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  • Abacá

    Abacá (Musa textilis), a species of banana native to the Philippines is grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, and harvested for its fibres, also called Manila hemp, extracted from the leaf-stems. The seawater resistant fibre was originally used for making twines and ropes.

  • Abrasion Resistance

    The ability of a fibre or fabric to withstand surface wear and rubbing.

  • Acetate fibre

    Cellulose acetate is the acetate ester of cellulose and was invented in 1865. It is mainly used as a synthetic fibre in textiles under the names of celanese and acetate. Applications in lingerie, wedding dresses, party dresses, blouses. At present it is mostly used in blends with cotton, wool, nylon. Also used in curtains, cigarette filters, diapers and felt-tip pens.

  • Acrylic fibre

    Acrylic, also called polyacrylic, polyacrylonitrile fibres, are synthetic fibres made from a polymer (polyacrylonitrile) by means of polymerisation.

  • Adhesive

    An adhesive is a substance applied to one surface, or both surfaces, of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers many advantages over binding techniques such as sewing, mechanical fastening, thermal bonding, including the ability to bind different materials together, to distribute stress more efficiently across the joint, the cost effectiveness of an easily mechanized process, an improvement in aesthetic design, and increased design flexibility. Disadvantages of adhesives include decreased stability at high temperatures and relative weakness in bonding large objects with a small bonding surface area. Adhesives are typically organized by the method of adhesion. These are then organized into reactive and non-reactive adhesives referring to whether the adhesive chemically reacts in order to harden. Alternatively they can be organized by whether the raw stock is of natural or synthetic origin, or by their starting physical phase (liquid, solid, gaseous).

    The picture shows a pair of blue jeans with glued instead of stitched seams (realised by Centexbel for G+N (The Netherlands) by using hotmelt)

  • Advertainment

    Advertainment is a term used to describe entertainment that incorporates elements of advertising. It is the practice of integrating brand communications within the content of entertainment products (movies, songs, TV shows, etc.) The word advertainment is a portmanteau of advertising and entertainment.

  • Air permeability

    The porosity, or the ease with which air passes through material. Air Permeability determines such factors as the wind resistance of sailcloth, the air resistance of parachute cloth, and the efficiency of various types of air filtration media. It is also a measure of warmness or coolness of a fabric.

  • Air-Jet Spinning

    A pneumatic spinning system in which yarn is made by wrapping fibers around a core stream of fibers with compressed air.

  • Airlaid nonwoven

    Airlaid nonwovens are made by bringing fibres into an air flow and from there to a moving belt or perforated drum, where they shape a randomly leaning web.

  • Angora

    Do not confuse the following raw materials: mohair is goat hair, while rabbits supply angora.

  • Animal fibres

    Animal fibres are natural fibres derived from sheep, camels, lamas, rabbits, goats, etc (wool) of from silkworms or spiders (silk).

  • Anorak

    The anorak is an original garment worn by the Inuit to protect them against rain and cold.

  • Antimony (Sb)

    CAS: 7440-36-0
    Semimetallic chemical element that has been known since ancient times. It is sometimes found free in nature, but is usually obtained from the ores stibnite (Sb2S3) and valentinite (Sb2O3). Nicolas Lémery, a French chemist, was the first person to scientifically study antimony and its compounds. He published his findings in 1707.
    Applications: antimony is used as a catalyst in the production of polyester, as a flame-retardant and in many other applications.
    Health risks: Exposure to relatively high concentrations of antimony (9 mg/m³ of air) for a longer period of time can cause irritation of the eyes, skin and lungs.

  • Aramid fibres (Nomex, Kevlar)

    Aramid fibres are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibres. Nomex and Kevlar are trade names. Aramid fibres or "aromatic polyamide" fibres are used in aerospace and military applications, in bullet-proof armor fabrics and ballistic composites, in bicycle tires, marine cordage, marine hull reinforcement, and as an asbestos substitute. Aramids have a very high melting point (>500 °C).

  • Arsenic (As)

    CAS: 7440-38-2
    Arsenic is a chemical element with atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but only the gray form is important to industry.
    Applications: Arsenic and its compounds are used in some dyestuffs, pesticides, treated wood products, herbicides, and insecticides.
    Health risks: Exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause various health effects, such as irritation of the stomach and intestines, decreased production of red and white blood cells, skin changes and lung irritation. Organic arsenic can cause neither cancer, nor DNA damage. But exposure to high doses may cause certain effects to human health, such as nerve injury and stomachaches.

  • Asbestos

    Asbestos is the name given to several natural minerals (anthophyllite, amphibole, serpentine) which occur in a fibrous crystalline form. The asbestos is initially crushed to open up the fibre mass, followed by carding and spinning to yield fibres of circular cross-section 1-30 cm in length. Asbestos is very resistant to heat and burning, to acids and alkalies, and to other chemicals. Although it has low strength, asbestos fibre does not deteriorate in normal usage, and it is not attacked by insects or microorganisms. Asbestos is used in fireproof clothing, conveyor belts, brake linings, gaskets, industrial packings, electrical windings, insulations, and soundproofing materials.
    Since it has been proven that inhaled asbestos fibres are a serious health hazard, it has been removed from the textile and other markets.

  • Astrakhan

    Astrakhan (also spelled astrachan) is the tightly curled fleece of the fetal or newborn karakul (also spelled caracul) lamb. It can also refer to the fleece of fetal or newborn lambs from other species, or a knitted or woven fabric that imitates the looped surface.

  • Autoclave

    An autoclave is a pressure chamber used to carry out industrial processes requiring elevated temperature and pressure different from ambient air pressure. Autoclaves are used in the textile industry to carry out certain finishing operations. In medical applications autoclaves are used to perform sterilization and in the chemical industry to cure coatings and vulcanize rubber.

  • Azo dye

    Azo dyes are organic compounds and widely used to dye textiles, leather articles, and some foods. Chemically related to azo dyes are azo pigments, which are insoluble in water and other solvents. Many azo pigments are non-toxic, although some, such as dinitroaniline orange, ortho-nitroaniline orange, or pigment orange 1, 2, and 5 are mutagenic and carcinogenic.
    Azo dyes derived from benzidine are carcinogens; exposure to them has classically been associated with bladder cancer. Accordingly, the production of benzidine azo dyes was discontinued in the 1980s "in the most important western industrialized countries".
    Certain azo dyes degrade under reductive conditions to release any of a group of defined aromatic amines. Consumer goods which contain listed aromatic amines originating from azo dyes were prohibited from manufacture and sale in European Union countries in September 2003. As only a small number of dyes contained an equally small number of amines, relatively few products were affected.

  • Baby's garments

    Garments for children during the first year of their life. STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® imposes the strictest safety requirements on clothing/articles for baby's and toddlers up to 3 years of age (underwear, rompers, clothing, bed linen, terry products etc.).

  • Bast fibre

    Bast fibre is plant fibre collected from the phloem or bast surrounding the stem of certain plants. Examples are: flax (linen), hemp, jute, kenaf, kudzu, okra, ramie.

  • Bathrobe

    A bathrobe, dressing gown or morning gown is a loose-fitting outer garment and may be worn over nightwear or other clothing, or with nothing underneath. Dressing gowns are typically worn around the house and bathrobes may sometimes be worn after a body wash or around a pool.

  • Berber yarn

    Ecru yarn with brown spots, often used in the production of carpets.

  • Big data

    Big data is a term used to refer to the study and applications of data sets that are so big and complex that traditional data-processing application software are inadequate to deal with them.

  • Big science

    Big science is a term used by scientists and historians of science to describe a series of changes in science which occurred in industrial nations during and after World War II, as scientific progress increasingly came to rely on large-scale projects usually funded by national governments or groups of governments.

  • Bio-based products

    The term bio-based product refers to products wholly or partly derived from biomass, such as plants, trees or animals (the biomass can have undergone physical, chemical or biological treatment). A standard defining general terms to be used in the field of bio-based products, EN 16575, was published by CEN in August 2014.

  • Bioburden

    The bioburden is the amount of microbiological contamination of an object before sterilisation. During the testing of this parameter, the number of germs and the type of microbiological contamination remaining after cleaning and disinfection before sterilisation are counted. The bioburden must be below a certain limit in order to guarantee proper sterilisation.

  • Biocidal Products Regulation

    The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR, Regulation (EU) 528/2012) concerns the placing on the market and use of biocidal products, which are used to protect humans, animals, materials or articles against harmful organisms like pests or bacteria, by the action of the active substances contained in the biocidal product. This regulation aims to improve the functioning of the biocidal products market in the EU, while ensuring a high level of protection for humans and the environment.

  • Biocompatible materials

    Biocompatible materials are compatible with human and/or animal tissues and therefore suitable for medical therapy. They are key ingredients in several implants such as those used for joints, sutures, bone plates, and medical devices such as blood tubes, artificial heart, pacemakers, etc.

  • Biodegradable products

    A biodegradable material breaks down - in the presence of oxygen, at ambient temperature and under the influence of micro-organisms - into CO2, water, mineral salts and biomass.
    In the absence of oxygen, the biodegradable material is converted into CO2, methane, mineral salts and biomass.

  • Blockchain

    A blockchain is a digital record of transactions. The name comes from its structure, in which individual records, called blocks, are linked together in single list, called a chain. Blockchains are used for recording transactions made with cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and have many other applications.

  • Blouse

    A blouse is a garment for the upper body and has a collar and long sleeves. They are fastened at the front with buttons.

