Fundamentals of Textile Design 3(2+1)

Lesson 5: Yarn Types

Filament yarns

The long yarns that result from the manufacture of manmade fiber are called filament yarns. Filament yarns are further classified as regular or smooth yarns and textured yarns.

1. Regular or smooth filament yarns:

   These are rod like with smooth surface resulting in high luster. But the luster can be controlled by using a delustering agent titanium dioxide in the spinning solution before it is extruded from the spinneret. Contrary to the spun yarns they do not pill, shed lint or found to be fuzzy. Their cover factor is also less compared to staple yarns. Their advantage lies in their power to shed soil. Filament yarns are twisted together which increases the bulk.

2. Textured filament yarns:

   Texturing is giving the smooth filament yarn a aesthetic property of spun yarns and making them non-slippery. Different shapes are put into these straight yarns by various means. There are many methods involved for texturising the filament yarns, both physical and thermal. Distortions such as crimps and loops and knots will been introduced during processing. As manmade fibers are also thermoplastic in nature, the extra feature added to the smooth yarns is later heat set to preserve the character longer. Texturing changes the surface characteristics of the yarns increasing their bulk, stretch and cotton like feel in fabrics. A good example for textured yarn would be a yarn draw from nylon socks which shows a bulky multiple yarns with a highly wavy structure. Texturizing adds to the thermal insulation, comfort and moisture absorption in the fabrics