Why Is Fiber and Yarn Testing Important in the Early Stage of Textile Production？

Textiles are increasingly widely used, and human life cannot do without them. Textiles were first used for clothing, and now have been extended to household items and industrial products.

How are textiles made? Except for a few textiles that are processed from non-woven fabrics or made directly from fibers, general textiles need to be processed from fibers through "big textiles" consisting of spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing. Fiber is the basic element of fabric, yarn and thread are the backbone of fabric, and fabric is the foundation of textiles. The performance of textiles is closely related to the performance of fibers, yarns and fabrics.

The function of textiles should start from the source - fiber, spinning, weaving and dyeing.

1. Control product quality from the source

The physical properties (such as strength and wear resistance), appearance quality (such as uniformity and defects) and user experience (such as feel and breathability) of textiles are essentially determined by the characteristics of fibers and yarns.

Fiber level: If the fiber strength is insufficient, the length is uneven or the impurity content is too high, the yarn breakage rate will increase during spinning and the yarn strength will decrease; if the fiber's hygroscopicity and thermal conductivity do not meet the design requirements (such as high breathability required for summer fabrics), the final product will deviate from the use requirements.

Yarn level: Indicators such as yarn evenness, twist stability, and hairiness directly affect weaving efficiency (e.g. uneven yarn evenness will lead to "skipped stitches" and "missed stitches" during weaving) and fabric appearance (e.g. too much hairiness will make the fabric look rough).

2. Reduce production costs

The textile production process is long and has many links (fiber → spinning → weaving → dyeing and finishing → finished product), and each link requires input of raw materials, energy and labor costs.

For example, if the twist of the yarn is too low and is not detected, it is easy to "loose yarn" during weaving, resulting in pilling of the fabric; if dyeing and finishing have been completed at this time, the entire batch of fabrics may be scrapped because they cannot be repaired, and the loss is far greater than the cost of early testing.

For example, if the oil content and moisture content of the fiber do not meet the spinning requirements (for example, too high a moisture content will cause yarn adhesion), it will increase the wear and energy consumption of the spinning equipment.

3. Ensure that product performance meets design and application requirements

Different application scenarios of textiles have specific requirements for performance (such as high wear resistance for workwear and low irritation for infant fabrics), and the "underlying support" of these performances is the characteristics of fibers and yarns:

Functional textiles: For example, the "windproof and waterproof" of outdoor clothing depends on the density of the fiber and the tight structure of the yarn; the "antibacterial" of medical textiles requires the fiber itself to contain antibacterial components or the yarn to have a specific porosity.

Safety performance: Infant textiles must meet the requirements of "no fluorescent agent, low formaldehyde, and high elongation at break" (to avoid the risk of small parts after tearing). These requirements need to be tested based on the chemical composition of the fiber (such as whether it contains banned dyes) and the mechanical properties of the yarn (such as tensile strength).

4. Ensure compliance and avoid market access risks

The global textile market has strict standards and regulations for products (such as EU REACH, US CPSC, and China GB standards), involving limits on harmful substances (such as heavy metals and phthalates), physical safety (such as flame retardancy), environmental requirements (such as degradability), etc. One of the core control objects of these standards is fibers and yarns:

For example, recycled fibers (such as recycled polyester) need to pass "traceability testing" to prove that the source of raw materials is compliant (avoid the use of harmful components in recycled waste); natural fibers (such as cotton) need to test whether pesticide residues meet the standards of the importing country.

5. Improve the stability and efficiency of the production process

The quality stability of fibers and yarns directly affects the operating efficiency of subsequent equipment:

If the fiber length difference is too large, "uneven drafting" will occur during spinning, resulting in fluctuations in yarn thickness, forcing the equipment to frequently stop and adjust parameters;

If the yarn strength coefficient of variation is too high, the breakage rate will increase during weaving, and the effective operation time of the loom will be reduced.

Early testing can ensure the consistency of yarn quality by selecting stable fiber raw materials and optimizing the spinning process (such as adjusting twist and draft multiples), thereby reducing the number of equipment stoppages in subsequent links and improving overall production efficiency.