  • Blow molding

    Blow molding is a process to create a thermoplastic hollow tube. In heated form, the tube is sealed at one end and then blown up like a balloon. The expansion is carried out in a split mold with a cold surface; as the thermoplastic encounters the surface, it cools and becomes dimensionally stable. Blow molding is employed to produce bottles of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, PVC, and PET for domestic consumer products. It is also used to produce fuel tanks for automobiles.

  • Bra, brassiere

    A bra, short for brassiere, is a form-fitting undergarment designed to support and protect a woman's breasts.

  • Bt Cotton

    Bt cotton is a genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically modified pest resistant plant cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to combat bollworm, where "Bt" refers to the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis.

  • Cadmium (Cd)

    Cas: 7440-43-9
    Cadmium is a lustrous, silver-white, ductile, very malleable metal. Its surface has a bluish tinge and the metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife, but it tarnishes in air. It is soluble in acids but not in alkalis. It is similar in many respects to zinc but it forms more complex compounds.
    Applications: About three-fourths of cadmium is used in Ni-Cd batteries, most of the remaining one-fourth is used mainly for pigments, coatings and plating, and as stabilizers for plastics.
    Heath risks: Human uptake of cadmium takes place mainly through food. Foodstuffs that are rich in cadmium can greatly increase the cadmium concentration in human bodies. Examples are liver, mushrooms, shellfish, mussels, cocoa powder and dried seaweed. High exposures can occur with people who live near hazardous waste sites or factories that release cadmium into the air and people that work in the metal refinery industry. When people breathe in cadmium it can severely damage the lungs. This may even cause death.

  • Calico

    Fine, linen-like fabric of unbleached cotton that is commonly used for bookbinding.

  • Camel hair

    Animal fibre obtained from the camel and belonging to the group called specialty hair fibres. The most satisfactory textile fibre is gathered from camels of the Bactrian type. Such camels have protective outer coats of coarse fibre that may grow as long as 40 cm. The fine, shorter fibre of the insulating undercoat, 4–13 cm long, is the product generally called camel hair, or camel hair wool. The hair is not usually gathered by shearing or plucking; it is most often collected as the animal sheds its coat. Combing, frequently by machine, separates the desirable down from the coarse outer hairs. The resultant fine fibre has a tiny diameter of 5–40 microns and is usually a reddish tan colour. Fabric made of camel hair has excellent insulating properties and is warm and comfortable. Camel hair is mainly used for high-grade overcoat fabrics and is also made into knitting yarn, knitwear, blankets, and rugs. The coarse outer fibre is strong and is used in industrial fabrics such as machine beltings.

  • Carbon fibres

    Carbon fibres (CF) have a diameter of about 5 to 10 micrometres and are mostly composed of carbon atoms. Carbon fibres have several advantages including high stiffness, high tensile strength, low weight, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion. These properties have made carbon fiber very popular in aerospace, civil engineering, military, and motorsports, along with other competition sports. Carbon fibres are usually combined with other materials to form a composite. A carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer has a very high strength-to-weight ratio, and is extremely rigid although somewhat brittle.

  • Carding

    Carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passing the fibres between differentially moving surfaces covered with card clothing. It breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres to be parallel with each other. In preparing wool fibre for spinning, carding is the step that comes after teasing.

  • Carpet

    A carpet is a textile floor covering and may consist of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile usually consists of twisted tufts which are thermally treated to maintain their structure. Carpets can be woven, tutfed, knotted or nonwoven (eg. needle punched).
    The term "carpet" is often used interchangeably with the term "rug", although a "rug" is generally no bigger than a single room.
    In the event the carpet is attached as part of the floor, it is regarded as a building product that falls under the scope of European Regulation No. 305/2011 (Construction Products Regulation, CPR)

  • Carpet backing

    A carpet backing may be composed of different elements. The primary backing is usually a woven or non-woven fabric on which the yarns are tufted. A secondary backing is a second fabric or polymer layer that is applied onto the backing of the carpet.

  • Carpet tile

    Carpet tile, also known as modular tile, is carpet manufactured in tiles or as piece goods. A carpet tile is commonly square, but they may be also available in other shapes (eg. rectangular). The main advantage of carpet tiles to full carpets is that only the damaged / worn tiles have to be replaced instead of the entire carpet.

  • Carpet underlay

    A carpet underlay is a layer of felt, rubber or a synthetic material (e.g. polyurethane) placed underneath the carpet to reduce the friction of the carpet against a hard ground surface. It protects the carpet against wear and increases the comfort.

  • Cashgora

    Wool from the cashgora, a crossbred of the cashmere and angora goat. Cashgora unites the delicacy of the wool of the first goat with the lustre of the second one. Cashgora is also resistant, white, elastic and highly insulating.

  • Cashmere

    Animal-hair fibre forming the downy undercoat of the Kashmir goat and belonging to the group of textile fibres called specialty hair fibres. Although the word cashmere is sometimes incorrectly applied to extremely soft wools, only the product of the Kashmir goat is true cashmere. The cashmere goat has a protective outer coat of coarse fibre that is 4 to 20 cm (1.5 to 8 inches) in length. The downy undercoat is made up of the fine, soft fibre commonly called cashmere, which ranges from 2.5 to 9 cm (1 to 3.5 inches) long. Thanks to the fineness, the lightweight cashmere fibres have a high thermal insulation.

  • Cashmere yarn

    Cashmere yarn is spun of the cashmere goat's fine, soft, downy winter undercoat. Cashmere yarn is incredibly fine: since an average hair has a diameter of less than 12 to 19 micrometer.

  • Cationic dye, basic dye

    Basic dyes are water-soluble cationic dyes (= dyes that can be dissociated into positively charged ions in the aqueous solution) that are mainly applied to acrylic fibres.

  • Cellulose

    Cellulose is a polysacharide generated by almost all plants (especially trees).

  • Cellulose triacetate

    Cellulose triacetate is a chemical compound manufactured from cellulose and a source of acetate esters, typically acetic anhydride. Cellulose triacetate is mainly used in the production of textiles and is highly heat resistant (to 200°C).

  • Chenille

    Chenille may refer to either a type of yarn or fabric made from it. Chenille is the French word for caterpillar whose fur the yarn is supposed to resemble. Today, the chenille yarn is manufactured by placing short lengths of yarn, called the "pile", between two "core yarns" and then twisting the yarn together. The edges of these piles then stand at right angles to the yarn’s core, giving chenille both its softness and its characteristic look. The yarn is commonly manufactured from cotton, but can also be made using acrylic, rayon and olefin.

  • Cheviot wool

    Firm, thick, little crimped wool type derived from the cheviot, an English-Scottish sheep breed from the Cheviot Mountains between Northumberland and the Scottish border.

  • Chlorofibre

    Synthetic fibre made from the polymerization of a chlorinated monomer (especially from forms of polyvinyl chloride).

  • Circular economy

    The circular economy is an economic system in which the reusability of products and raw materials is optimized and value destruction are minimized. In contrast to the present linear system in which raw materials are being transformed into products that are destroyed at their end of life.

  • Circular input

    Making use of renewable energy, biobased or fully recyclable raw materials.

  • Circular knitwear

    Knitwear in the form of a seamless tube created by a circular knitting.

  • Clothing

    Clothing (also known as clothes and attire) is fibre and textile material worn on the body. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to human beings and is a feature of nearly all human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on body type, social, and geographic considerations. Some clothing can be gender-specific. Clothing protects the wearer and has a symbolic (social, moral, religious) value.

  • Clothing size

    In clothing, clothing size refers to the label sizes used for garments sold off-the-shelf. There are a large number of standard sizing systems around the world for various garments, such as dresses, tops, skirts, and trousers.

  • Coconut fibre, coir fibre

    Coir or coconut fibre, is a natural fibre extracted from the husk of coconut and used in products such as floor mats, doormats, brushes and mattresses. Coir is the fibrous material found between the hard, internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut. Other uses of brown coir (made from ripe coconut) are in upholstery padding, sacking and horticulture. White coir, harvested from unripe coconuts, is used for making finer brushes, string, rope and fishing nets.

  • Colour fastness

    Colour fastness characterises a material's colour resistance to fading or running under external circumstances including colour fastness to wet and dry rubbing, washing, laundring and dry cleaning, to sweat, light and saliva

  • Combing wool

    Long-staple strong-fibred wool found suitable for combing and used especially in the manufacture of worsteds.

  • Composite

    Composites are materials made of at least two different materials. In structural applications, fibre-reinforced plastics - in which the fibres have been dispersed into a matrix - are commonly used. The term "composite" not only includes fibre reinforced plastics but a whole series of materials or products composed of different components (concrete, asphalt, ceramic composites...).

  • Compostable plastics

    Compostable plastics are defined according to standards EN13432, EN14995 or ISO17088 and must comply with the following principles:
    - min. 90% biodegradation to water, CO2 and minerals within 6 months; for home composting within 12 months;
    - low concentration of heavy metals;
    - no influence on the quality of compost.
    Because of the strong differences, a distinction is made between industrial composting and home composting.

  • Compounding

    Compounding consists of preparing plastic or synthetic yarn formulations by mixing and/or blending polymers and (functional) additives in a molten state.

  • Compression stockings

    Compression stockings are a specialized hosiery designed to help prevent the occurrence of, and guard against further progression of, venous disorders such as edema, phlebitis and thrombosis. Compression stockings are elastic garments worn around the leg, compressing the limb. This reduces the diameter of distended veins and increases venous blood flow velocity and valve effectiveness.

  • Cool Wool

    Cool Wool fibres are more than three times finer than the average human hair. Due to its breathability and insulating capacity, Cool Wool has the unique ability to keep the wearer warm in cold temperatures and cool and fresh in the hottest climates.

