarns used, warp
or weft is the stronger and remains comparatively straight while
the weaker does all the bending. Thus, in warp ribs the weft is the
stronger and causes the warp to bend and form a warp surface rib
running from selvedge to selvedge, while in weft ribs the warp is the
stronger and develops a weft surface rib running lengthways of the
piece.
=Rib Crape Effect.=--This term is used to designate the effect
produced by breaking up the regular order of weave so as to produce a
warp-rib effect on a fabric which is of the Crape variety, the crape
weave being distinguishable by the interlacing of warp and weft in
a more or less mixed or indiscriminate order, so as to produce an
appearance of a finely broken character. Rib crape effect is found in
fabrics known as Crepoline.
=Richelieu Rib.=--Applied to women's plain stockings having a single
drop-stitch at intervals of three-quarters of an inch running the
full length of the stocking.
=Right and Wrong Side of Fabrics.=--In certain goods it is difficult
to tell the right from the wrong side. In plain worsteds the diagonal
ought always to run from right to left, that being the right side.
In all textiles which are not reversible, but are similar on both
sides, the right side can be detected by the quantity of down, which
is less on the right side than the wrong side. To determine this it
is often necessary to hold the cloth under examination to the light.
When both sides are well finished, but with different patterns, it
is the neater of the two which is generally the right side. In a
comprehensive way, shaving and neatness indicate the right side.
=Ring-spun Yarn.=--Ring-spun cotton yarn is generally a harder spun
thread than mule-twist, which is more fibrous and more elastic.
Ring-spun yarn will not take up as much "size" as the more fibrous
and softer spun thread of the mule.
Ring-spun yarn is rounder than a mule-spun thread. Ring-spinning
differs from mule-spinning in this essential: the former is spun on
the "continuous system" upon spindles that are fixed, whereas in
mule-spinning the spindles are mounted on a carriage which moves
backwards and forwards for a distance of some 5 feet. When the
spindles reach their greatest distance the rolls producing the yarn
are automatically stopped, and the thread that has been spun during
the outward move of the carriage is wound on the spindles while the
carriage is being moved back toward the rolls.
=Robes.=--A name given to printed twill cotton fabrics made from
64-square printing cloth. Originally made for use as wraps, they were
made in Cashmere effects. Now, although made in large bright-coloured
furniture coverings, curtains, etc., they still retain the name Robes
when made from 64-square printing cloth.
=Russian Cloth (Woollen).=--An all-wool fabric, plain woven from
a wool weft and wool warp, the weave being a plain one-over and
one-under weave. Owing to the finish of the cloth, the weave is
non-apparent. It varies in width from 54 to 74 inches and in length
from 19 to 36 yards. It does not differ materially from Broad,
Medium, and Habit Cloth. Average value for period 1904 to 1914, 4_s._
3_d._ per yard.
=Russian Prints.=--This class of fabric does not differ materially
from any other print. They originate in Odessa, whence they come by
steamer to Chinese ports or to Vladivostock, from which points the
majority are brought overland into Manchuria. Many of the designs on
Russian Prints are similar to those on American prints. Measuring
24/25 or 26 inches wide, 88 by 68 or 88 by 64 ends and picks, and 30
yards per piece, they are generally packed 30, 40, and sometimes 60
pieces to a bale. On the whole, Russian Prints are not a high-grade
material.
=Samples and their Classification.=--Unless some definite system,
which provides means for ready reference to any of the individual
samples forming part of the collection, is adopted from the very
start, sample collections are of comparatively small value. The
successive pasting into a book of samples which represent fabrics of
different materials, different weaves, and different finishes--and
under the heading "finishes" would be included dyeing, printing,
embossing, etc.--is of no great value, for it becomes impossible
after a time to readily turn up any given sample. Even with an index
to the collection so formed it is only possible to turn up a sample
of material the name of which is known. A person wishing to turn up
in such a collection a sample of a certain type of fabric the name
of which he did not know at the time could not do so, and the more
specimens or samples were added to the collection the more difficult
it would become to turn up a given sample, and the value of the
collection would lessen instead of increase.
If fabrics are divided into 17 headings representing the main
divisions into which they may be classed, and each division or
section is subdivided into numbered sub-sections, the task becomes
simpler, and there results therefrom a series of key-numbered
collections each containing samples of fabrics of a similar type
but of varying quality and value. Each collection (or sub-section)
becomes known by a combination of two numbers, one of which is
the main division or section number and the other the number of
that particular sub-section. These numbers precede the name of the
division and the name of the subdivision.
The 17 main divisions or groups, together with their respective
subdivisions, which will in practice be found to be ample are as
follow:--
SECTION NUMBER. SUB-SECTION NUMBER.
---- ----
{ 1. Shirtings and Sheetings.
{ 2. Drills and Jeans.
1. Grey Cottons { 3. Shirtings and Sheetings, Native.
{ 4. Drills and Jeans, Native.
