Contract Textile Terms Glossary
F
fabric:
A woven, knitted, plaited, braided, felted, or nonwoven material made of fibers, yarns, or other substances.
face:
The front side of the fabric as opposed to the back. This is the side of the fabric that is normally treated and tested to meet commercial standards. See id cord.
faillé:
A fine rep weave fabric made with a heavier yarn in the filling than in the warp.
fastness:
See colorfastness.
felt:
A nonwoven or woven fabric with a dense construction that is face-finished through a process that shrinks and entangles the fibers to make the structure of the fabric indistinguishable.
fiber:
Term for a unit of any natural or synthetic textile raw material used for manufacturing fabric.
filament:
A fiber of continuous indefinite length. Man-made examples are rayon, nylon, polyester, and polypropylene. Silk and hair are examples of natural filaments. Filaments can be used in their entirety, manipulated, or chopped into staple fibers that are then spun into yarn. Unmanipulated filament is called continuous filament.
filling:
Also called weft. In woven fabrics, the filling yarns are the yarns that run in the horizontal direction, at right angles to the warp.
finishes:
Any processes or treatments applied to a material to alter or change the look, feel, or performance. Some examples are calendering, coatings, embossing, fire resistance, heat treatments, laminations, moisture barriers, soil and stain repellents, washing, and ultraviolet protection.
fire blocker:
See barrier cloth.
flammability:
Measurement of a fabric's performance when exposed to specific sources of ignition.
flannel:
A woven fabric that has been face-finished by lightly brushing or napping the surface. Usually flannel is a medium-weight plain or twill structure in wool, wool blends, or cotton fibers.
flaw:
An inconsistency or defect created in yarn or fabric during any part of the manufacturing process.
float:
Portion of warp or filling yarn covering two or more adjacent warp yarns or filling picks in a woven cloth.
FR:
Abbreviation for flame resistant, which indicates a fabric's ability to resist burning. Fabrics that are not already inherently flame resistant may be treated with various processes to provide certain levels of flame resistance.
frisé:
A durable warp-pile fabric made of uncut loops that may either be left uncut or partly cut to create a pattern.
fulling:
A finishing process, also known as milling or felting, in which the goods are subjected to moisture, heat, friction, and pressure causing the fibers in the yarns to shrink and interlock. When goods are heavily fulled, the yarns and the weave structure are entirely obscured, giving the even and smooth surface appearance of felt.