  • Corduroy

    Corduroy is a textile with a distinct pattern, a "cord" or wale. Modern corduroy is most commonly composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel (bare to the base fabric) between the tufts. Corduroy is, in essence, a ridged form of velvet.

  • Cotton

    Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fibre that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fibre is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile.

  • Crêpe

    Crêpe or crape is a silk, wool, or synthetic fibre fabric with a distinctively crisp, crimped appearance. Crêpe is also historically called crespe or crisp.

  • Cretonne

    Cretonne is a heavy cotton, linnen or hemp material in colorfully printed designs, used especially for drapery and slipcovers.

  • Crimp

    1. The waviness of a fiber expressed as crimps per unit length.
    2. The difference in distance between two points on an unstretched fiber and the same two points when the fiber is straightened under specified tension. Crimp is expressed as a percentage of the unstretched length.
    3. The difference in distance between two points on a yarn as it lies in a fabric and the same two points when the yarn has been removed from the fabric and straightened under specified tension, expressed as a percentage of the distance between the two points as the yarn lies in the fabric.

  • Crossbred wool

    Wool from a sheep breed that was obtained by crossing several sheep breeds.

  • Crowdfunding

    Crowdfunding is an alternative form of finance, by which a project or venture is funded by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.

  • Cut fibre, staple fibre

    If a continuous filament is cut into discrete lengths, it becomes staple fibre.

  • Cutting-edge technology

    Cutting-edge technology refers to current and fully developed technology features.

  • Cyber-physical system (CPS)

    Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are integrations of computation, networking, and physical processes. Embedded computers and networks monitor and control the physical processes, with feedback loops where physical processes affect computations and vice versa. The economic and societal potential of such systems is vastly greater than what has been realized, and major investments are being made worldwide to develop the technology. The technology builds on the existing discipline of embedded systems, computers and software embedded in devices whose principle mission is not computation, such as cars, toys, medical devices, and scientific instruments. CPS integrates the dynamics of the physical processes with those of the software and networking, providing abstractions and modeling, design, and analysis techniques for the integrated whole.

  • Damask

    Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibres, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave. Twill damasks include a twill-woven ground or pattern.

  • Denier

    Denier number indicates the weight in grams of 9,000 metres of filament or filament yarn. For example, if 9,000 metres of a yarn weigh 15 grams, it is a 15-denier yarn; if 9,000 metres of a yarn weigh 100 grams, it is a 100-denier yarn and much coarser than the 15-denier yarn. Thus, a smaller number indicates a finer yarn. This system is not convenient for measurement of staple yarns because their greater weight would require the use of very large numbers.

  • Denim

    The name "denim" derives from French serge de Nîmes, meaning 'serge from Nîmes'. Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads.

  • Design

    Realization of a concept or idea into a configuration, drawing, model, mould, pattern, plan or specification (on which the actual or commercial production of an item is based) and which helps achieve the item's designated objective(s).

  • Digital Twins

    A digital twin is a digital replica of a physical-world asset or process that integrates data from both the digital and material worlds, enabling companies to run virtual simulations before committing to physical-world actions.

  • Direct dye

    Direct dye, also called Substantive Dye, any of a class of coloured, water-soluble compounds that have an affinity for fibre and are taken up directly, such as the benzidine derivatives. Direct dyes are usually cheap and easily applied, and they can yield bright colours. Washfastness is poor but may be improved by aftertreatment. Most packaged dyes sold for home use are direct dyes.

  • Disperse dye

    Disperse dyes were originally developed for the dyeing of cellulose acetate, and are water-insoluble. The dyes are finely ground in the presence of a dispersing agent and sold as a paste, or spray-dried and sold as a powder. Their main use is to dye polyester and other synthetic fibres.

  • Disruptive innovation

    A disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances. The term was defined and first analyzed by the American scholar Clayton M. Christensen and his collaborators beginning in 1995, and has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century.

  • Dress

    A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a one-piece garment covering the body from the shoulders down to the legs.

  • Dyeing

    Most textile materials can be dyed at almost any stage. Quality woollen goods are frequently dyed in the form of loose fibre.

  • Ecodesign

    Ecodesign stands for life cycle thinking where for each phase of a product's life cycle (from raw material to end of use) the designer considers the input of energy and resources and the output of waste and emissions, with the aim of minimizing environmental impact. The ecodesign rules of thumb align perfectly with the principles of the circular economy. Integrating ecodesign into the design process reduces environmental impact and ensures that the product fits into the circular economy.

  • Ecolabel

    Ecolabels are a quality label issued to products or services with a lesser environmental impact than comparable products or services, on the basis of a set of pre-determined criteria.

  • Elastane, Spandex, Lycra

    Spandex, Lycra or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. This polyether-polyurea copolymer has been invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's.

  • Elastomer

    An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity (having both viscosity and elasticity). Elastomers are usually thermosets (requiring vulcanization) but may also be thermoplastic (see thermoplastic elastomer). The long polymer chains cross-link during curing, i.e., vulcanizing. The molecular structure of elastomers can be imagined as a 'spaghetti and meatball' structure, with the meatballs signifying cross-links. The elasticity is derived from the ability of the long chains to reconfigure themselves to distribute an applied stress.

  • Ethylene glycol

    C2H6O2 - CAS:107-21-1 - organic compound that is used as a raw material to manufacture polyester fibres and in antifreeze formulations. It is an odourless, colourless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. Ethylene glycol is moderately toxic.

  • Extrusion (textile fibre formation)

    Most synthetic and cellulosic manufactured fibres are created by “extrusion” — forcing a thick, viscous liquid through the tiny holes of a spinneret to form continuous filaments of semi-solid polymer.
    In their initial state, the fibre-forming polymers are solids and therefore must be first converted into a fluid state for extrusion. This is usually achieved by melting, if the polymers are thermoplastic synthetics (i.e., they soften and melt when heated), or by dissolving them in a suitable solvent if they are non-thermoplastic cellulosic. If they cannot be dissolved or melted directly, they must be chemically treated to form soluble or thermoplastic derivatives.

  • Fashion

    Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, hairstyle and make-up. Fashion is a distinctive and often constant trend in the style in which a person dresses.

  • Feed roller

    A feed roller forwards a yarn to the subsequent processing or take-up stage.

  • Felt

    Felt, a class of fabrics or fibrous structures obtained through the interlocking of wool, fur, or some hair fibres under conditions of heat, moisture, and friction. Other fibres will not felt alone but can be mixed with wool, which acts as a carrier. Several industries manufacture goods through the use of these properties. The goods produced include wool felt in rolls and sheets; hats, both fur and wool; and woven felts, ranging from thin billiard tablecloths to heavy industrial fabrics used for dewatering in the manufacture of paper.

  • Fibre

    Fibres are units of matter having length at least 100 times their diameter or width. Fibres suitable for textile use possess adequate length, fineness, strength, and flexibility for yarn formation and fabric construction and for withstanding the intended use of the completed fabric.

  • Fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP)

    Fibre-reinforced polymer materials consist of fibres, which have high strength and modulus, bonded to a matrix, which may have different physical and chemical identities.

  • Filament

    A single fibril of natural or synthetic textile fibre, of indefinite length, sometimes several miles long.

  • Filament yarn

    Yarn consisting of one or more filaments.

  • First year's wool

    The second shearing of a lamb, younger than 12 months, and stronger than lambswool.

  • Flannel

    Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fibre. Flannel may be brushed to create extra softness or remain unbrushed.Flannel is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, bed sheets, and sleepwear.

  • Flax

    Flax, Linum usitatissimum, is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. The textiles made from flax are known in the Western countries as linen, and traditionally used for bed sheets, underclothes, and table linen.

  • Flax fibre

    Long flax fibres are used to produce linen. At first, the short fibres were used for ropes and the broken stems as fuel. Later on, it was discovered that the short fibres could also be used to make paper; the American dollar bills are still made from flax. Today flax fibres are increasingly used to reinforce composite materials.

  • Floret silk

    Silk made from the hard core of the pod of the silkworm.

  • Fluorescent materials

    Fluorescent materials absorb light photons with short wavelengths (highly energetic) and rather quickly re-emit light with a longer wavelength. Optical brighteners are typical examples; by absorbing UV rays and re-emitting visible light it creates an optical effect of enhanced whiteness.

  • Functional economy

    The functionality economy replaces the sale of a product with the sale of a service fulfilling the same functions as the product. It is based on the value of using the product and not of owning of the product. In effect, the product remains the property of the producer and its use is invoiced to the customer. The relationship between the supplier and the customer then extends for the duration of the use of the product, and no longer for a single moment during the sale transaction. This new method of consumption can strengthen a company's market position, encourage local employment and extend the useful life of a product. By optimising the use of material resources, the functionality economy contributes to a more sustainable economy.

  • Fur

    Fur refers to the hair of non-human mammals. In clothing, fur is usually leather with the hair retained for its aesthetic and insulating properties.

  • Glass fibre

    Glass fibre is a very fine fibre made from glass and is produced by means of a melting process. Glass fibres are used as reinforcement in composites, or as insulation in the form of glass wool.

  • Gloves

    A glove is an accessory or garment covering the whole hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb and protect the hand against all kinds of external risks. They are usually sold in pairs.

  • Granules

    Granules (granulate) are the basic product from which plastic products and (synthetic) textiles are made. Virgin as well as recycled polymers are usually supplied to processors in the form of granules (grains).

  • Green consumerism

    The use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations.