{ 5. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Plain (with finish).
{ 3. Brocades.
{ 4. Brocades (with finish).
{ 5. Striped or Spotted Shirting.
2. White Cottons. { 6. Striped or Spotted Shirting
{ (with finish).
{ 7. Crimps and Crapes.
{ 8. Crimps and Crapes (with
{ finish).
{ 9. Lenos.
{ 10. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Plain (with finish).
{ 3. Furnitures.
{ 4. Crapes.
{ 5. Crimps.
3. Printed Cottons. { 6. Muslins, Lawns, and Cambrics.
{ 7. Lenos and Balzarines.
{ 8. Duplex or Reversible.
{ 9. Blue and White _T_-Cloth.
{ 10. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Plain (with finish).
{ 3. Crimps.
{ 4. Crimps (with finish).
{ 5. Drills, Twills, and Jeans.
4. Dyed Plain Cottons. { 6. Lawns, Muslins, and Cambrics.
{ 7. Hongkong-dyed.
{ 8. Lenos and Balzarines.
{ 9. Native.
{ 10. Native (with finish).
{ 11. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Figured.
{ 2. Figured (with finish).
5. Dyed Figured Cottons { 3. Native.
{ 4. Native (with finish).
{ 5. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Dyed.
{ 3. Printed.
{ 4. Duplex Printed.
6. Raised Cottons. { 5. Dyed and Printed.
{ 6. Dyed and Duplex Printed.
{ 7. Yarn-dyed.
{ 8. Figured White.
{ 9. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Plain (with finish).
{ 3. Figured.
{ 4. Figured (with finish).
7. Coloured Woven { 5. Crimps.
(_i.e._, yarn-dyed) { 6. Crimps (with finish).
Cottons { 7. Plain Native.
{ 8. Plain Native (with finish).
{ 9. Figured Native.
{ 10. Figured Native (with finish).
{ 11. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Plain (with finish).
{ 3. Crimps.
{ 4. Crimps (with finish).
8. Dyed and Printed Cottons { 5. Figured.
{ 6. Figured (with finish).
{ 7. Native.
{ 8. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Printed or Embossed.
9. Velvets and Velveteens { 3. Embroidered.
(Cotton). { 4. Dyed Cords and Corduroys.
{ 5. Undyed Moleskins.
{ 6. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain Pure Silk.
{ 2. Figured or Embossed.
{ 3. Silk Seal (with cotton back).
{ 4. Silk with cotton back.
10. Plushes and Velvets { 5. Silk mixed with other fibrous
{ materials (with cotton
{ back).
{ 6. All-cotton Plush (including
{ with finish).
{ 7. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Figured.
{ 3. Plain Native.
11. Silk Piece Goods { 4. Figured Native.
{ 5. Ribbons (all silk and mixtures).
{ 6. Not specially enumerated.
12. Silk and Cotton Fabrics { 1. Plain.
{ 2. Figured.
{ 1. Plain.
{ 2. Figured.
{ 3. Poncho Cloth.
13. Woollen and Cotton { 4. Spanish Stripes.
Mixtures { 5. Union Cloth.
{ 6. Plain Lustres.
{ 7. Figured Lustres.
{ 8. Not specially enumerated.
{ 1. Habit, Medium, Russian, and
{ Broad Cloth.
{ 2. Bunting.
{ 3. Camlets, Dutch.
14. Woollen Fabrics { 4. Camlets, English.
{ 5. Flannel.
{ 6. Lastings (all kinds).
{ 7. Spanish Stripes.
{ 8. Long Ells.
{ 9. Not specially enumerated.
15. Linen and Linen Unions { 1. Plain.
{ 2. Figured.
16. Hemp and Hemp Mixtures { 1. Plain and Figured.
{ 2. Yarn-dyed.
17. Miscellaneous.
Whether the loose-leaf system with folders to contain the samples is
used or whether they are entered into special books is a matter for
the individual, but the loose-leaf or card-index system with folder
is infinitely preferable, admitting of the removal of any given
sample for reference or comparison. The index to such a collection
of samples would be alphabetical (even though not absolutely so),
and if a sample of Italian (of the plain variety) were added to the
collection, it would be added under section 4, Dyed Plain Cottons.
If the sample of Italian thus added to the collection was the fifth
sample of Dyed Plain Cottons (with finish), it would appear in the
index to the sample collection under 1 and would be entered as
follows:--
NAME OF FABRIC. SECTION SUB-SECTION SAMPLE
NUMBER. NUMBER. NUMBER.
---- ---- ---- ----
Italian 4 2 5
A sample of Bunting, on the other hand, would be filed under section
14, sub-section 2; and if it were the thirty-first sample filed under
that sub-section, it would be indexed under the letter B as Bunting,
14: 2: 31.
This decimal system of numbering and classifying samples lends itself
to a refinement of subdivision unattainable in any other.