  • Haute couture

    The creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is high-end fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish, made from high-quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable sewers, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques

  • Hemp

    Hemp fibre has been used extensively throughout history. Items ranging from ropes, to fabrics, to industrial materials were made from hemp fibre. Hemp was often used to make sail canvas, and the word canvas derives from cannabis. Pure hemp has a texture similar to linen.

  • High-density polyethylene (HDPE)

    High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum. Because of its high strength-to-density ratio, HDPE is used in the production of plastic bottles, corrosion-resistant piping, geomembranes, and plastic lumber. HDPE is commonly recycled.

  • Horsehair

    Horsehair is the long, coarse hair growing on the manes and tails of horses. It is used for various purposes, including upholstery, brushes, the bows of musical instruments, a hard-wearing fabric called haircloth, and for horsehair plaster, a wallcovering material formerly used in the construction industry and now found only in older buildings. Horsehair can be very stiff or very fine and flexible; mane hair is generally softer and shorter than tail hair. The texture of horsehair can be influenced by the breed and management of the horse, including natural conditions such as diet or climate. Processing may also affect quality and feel.
    Horsehair is a protein fiber that absorbs water slowly, but can be dyed or colored effectively using traditional dyes suitable for protein fibers. It can be felted, but not easily.

  • Incapsulated products

    Incapsulated products are surrounded by a polymer shell that protects them from the matrix at the other side of the polymer. The polymer shell can be broken or not.

  • Incremental innovations

    A series of small improvements to an existing product or product line that usually helps companies to maintain or improve their competitive position over time.

  • Industrial design

    In a legal sense, an industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. An industrial design may consist of three dimensional features, such as the shape of an article, or two dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or colour.

  • Industry 4.0

    Industry 4.0 a.k.a. smart industry is the next phase in the digitization of the manufacturing sector, driven by four disruptions: the astonishing rise in data volumes, computational power, and connectivity, especially new low-power wide-area networks; the emergence of analytics and business-intelligence capabilities; new forms of human-machine interaction such as touch interfaces and augmented-reality systems; and improvements in transferring digital instructions to the physical world, such as advanced robotics and 3D printing.

  • Injection moulding

    Injection Moulding is a manufacturing process for producing parts in large volume. It is most typically used in mass-production processes where the same part is being created thousands or even millions of times in succession.
    The principal advantage of injection molding is the ability to scale production en masse. Once the initial costs have been paid the price per unit during injection molded manufacturing is extremely low. The price also tends to drop drastically as more parts are produced.

  • Innovation

    Innovation is the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value or for which customers will pay.

  • Intellectual property

    Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the intellect for which a monopoly is assigned to designated owners by law. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are the rights granted to the creators of IP, and include trademarks, copyright, patents, industrial design rights, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets.[2] Artistic works including music and literature, as well as discoveries, inventions, words, phrases, symbols, and designs can all be protected as intellectual property.

  • Internet of Things (IoT)

    The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

  • Jacket

    A jacket is a hip length garment for the upper body. It typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. It is worn above other clothing, and may be worn underneath a coat in winter.

  • Jacquard fabric

    The design of the jacquard fabric is incorporated into the weave, instead of being printed or dyed onto the fabric.

  • Jersey

    Jersey is a generic name for a group of plain knit fabrics.

  • Jute

    Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus. Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibres and it is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses of vegetable fibres. Jute fibres are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose and lignin.

  • Kapok

    Kapok is the silky fibre that invests the seeds of a silk-cotton tree (ka·pok tree) Ceiba pentandra, of the East Indies, Africa, and tropical America: used as filling meterial for pillows, life jackets, etc., and for acoustical insulation.

  • Knitting, knitwear

    Knitted fabric consists of a number of consecutive rows of interlocking loops. There are two major varieties of knitting: weft knitting and warp knitting. In the more common weft knitting, the wales are perpendicular to the course of the yarn. In warp knitting, the wales and courses run roughly parallel. In weft knitting, the entire fabric may be produced from a single yarn, by adding stitches to each wale in turn, moving across the fabric as in a raster scan. By contrast, in warp knitting, one yarn is required for every wale. Since a typical piece of knitted fabric may have hundreds of wales, warp knitting is typically done by machine, whereas weft knitting is done by both hand and machine.

  • Knitwear, knitted fabric

    Knitted fabric consists of a number of consecutive rows of interlocking loops. There are two major varieties of knitting: weft knitting and warp knitting. In the more common weft knitting, the wales are perpendicular to the course of the yarn. In warp knitting, the wales and courses run roughly parallel. In weft knitting, the entire fabric may be produced from a single yarn, by adding stitches to each wale in turn, moving across the fabric as in a raster scan. By contrast, in warp knitting, one yarn is required for every wale. Since a typical piece of knitted fabric may have hundreds of wales, warp knitting is typically done by machine, whereas weft knitting is done by both hand and machine.

  • Labelling

    Textile products shall be labelled or marked to give an indication of their fibre composition whenever they are made available on the market. The labelling and marking of textile products shall be durable, easily legible, visible and accessible and, in the case of a label, securely attached.

  • Lambswool

    Wool from the first shearing of the lamb.

  • Laundry symbol, care symbol

    A laundry symbol, also called a care symbol, is a pictogram which represents a method of washing. Such symbols are written on labels, known as care labels or care tags, attached to clothing to indicate how a particular item should best be cleaned. The ISO pictograms are trademarks of GINETEX (Groupement International d'Etiquetage pour l'Entretien des Textiles), founded in 1963.

  • Leaf fibre

    Leaf fibres are natural cellulosic fibres collected from plant leaves. Typical examples are sisal, abaca and raffia.

  • Lean manufacturing

    Doing more with less by employing 'lean thinking.' Lean manufacturing involves never ending efforts to eliminate or reduce three enemies of Lean: Muda (waste), Muri (overburden) and Mura (unevenness) - or any activity that consumes resources without adding value - in design, manufacturing, distribution, and customer service processes. The Lean concept was developed by Toyota.

  • Linen

    Linen is a fabric made from the fibres of the flax plant. Garments made of linen are valued for their exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather. Linen textiles appear to be some of the oldest in the world: their history goes back many thousands of years. Fragments of straw, seeds, fibers, yarns, and various types of fabrics dating to about 8000 BC have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. Dyed flax fibres found in a prehistoric cave in Georgia suggest the use of woven linen fabrics from wild flax may date back even earlier to 36,000 BC.

  • Lingerie

    Lingerie is a category of women's clothing including at least undergarments, sleepwear and lightweight robes, made from fine fabrics, lace and often embroidered.

  • Lining

    A lining is an inner layer of fabric, fur, or other material inserted into clothing, hats, luggage, curtains, handbags and similar items.

  • Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)

    Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is a thermoplastic made from the monomer ethylene. LDPE is not reactive at room temperatures, except by strong oxidizing agents, and some solvents cause swelling. It can withstand temperatures of 80 °C continuously and 95 °C for a short time. Made in translucent or opaque variations, it is quite flexible and tough. LDPE is widely used to manufacture various containers, dispensing bottles, wash bottles, tubing, plastic bags for computer components, and various moulded laboratory equipment. Its most common use is in plastic bags.

  • Lycra®

    Commercial name deposited by Invista (former DuPont) for elastane (a.ka. Spandex), a polyurethane elastomer with a very high elasticity.

  • Man-made fibre, synthetic fibre

    Fibre, whose chemical composition, structure, and properties are significantly modified during the manufacturing process. Man-made fibres are spun and woven into a huge number of consumer and industrial products, including garments, home furnishings such as upholstery, carpets, and drapes; and industrial parts such as tire cord, flame-proof linings, and drive belts. The chemical compounds from which man-made fibres are produced are known as polymers, a class of compounds characterized by long, chainlike molecules of great size and molecular weight. Many of the polymers that constitute man-made fibres are the same as or similar to compounds that make up plastics, rubbers, adhesives, and surface coatings.

  • Mass customization

    Production of personalized or custom-tailored goods or services to meet consumers' diverse and changing needs at near massproduction prices. Enabled by technologies such as computerization, internet, product modularization, and lean production, it portends the ultimate stage in market segmentation where every customer can have exactly what he or she wants.

  • Mattress

    A mattress is a large, rectangular pad that supports the reclining body and is part of a bed. Mattresses are presently made of many materials, both natural and synthetic.

  • Mattress ticking

    Ticking is a cotton or linen textile that is tightly woven for durability and to prevent down feathers from poking through the fabric, and is used to cover mattresses and bed pillows.

  • Medical face masks

    Medical face masks are intended to be used in operating rooms and health care settings with similar requirements, and are designed to protect the entire working environment.
    They are evaluated according to the European standard 14683:2019 - Medical face masks - Requirements and test methods and US standard ASTM F2100-11 Standard specification for performance of material used in medical face masks.

  • Memory foam

    Memory foam (brand name TEMPUR®) mainly consists of polyurethane as well as additional chemicals increasing its viscosity and density. It is often referred to as "viscoelastic" polyurethane foam, or low-resilience polyurethane foam (LRPu). Higher-density memory foam softens in reaction to body heat, allowing it to mold to a warm body in a few minutes. It is especially applied in mattresses and pillows/cushions to lower the pressure on protruding body parts.

  • Merino wool

    Fine, strongly crimping type of wool from the merino sheep.

  • Metal fibre

    Inorganic type of fibre with conductive or EMI shielding characteristics.

  • Microfibre

    Synthetic fibre which titre is finer than one denier or decitex (1 g/10 km).

  • Microplastics

    Microplastics come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris (including fibres) that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces, under the influence of UV radiation (especially(UV-B). The movement of the waves and oxydants cause the plastics that are floating or that are suspended near the water surface to rapidly release diverse organic molecules into the sea. This has already been demonstrated in the case of polyethylene, polypropoylene, polysterene and polyethylene terephthalate that will release molecules with a low molecular weight within a few days. In addition, microbeads, a type of microplastic, are very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are added as exfoliants to health and beauty products, such as some cleansers and toothpastes. These tiny particles easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in the ocean, posing a potential threat to aquatic life.

  • Mineral fibres

    Mineral fibres are inorganic fibres and can be extruded from minerals and metals: ceramic fibres, basalt fibres, glassfibres…

  • Modacrylic fibre

    Polymer fibres containing at least 50 % and at the most 85 % acrylonitrile.

  • Mohair

    Silk-like wool from the Angora goat.

  • Moire

    Moire, less often moiré, is a textile with a wavy (watered) appearance, usually created by the finishing technique called "calendering".

  • Mordant dye

    Chrome based dye that has to be blended with different types of acid to color wools and cotton.

  • MRSL versus RSL

    MRSL and RSL are terms used in relation to managing restricted substances during the manufacturing process and finished products respectively. Both are often used as chemical checklists to support product safety and chemical management activities.

    MRSL stands for Manufacturing Restricted Substance List, and provides manufacturers, suppliers, brands and retailers with acceptable limits of restricted substances in chemical formulations, which are used in the material and product manufacturing processes. An MRSL is used as a tool by companies around the world to regulate the safety of chemical formulations used in manufacturing processes. The regulation of chemical formulations upstream, through an MRSL, protects workers, consumers and the environment. Adhering to an MRSL can also protect brands and retailers from any potential negative publicity on product safety.

    RSL stands for Restricted Substances List and is often used as a chemical checklist when testing finished products for the presence of restricted substances. An RSL is applicable to finished articles and/or components. An RSL is used as a tool to aid regulatory compliance to global product safety standards such as REACH, CPSIA, California Proposition 65.

  • Natural fibres

    Natural fibres are vegetable, animal, or mineral in origin. Natural fibres include protein fibres such as wool and silk, cellulose fibres such as cotton and linen, and mineral fibres such as asbestos (a silicate mineral).

  • Necktie

    A necktie, or simply a tie, is a long piece of cloth, worn usually by men, for decorative purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat.
    The modern necktie spread by Europe traces back to the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Croatian Military Frontier in French service, wearing their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused the interest of the Parisians. Because of the slight difference between the Croatian word for Croats, Hrvati, and the French word, Croates, the garment gained the name "cravat" ("cravate" in French). The boy-king Louis XIV began wearing a lace cravat about 1646, when he was seven, and set the fashion for French nobility. This new article of clothing started a fashion craze in Europe; both men and women wore pieces of fabric around their necks. From its introduction by the French king, men wore lace cravats, or jabots, that took a large amount of time and effort to arrange. These cravats were often tied in place by cravat strings, arranged neatly and tied in a bow.

  • Needle felt

    A needle felt is a non-woven fabric usually composed of synthetic fibres (PES, PP). The fibres are mechanically binded by means of needle punching,

  • NIAS - Non intentionally added Substances

    During the life cycle of food contact materials, unexpected and potentially harmful substances may migrate from packaging materials to food products. According to the legislation, NIAS (non intentionally added substances) have to be assessed using scientifically recognised principles of risk assessment. The Commission Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, states that potential health risks in the final food packaging products or articles should be assessed by the manufacturer in accordance with internationally recognised principles of risk assessment.

  • Nightwear

    Nightwear - also called sleepwear, nightclothes, or nightdress - is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping.

  • Non-woven

    Nonwoven fabrics are broadly defined as sheet or web structures bonded together by entangling fiber or filaments (and by perforating films) mechanically, thermally or chemically. They are flat or tufted porous sheets that are made directly from separate fibers, molten plastic or plastic film. They are not made by weaving or knitting and do not require converting the fibers to yarn.

  • Nylon

    Generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers, based on aliphatic or semi-aromatic polyamides. Developed as a synthetic substitute for silk.

    The strength of Nylon really revolutionized the clothing for women especially in WW II. During the war exports of silk to the western countries were stopped and women didn’t have stockings to wear. Nylons fixed this problem by providing reusable stockings. It was durable and could be manufactured without importing other natural materials. Nylon also revolutionized the consumer market by providing better materials to help with consumer convenience.

  • One-piece swimsuit

    A one-piece swimsuit is worn (usually by women, but in former times also by men) when swimming or diving, or for sun bathing.

  • Open-end spinning

    Open-end spinning is a technology for creating yarn without using a spindle. It is also known as break spinning or rotor spinning. Sliver from the card goes into the rotor, is spun into yarn and comes out, wrapped up on a bobbin, all ready to go to the next step.

  • Outerwear

    Visible garments, worn above the underwear.

  • Overcoat

    An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most commonly used in winter when warmth is more important.
    Historical coats:
    Greatcoat, a voluminous overcoat with multiple shoulder capes, prominently featured by European militaries, most notably the former Soviet Union.
    Redingote (via French from English riding coat), a long fitted coat for men or women.
    Frock overcoat, a very formal daytime overcoat commonly worn with a frock coat, featuring a waist seam and heavy waist suppression.
    Ulster coat, a working daytime overcoat initially with a cape top covering sleeves, but then without; it evolved to the polo coat after losing its cape.
    Inverness coat, a formal evening or working day overcoat, with winged sleeves.
    Paletot coat, a coat shaped with side-bodies, as a slightly less formal alternative to the frock overcoat.
    Paddock coat, with even less shaping.
    Chesterfield coat, a long overcoat with very little waist suppression; being the equivalent of the "sack suit" for clothes, it came to be the most important overcoat of the next half-century.

  • Pajamas

    Pajamas or pyjamas, often shortened to PJs, jimmies, jimjams, jimmyjams or jammies, can refer to several related types of clothing originating from the Indian subcontinent. Pajamas are a two-piece loose-fitting garment (jacket and trousers) and worn chiefly for sleeping.

  • Patent

    A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention.

  • PEEK (polyetheretherketone)

    PEEK is a thermoplastic polymer showing excellent performances in a large range of temperatures and extreme conditions. PEEK combines an exceptional thermal, chemical and mechanical resistance. PEEK can be applied at a continuous working tempature of 250°C and has an excellent long-term chamical resistance. Polyetheretherketone, or PEEK, was originally developed in the late 1970s by the US aerospace industry, which was taken by its properties of stability at high temperatures and thus its potential for high-load, high-temperature applications. In the late 1990s, a highly pure and implantable grade of PEEK known as PEEK-OPTIMA was commercialised by Invibio Biomaterial Solutions and subsequently embraced by the medical device industry.

  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

    Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection.

  • Phase change materials (PCM)

    Phase change materials (PCM) are substances that absorb and release thermal energy during the process of melting and freezing. When a PCM freezes, it releases a large amount of energy in the form of latent heat at a relatively constant temperature. Conversely, when such material melts, it absorbs a large amount of heat from the environment. PCMs recharge as ambient temperatures fluctuate, making them ideal for a variety of everyday applications that require temperature control.

  • Phosphorescent materials

    Phosphorescence substances absorb energy that is released relatively slowly in the form of light. This is in some cases the mechanism used for "glow-in-the-dark" materials which are "charged" by exposure to light. Phosphorescent materials "store" absorbed energy for a longer time, as the processes required to re-emit energy occur less often.

  • Photochromatic materials

    Photochromatic materials are colourless materials that "emit" colour when exposed to light, such as visible light or UV rays. When exposed to light, the molecular structure changes by which the materials obtain colour. When the light source is removed, the colour disappears too.

  • Photovoltaic cells

    Photovoltaic cells are semi-conductors capable of generating an electric tension under the influence of sun rays. To produce a substantial quantity of energy, several cells are connected.

  • Pile fabric

    Fabric with cut fibres or uncut loops which stand up densely on the surface. Usually has a plush feel (i.e., bath towel, velvet).

  • Plain weave

    In plain weave, the warp and weft are aligned to form a simple criss-cross pattern. Each weft thread crosses the warp threads by going over one, then under the next, and so on. The weft threads are lifted alternatingly.

  • Plush

    Plush is a soft and hairy textile having a cut nap or pile. Originally the pile of plush consisted of mohair or worsted yarn, but now silk by itself or with a cotton backing is used for plush. The soft material is largely used for upholstery, furniture and toys. Modern plush are commonly manufactured from synthetic fibres such as polyester.

  • Polar fleece

    Polar fleece is a soft napped insulating fabric made from polyester.

  • Polyacrylic (PAN)

    Synthetic fibre made from polyacrylonitrile. Polyacrylic forms long linear molecules that are very suited as textile fibres.

  • Polyamide (PA)

    Nylon is the generic name for all long-chain fibre-forming polyamides with recurring amide groups. Polyamides comprise the largest family of engineering plastics with a very wide range of applications. Polyamides are often formed into fibres and are used for monofilaments and yarns. Characteristically polyamides are very resistant to wear and abrasion, have good mechanical properties even at elevated temperatures, have low permeability to gases and have good chemical resistance.

  • Polybenzimidazole (PBI)

    Polybenzimidazoles are a class of extremely heat-resistant heterocyclic thermoplastics. They are prepared from an aromatic tetraamine and an aromatic dicarboxylic acid or a derivative of it. Polybenzimidazoles are known for their high-strength and high-temperature performance. They find applications in many industrial fields including semiconductor, petrochemcial and aerospace industries. Major applications include heat resistant apparels, contact seals, wafer carriers, membranes for various separation processes, insulator bushings, and thermal isolators.

  • Polyester (PET/PES)

    Thermoplastic polyester is used in textile applications. The polyester granules are melted in an extruder and processed into monofilaments.

  • Polyethylene (PE)

    Polyethylene is produced by the polymerisation of ethene. Ethene is obtained by the deconstruction of a.o. naphta, a light petrol derivate. Poly(ethene) is produced in different forms including low density (LDPE) (< 0.930 g cm³), linear low density (LLDPE) (ca 0.915-0.940 g cm³) and high density (HDPE) (ca 0.940-0.965 g cm³).

  • Polypropylene (PP)

    Polypropylene (polypropene) is a synthetic resin built up by the polymerization of propylene. One of the important family of polyolefin resins, polypropylene is molded or extruded into many plastic products in which toughness, flexibility, light weight, and heat resistance are required. It is also spun into fibres for applications in industrial and household textiles. Propylene can also be polymerized with ethylene to produce an elastic ethylene-propylene copolymer.

  • Polyurethane (PUR)

    Polyurethanes are formed by reacting a polyol (an alcohol with more than two reactive hydroxyl groups per molecule) with a diisocyanate or a polymeric isocyanate in the presence of suitable catalysts and additives. Polyurethanes can be a found in mattresses, couches, insulation, liquid coatings and paints, tough elastomers such as roller blade wheels, soft flexible foam toys, some elastic fibres, and many other applications.

  • Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)

    Polyvinyl alcohol is a water-soluble synthetic polymer. The PVA fibre is used by the industry as a high performance fibre.

  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

    Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is used in diverse industrial, technical and daily applications: from window frames and blood bags to credit cards and raincoats. PVC consists of 38,41 % carbon 4,86 % hydrogen and 56,73 % chlorine and has been produced commercially since the end of the 1920s, when additives have been added to the mixture to create a plastic that was appreciated for its flexibility, durability and low cost.

  • Poplin

    Poplin is a strong fabric produced by the rib variation of the plain weave and characterized by fine, closely spaced, crosswise ribs. Though originally made with a silk warp and a heavier wool filling, poplin is now made of a variety of fibres, including silk, cotton, wool, and synthetic types, and with combinations of such fibres. It is used for shirts, pajamas, women’s wear, and sportswear and also as a decorative fabric.

  • Printing paste

    For direct printing, a printing paste is prepared by dissolving the dyes in hot water to which is added urea and a solvent (ethylene glycol, thioethylene glycol, sometimes glycerine or a similar substance – and sometimes water). This solution is stirred into a thickener that is easily removed by washing. Small amounts of oxidizing agents are added.

  • Product design

    The detailed specification of a manufactured item's parts and their relationship to the whole. A product design needs to take into account how the item will perform its intended functionality in an efficient, safe and reliable manner. The product also needs to be capable of being made economically and to be attractive to targeted consumers.

  • Product development

    The creation of products with new or different characteristics that offer new or additional benefits to the customer. Product development may involve modification of an existing product or its presentation, or formulation of an entirely new product that satisfies a newly defined customer want or market niche.

  • Protective clothing

    Protective clothing is designed to protect the wearer against all kinds of risks, such as injuries or infections.

  • Protective Gloves

    Protective gloves and protective clothing belong to the group of personal protective equipment (PPE).

    Protective gloves can be divided into 3 categories depending on type and which risk or danger the gloves should protect against.

    Category 1: Gloves of simple design, for minimal risks only, such as house-hold gloves used for cleaning and for protection against warm objects or temperatures not exceeding +50° C, light-duty gardening gloves or other work where the risk for injury is minimal.

    Category 2: Gloves of intermediate design, for intermediate risks. Gloves are placed in this category when the risk is not classified as minimal or irreversible. The gloves must be subjected to independent testing and certification by a Notified Body, whom then issues a CE marking showing the gloves protective capacities: handling gloves requiring good puncture and abrasion performance.

    Category 3: Gloves of complex design, for irreversible or mortal risks, such as gloves designed to protect against the highest levels of risk e.g. highly corrosive acids. Gloves in this category must also be independently tested and certified by a Notified Body (approved by the EU commission).

  • Protein fibres

    Animal fibres such as wool, hair and silk, are composed of proteins.The protein fibres are formed by natural animal sources through condensation of a-amino acids to form repeating polyamide units with a various substituent on the a-carbon atom. In general, protein fibres are fibres of moderate strength, resiliency, and elasticity. They have excellent moisture absorbency and transport characteristics. They do not build up a static charge.

  • Pullover

    In British English, a pullover may also be called a jumper or jersey. In North America it is called a sweater. It is generally knitted and pulled over the head.

  • PVC-fibre

    Polyvinyl chloride fibres are marketed under the names: Rhovyl, Fibravyl, Thermovyl, Isovy, Retractyl, Crinovyl, Envilon, Nip.

  • Raffia

    Raffia is a strong natural fibre produced from species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, and especially Madagascar. The membrane on the underside of the leaf is taken off to create a long thin fibre which can be dyed and woven as a textile into products ranging from hats to shoes to decorative mats.

  • Rainwear

    Rainwear is waterproof clothing. Good rainwear or waterproof clothing is expensive, because not only the fabric but also the seams need to be made watertight.

  • Ramie

    Ramie is a natural fibre produced from Boehmeria nivea or Chinese Grass, a plant belonging to the nettle family. For more than 6000 years, fibres have been harvested from the stem of the plant and used for the production of threads and ropes, fishing nets, paper and textile products such as table linen, bed linen and curtains.

  • Rayon

    Man-made fibre on the basis of cellulose, a natural resource, extracted from e.g. wood pulp. Rayon can imitate the feel and texture of natural fibres such as silk, wool, cotton, and linen. The types that resemble silk are often called artificial silk.

  • Ready-to-wear

    Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes. The advantage is that the price can be kept relatively low. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items other than clothing such as handbags.

  • Recycling

    Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling can prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, thereby reducing: energy usage, air pollution (from incineration), and water pollution (from landfilling). Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component of the "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle" waste hierarchy. Thus, recycling aims at environmental sustainability by substituting raw material inputs into and redirecting waste outputs out of the economic system. There are some ISO standards related to recycling such as ISO 15270:2008 for plastics waste and ISO 14001:2004 for environmental management control of recycling practice.

  • Research & Development (R&D)

    Systematic activity combining both basic and applied research, and aimed at discovering solutions to problems or creating new goods and knowledge. R&D may result in ownership of intellectual property such as patents.

  • Resource efficiency

    Resource efficiency means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimising impacts on the environment. It allows us to create more with less and to deliver greater value with less input.

  • Respiratory protective equipment

    Respiratory Protective equipment protects the individual wearer against the inhalation of hazardous substances in the workplace air.
    They come in two main types:
    1. Respirator (filtering device) – using filters to remove contaminants in the workplace air. They include (a) Non-powered respirators relying on the wearer’s breathing to draw air through the filter and (b) Powered respirators that use a motor to pass air through the filter to give a supply of clean air to the wearer.
    2. Breathing apparatus (BA) – needs a supply of breathing-quality air from an independent source (e.g. air cylinder or air compressor)

  • Ring spinning

    Ring spinning is one of oldest machine-oriented spinning techniques used for staple fibre (cotton, wool,...) spinning. It is a continuous process in which the roving is first attenuated by using drawing rollers, then spun and wound around a rotating spindle which in its turn is contained within an independently rotating ring flyer.

  • Round Robin Test

    Test programme in which a number of laboratories test identical samples of a number of test materials in order (primarily) to determine the precision (repeatability and reproducibility) of each reported parameter in a test method. A round robin program is an analysis technique which uses Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) random effects model to assess a measurement system. Round robin tests help to bring to light systematic sources of error and can give rise to the necessary corrective action.

  • Roving (sliver)

    A roving is a long and narrow bundle of fibre. Rovings are produced during the process of making spun yarn from wool fleece, raw cotton, or other fibres. After carding, the fibres lie roughly parallel in smooth bundles. These are drawn out, by hand or machine, and slightly twisted to form lengths suitable for spinning. These unspun strands of fibre are the rovings.

  • Rubber

    Natural rubber is a polymer that occurs as an emulsion in the juice (containing 33% latex) of certain plants, such as the Brazilian and Indian rubber tree. The latex is filtered and diluted by water and then treated with acids to solidify the rubber particles. In 1770, the chemist Joseph Priestly accidentally discovered that the material was able to remove pencil stripes. From then on it was named after the verb “to rub”. Synthetic rubber is produced by the polymerization of petroleum.

  • Rug

    The terms "carpet" and "rug" are often used interchangeably, although they are very different products. Whereas carpets usually cover the entire floor, extending from wall to wall and are secured in place, rugs only cover a certain area of the floor. Rugs are laid on top of other, usually harder floor coverings such as ceramic tiles or parquet floors.

  • Satin

    Any fabric constructed by the satin weave method, one of the three basic textile weaves. The fabric is characterized by a smooth surface and usually a lustrous face and dull back; it is made in a wide variety of weights for various uses, including dresses, particularly evening wear; linings; bedspreads; and upholstery. Though originally a silk fabric, it is now made of yarns of other fibres. An all-cotton fabric woven in the satin structure is known as sateen.

  • Satin weave

    The satin weave is characterized by four or more fill or weft yarns floating over a warp yarn or vice versa, four warp yarns floating over a single weft yarn. Floats are missed interfacings, where the warp yarn lies on top of the weft in a warp-faced satin and where the weft yarn lies on top of the warp yarns in weft-faced satins. These floats explain the even sheen, as unlike in other weaves, the light reflecting is not scattered as much by the fibres, which have fewer tucks.

  • Scale

    Wool fibres have a unique surface structure of overlapping scales called cuticle cells. The cuticle cells anchor the fibre in the sheep’s skin. Wool’s surface is very different to typical synthetic fibres, which have a very smooth surface.

  • Scarf

    A scarf, plural scarves, is a piece of fabric worn around the neck or shoulders for warmth, sun protection, cleanliness, fashion, or religious reasons. They can be made in a variety of different materials such as wool, cashmere, linen or cotton.

  • Servitization

    Servitization refers to industries using their products to sell “outcome as a service” rather than a one-off sale. Netflix and Spotify are probably the most well-known example of this, delivering media as a service, rather than customers buying the CDs, DVDs et cetera that produce those outcomes.
    The term servitization was first introduced in 1988 by authors Sandra Vandermerwe and Juan Rada, who argued that manufacturers needed a way to firstly set themselves apart from competitors, and more importantly to retain their customer base and increase levels of differentiation. However, the concept of servitization can actually be traced back to the 1960s, to Bristol Siddeley providing “Power By The Hour” – a servitization plan for their Viper engines. It was a complete engine and accessory replacement service charged at a set fee per flying hour. Rather than buying the engine, you bought the power it provided, allowing operators greater forecasting accuracy and relieving them of capital costs. such as engine stock and accessories.

  • Shape memory polymers (SMP)

    SMPs are polymeric smart materials that have the ability to return from a deformed state (temporary shape) to their original (permanent) shape induced by an external stimulus (trigger), such as temperature change.

  • Sharkskin swimsuit

    Sharkskin is made up of countless overlapping scales called dermal denticles when we saw it under the electron microscope. The appearance of the denticles is they have grooves running down their length in alignment with water flow. The function of the denticles is to disrupt the formation of eddies or we called it as turbulent swirls of slow water which lead to higher speed of water. In fact, the rough shape also discourages parasitic growth such as algae and barnacles. The fabrics include features that increase the swimmer's glide through water and reduce the absorption of water by the suit as opposed to regular swimsuits.

  • Shorts

    Shorts are a garment worn by all genders over their pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees (bermudas) but not covering the entire length of the leg.

  • Silk fibre

    Silk is a natural protein, secreted by certain insects, such as the silkworm Bombyx mori. Also certain spiders are appropriate for silk culture. Both the textile fibre and fabric are called silk. Silk fabrics are appreciated for their lustre, suppleness and soft texture.

  • Sisal

    Sisal is sometimes referred to as "sisal hemp", because for centuries hemp was a major source for fibre, and other fibre sources were named after it.
    The sisal fibre is traditionally used for rope and twine, and has many other uses, including paper, cloth, footwear, hats, bags, carpets, and dartboards. Sisal is named after a harbour in Yucatán.

  • Sizing and desizing

    Textile warp sizing reduces breakage of the warp yarn and the number of production stops on the weaving machine where the warp yarns are subjected to cyclic strain, flexing, abrasion at various loom parts and inter yarn friction. Sizing improves the strength - abrasion resistance - of the yarn and reduces the hairiness of the yarn. Different types of water soluble polymers - called textile sizing agents/chemicals - such as modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), acrylates are used to protect the yarn. Also wax is added to reduce the abrasiveness of the warp yarns. The type of yarn material (e.g. cotton, polyester, linen), the thickness of the yarn, type of weaving machinery will determine the sizing recipe. The sizing liquor is applied on the warp yarns with a warp sizing machine. After the weaving process the fabric is desized (washed).

  • Skin wool, fellmonger wool

    Wool obtained from the skin of slaughtered or deceased animals, usually by fermentation or chemical treatment. A fellmonger was a dealer in hides or skins, particularly sheepskins, who might also prepare skins for tanning. The name is derived from the Old English ‘fell’ meaning skins and ‘monger’ meaning dealer.

  • Skirt

    A skirt is the lower part of a dress or gown covering the person from the waist downwards, or a separate outer garment serving this purpose.

  • Small science

    Small Science refers (in contrast to Big Science) to science performed in a smaller scale, such as by individuals, small teams or within community projects.

  • Smart textiles

    Commonly the expressions "smart" and "intelligent" textiles or wearables are used interchangeably.The term "smart textile" may refer to either a "smart textile material" or a "smart textile system". Only the context will determine which one of the two following definitions apply: Smart (intelligent) textile material: functional textile material actively interacting with its environment, i.e. responding or adapting to changes in the environment. Smart (intelligent) textile system: textile system exhibiting an intended and exploitable response as a reaction either to changes in its surroundings/environment or to an external signal/input.

  • Sock

    A sock is an item of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf.

  • Solvent

    Substance, usually a liquid, in which other materials dissolve to form a solution. Polar solvents (e.g. water) favour formation of ions; nonpolar ones (e.g. hydrocarbons) do not. Solvents may be predominantly acidic, predominantly basic, amphoteric (both), or aprotic (neither). Organic compounds used as solvents include aromatic compounds and other hydrocarbons, alcohols, esters, ethers, ketones, amines, and nitrated and halogenated hydrocarbons. Their chief uses are as media for chemical syntheses, as industrial cleaners, in extractive processes, in pharmaceuticals, in inks, and in paints, varnishes, and lacquers.

  • Sorting

    Sorting is the first step in recycling polymer waste (from textiles and plastics) after collection. During this step, materials intended for recycling are separated, cleaned and prepared. Depending on its nature, sorted polymer waste will be processed directly on the site of the recycling company responsible for receiving it or be taken to a specialist recycling centre. There are many categories of materials and many processes, varying according to the type of product.

  • Spindle

    A spindle is a straight spike usually made from wood used for spinning, twisting fibers such as wool, flax, hemp, cotton into yarn. It is often weighted at either the bottom, middle, or top, commonly by a disc or spherical object called a whorl, but many spindles exist that are not weighted by a whorl, but by thickening their shape towards the bottom, such as Orenburg and French spindles. The spindle may also have a hook, groove, or notch at the top to guide the yarn. Spindles come in many different sizes and weights depending on the thickness of the yarn one desires to spin.

  • Spinneret

    A spinneret may have from one to several hundred holes. As the filaments emerge from the tiny openings in the spinneret, the liquid polymer is converted first to a rubbery state and then solidified. This process of extrusion and solidification of endless filaments is called spinning, and may not be confused with the textile operation of the same name, where short pieces of staple fibre are twisted into yarn.

  • Spinning (polymers)

    Spinning is a specialized form of extrusion that uses a spinneret to form multiple continuous filaments. The polymer being spun must be converted into a fluid state. If the polymer is a thermoplastic then it can be simply melted, otherwise it is dissolved in a solvent or chemically treated to form soluble or thermoplastic derivatives. The molten polymer is then forced through the spinneret, then it cools to a rubbery state, and then a solidified state. If a polymer solution is used, then the solvent is removed after being forced through the spinneret.

  • Split fibres

    Split fibres are developed by twisting polypropylene tapes. The very first artificial turf was made from split PP fibres.

  • Sportswear

    Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise and its design depends on the demands of the sport activity in question.

  • Spunlaid nonwoven

    Spunlaid, also called spunbond, nonwovens are made in one continuous process. fibres are spun and then directly dispersed into a web by deflectors or can be directed with air streams. This technique leads to faster belt speeds, and cheaper costs.

  • Staple fibre

    Fibre of discrete length that may be of any composition. The opposite term is filament fibre with a sheer limitless lengths for use.

  • Stimuli-responsive materials (SRM)

    Stimuli-responsive materials (SRMs) have the particularity to change one or more of their properties under a defined stimulus. To account for the variety of underlying physico-chemical mechanisms, we call "transition phenomenon" the process by which SRMs transform an input, or stimulus, into an output, or response.

  • Stockings

    Stockings are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh.

  • Strips, waste

    Short waste fibres from carded wool.

  • Suit

    A suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, usually consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. A three-piece suit includes a sleeveless vest.

  • SVHC - substances of very high concern

    Substances that may have serious and often irreversible effects on human health and the environment can be identified as substances of very high concern (SVHCs).

  • Sweater

    A sweater (North American English) is either a pullover or a cardigan, distinguished in that cardigans open at the front while pullovers do not.

  • Synthetic resin

    Synthetic resins are materials with properties similar to natural plant resins. They are viscous liquids capable of hardening permanently. Chemically they are very different from resinous compounds secreted by plants. Some artificial resins are manufactured by esterification or soaping of organic compounds. Some are thermosetting plastics in which the term "resin" is loosely applied to the reactant or product, or both. The first and best known synthetic resin is Bakelite, a phenol resin. Others are polyurethane resin and epoxy resin. Natural resins occur in trees and have the function to repair any damage by closing holes in the bark. Natural resins solidify under the influence of oxygen, whereas synthetic resins are usually cured by temperature.

  • T-shirt

    A T-shirt (or t shirt, or tee) is a style of unisex fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. It normally has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a crew neck, which lacks a collar.

  • Tarpaulin

    A tarpaulin or tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Inexpensive modern tarpaulins are made from woven polyethylene.
    Tarpaulins are basic products in emergency shelter solutions.

  • Technical fibre

    Technical fibres feature special characteristics that make them appropriate for the manufacturing of textile products and composites that are highly resistant to extreme conditions (climatological, industrial use, PPE) or of multifunctional/smart textiles.

  • Tensile strength

    Tensile strength is a measurement of the force required to pull something such as rope, wire, or a structural beam to the point where it breaks. The tensile strength of a material is the maximum amount of tensile stress that it can take before failure, for example breaking.

  • Terry, terrycloth

    Terry is an absorbent fabric based on a plain weave, which has an additional set of loops woven through the surface of the fabric. The loops are left uncut to form pile on the surface of the fabric, which is what gives terry the distinctive looped surface texture on both sides. The added surface area increases the absorbency, making terry ideal for towels of all sorts. The longer and more densely packed the loops, the greater the absorbency of the fabric. Terry is used to make towels, bathrobes, and absorbent headbands. The word "terry" derives from the French word "tiré", which means pulled (referring to the loops pulled from the fabric base).

  • Tex system

    The tex system, originally devised in 1873, is a universal method developed for the measurement of staple fibre yarns and is also applicable to the measurement of filament yarns. It is based on the weight in grams of one kilometre (3,300 feet) of yarn.

  • Textile

    The word 'textile' is from Latin, from the adjective textilis, meaning 'woven', from textus, the past participle of the verb texere, 'to weave'. A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial filaments (endless threads) or fibres (short pieces of thread). Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or felting. They are mostly deformable and can be one, two or three dimensional.

  • Textile auxiliary agents

    Textile auxiliaries are used to improve the manufacturing process of textile fibres, yarns, fabrics and finished products, as well as the properties of the final textile product. The term includes a large variety of specialised chemical products, ranging from cleaning agents for natural fibres and smoothing agents for high-speed manufacturing, to additives introducing or enhancing easy-care, antimicrobial, flame-retardant and many other properties to the textile product during any stage of the production process (extrusion, spinning, weaving, finishing).

  • Textile coating

    Textile coating is the process of depositing a layer in the form of a paste on one or on both sides of a (woven, knit, non-woven...) textile substrate. Direct coating is a commony used technique and is based on the application of one or various layers of polyurethane, PVC, acrylic resins, etc. paste, on a textile substrate, using a scraper, knife, cylinder, etc.
    Textile coating is used to add properties to or to funcionalise textiles.

  • Textile dyes

    Dyes are molecules which absorb and reflect light at specific wavelengths to give human eyes the sense of colour. Textile dyes include acid dyes, used mainly for dyeing wool, silk, and nylon; and direct or substantive dyes, which have a strong affinity for cellulose fibres. Mordant dyes require the addition of chemical substances, such as salts, to give them an affinity for the material being dyed. They are applied to cellulosic fibres, wool, or silk after such materials have been treated with metal salts. Sulfur dyes, used to dye cellulose, are inexpensive but produce colours lacking brilliance. Azoic dyes are insoluble pigments formed within the fibre by padding, first with a soluble coupling compound and then with a diazotized base. Vat dyes, insoluble in water, are converted into soluble colourless compounds by means of alkaline sodium hydrosulfite. Cellulose absorbs these colourless compounds, which are subsequently oxidized to an insoluble pigment. Such dyes are colourfast. Disperse dyes are suspensions of finely divided insoluble, organic pigments used to dye such hydrophobic fibres as polyesters, nylon, and cellulose acetates.

  • Textile fibre

    Depending on their source and/or processing method, textile fibres can be subdivided in natural (vegetable and animal), artifical (chemical treatment of natural materials), synthetic, and mineral (metals, basalt, ceramic…) fibres. The textile industry requires that fibre content be provided on labels.

  • Textile finishing

    All mechanical and chemical processes employed to improve the quality or change the properties of the textile product.

  • Textile floor covering with pile, pile carpet

    Floor covering having a textile use-surface formed from a layer of yarns or fibres projecting from a substrate, which can be manufactured by a woven or non-woven process. The floor covering can have a defined use-surface and a backing substrate (heterogeneous), or a proportion of fibres that is consistent from surface to back (homogeneous).

  • Thermal clothing

    Protective under or upperwear against cold. They can be made from specialty yarns (e.g. the legendary thermolactyl® by Damart) or incorporate PCM (phase change materials) to regulate the body temperature.

  • Thermochromic materials

    Thermochromic materials change colour due to a change in temperature.

  • Thermoelectric materials

    The thermoelectric effect of these substances refers to phenomena by which either a temperature difference creates an electric potential or an electric potential creates a temperature difference.

  • Thermoforming

    Thermoforming is a manufacturing process where a plastic sheet is heated to a pliable forming temperature, formed to a specific shape in a mould, and trimmed to create a usable product. The sheet, or "film" when referring to thinner gauges and certain material types, is heated in an oven to a temperature that permits it to be stretched into or onto a mould and cooled to a finished shape. Its simplified version is vacuum forming.

  • Tights

    Tights (Amercian English: pantyhose) are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name.

  • Trousers

    An article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles or knees, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.

  • Tufting

    Tufting is the process of creating textiles, and more in particular carpets, on specialized multi-needle sewing machines. Several hundred needles stitch hundreds of rows of pile yarn tufts through a backing fabric called the primary backing. The needles push yarn through a primary backing fabric, where a loop holds the yarn in place to form a tuft as the needle is removed. The yarn is caught by loopers and held in place for loop-pile carpet or cut by blades for cut-pile carpet. Next, secondary backings of various types are applied to render a variety of performance properties.

  • Tulle

    Tulle is a lightweight, very fine netting, which is often starched. It can be made of various fibres, including silk, nylon, and rayon. Tulle is most commonly used for veils, gowns (particularly wedding gowns), and ballet tutus.

  • Twill weave

    Twill is a type of textile weave with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs . This is done by passing the weft thread over one or more warp threads then under two or more warp threads and so on, with a "step," or offset, between rows to create the characteristic diagonal pattern.

  • Underwear

    Underwear or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin.

  • Upholstery fabrics

    Upholstery fabric is a rather heavy, thick and stiff fabric used to cover and decorate sofas, chairs and other upholstered furniture. Their resitance to wear, colour fastness and easy cleaning (dirt repellency) are main requirements.

  • Utrecht Velvet

    Luxurious mohair short pole woven fabric used for upholstery, wall decoration and gala costumes. Originally, the fabric was manufactured in Utrecht since the late 17th century.

  • Vat dyes

    Vat dyes are insoluble in water and cannot dye fibers directly. However, They can be made soluble by reduction in alkaline solution which allows them to affix to the textile fibres. Subsequent oxidation or exposure to air restore the dye to its insoluble form. Indigo is the original vat dye. These dyes are the fastest dyes for cotton, linen and rayon. They are used with mordants to dye other fabrics such as wool, nylon, polyesters, acrylics and modacrylics.

  • Vegetable fibres

    Plant-derived vegetable fibres are classified according to their source in plants as bast, leaf, or seed-hair.

  • Velvet

    Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. Velvet can be made from either synthetic or natural fibres.

  • Virgin Wool

    Virgin wool is the wool taken from a lamb's first shearing. This is the softest and finest wool produced. There is another meaning of virgin wool - it can refer to wool that has never been used, processed, or woven before. This type of virgin wool can come from an adult sheep.

  • Viscose

    It was in 1891 that Cross and Bevan discovered a technique to manufacture viscose, a substitute for natural silk: The viscose process dissolves pulp with aqueous sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide. This produces a viscous solution. This solution was the first thing to bear the name "viscose". The cellulose solution is used to spin the viscose rayon fibre, which may also be called viscose.

  • Voile

    Soft, sheer fabric, usually made of 100% cotton or cotton blended with linen or polyester. Because of its light weight, the fabric is mostly used in soft furnishing. In tropical climates, voile is used for window treatments and mosquito nets. When used as curtain material, voile is similar to net curtains. Voiles are available in a range of patterns and colours. Because of their semitransparent quality, voile curtains are made using heading tape that is less easily noticeable through the fabric. Voile fabric is also used in dressmaking, either in multiple layers or laid over a second material. The term is French for veil.

  • Weave

    The weave is a system or pattern of intersecting warp and weft yarns. The aspect and properties (strength, deformability) are determined by the type of weave.

  • Weaving

    Weaving involves using a loom to interlace two sets of threads at right angles to each other: the warp which runs longitudinally and the weft that crosses it. The warp threads are held taut and in parallel to each other, typically in a loom.

  • Wool fibre

    A wool fibre is composed of four layers (from outer to inner layer): the corneous layer of scales (cuticula), an intermediate membrane (subcutis), the cortex and the medulla.

  • Workwear

    Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour. Workwear is submitted to rules concerning its use and care.

  • Woven fabric

    Fabrics are produced by converting yarns, and sometimes fibres, into a fabric having characteristics determined by the materials and methods employed. Most fabrics are produced by some method of interlacing, such as weaving or knitting. Other interlaced fabrics include net, lace, and braid.

  • X versus Y document

    Once a patent application is filed, the authorities will verify whether the claimed invention is amongst others NEW and INVENTIVE in view of what is already known in the WORLD before issuing the patent. The rapport that is sent to the applicant sometimes refers to X and/or Y documents:
    X-documents indicate that (part of) the invention is not NEW; in the light of these documents the invention cannot be considered as new
    Y-documents indicated that (part of) the invention is not INVENTIVE; in the light of these documents, the invention cannot be considered as inventive
    Therefore, a report containing a lot of X and Y documents is not a positive report.

  • Zipper

    A zipper, zip, fly, or zip fastener, formerly known as a clasp locker, is a commonly used device for binding the edges of an opening of fabric or other flexible material, like on a garment or a bag. It is used in clothing (e.g., jackets and jeans), luggage and other bags, sporting goods, camping gear (e.g. tents and sleeping bags), and other items. Zippers come in all different sizes, shapes, and colours.
    Whitcomb L. Judson was an American inventor from Chicago who invented and constructed a workable zipper. The method, still in use today, is based on interlocking teeth. Initially, it was called the “hookless fastener” and was later redesigned to become more reliable. The modern type zipper was designed by Gideon Sunback and patented in 1913.