Yarn Hairiness and Solutions

The loose fibres that protrude from the main body of the yarn are called yarn hairiness.  There are three common types of yarn hairiness: end hairiness, loop hairiness & floating hairiness. There are many reasons for yarn hairiness, including raw material properties, spinning process, machine conditions, environmental factors, etc. In this article, you will learn about the causes of hairiness and its solution.

Why is Yarn Hairy?

When you spin a yarn from staple fibres, the ends of the fibre project outside the body of the yarn are they are attached to the surface of the yarn but hanged. After weaving or knitting, these hung fibres outside the body of the yarn will be shown on the fabric’s surface, giving a very bad look and appearance. All types of yarn hairiness are influenced by the combination of raw material properties, environmental factors (such as hot or cool weather conditions), machine conditions, and spinning processes.

Why Do You Need to Reduce Hairiness in Yarn?

Hairiness affects each and every step of textile processing. If there is high hairiness in the yarn, as will cause yarn entanglement, which will lead to defects and it will decrease your productivity if you use hairy yarn in knitting, the knitting machine will generate fly yarn and also reduce the smooth functioning of the machine which will lower your productivity and will also impact the overall appearance of the finished product and such as uneven dyeing and the customer will not choose your article. If you want to control or completely eliminate yarn hairiness, select high-quality raw materials, optimize your spinning process, and maintain your machinery properly. You should increase the twist coefficient using soft rubber rollers and ensure the machine’s required alignment. You should focus on all these points to eliminate yarn hairiness and improve the quality of the finished product. You should follow the steps below to get rid of the hairy look.

How to Reduce Hairiness in Yarn?

If you have to use hairy yarn, you should apply the singeing process, which involves burning off the loose hairy fibres of fuzz from the surface of the yarn, which causes hairiness. Yarn singeing is done by passing the yarn over a flame. The goal of the singeing is to clean & smooth the surface of the yarn, which will improve the overall appearance of the finished product. You should keep in mind that there are many advantages and disadvantages of the yarn singeing process.

Solution of Hairy Fabric

When a hairy yarn is knitted or woven, hairiness appears on the surface of knitted or woven fabric, which may not give the fabric a good appearance. It becomes very necessary to remove the fibers from the surface of the fabric, which is usually done by fabric sewing.

Three methods are usually used in textile industries to meet the fabric requirement.

• Plate singeing
• Roller singeing
• Gas singeing

In plate singeing, a fabric is passed over a curved red hot copper plate at high speed, and all hairy or protruding fibres are instantly burnt off. This method requires bringing the fabric into direct contact with a constantly changing part of the plate, which is harsh on the fabric, so it is not preferred.

Roller singeing is more effective than plate singeing. In this method, the roller and fabric move, and you will get better and even singeing results. This type of singeing is better than plate singeing, but the harshness of the method is still the problem.

To resolve the issue of harshness, the gas singeing machine was designed. The fabric is passed over a widthwise flame in this machine, and fibres are burned off to get a clean surface. Its advantages are excellent control over the whole singeing process and suitability for various fabrics.

Advantage of yarn singeing

• By burning the loose fibres and fuzz from the surface of the yarn, you will find cleaner and better yarn suitable for a high-quality final product.
• After singeing, the yarn’s surface will be smoother and even, allowing for dye penetration and preventing patches in the final product.
• When you remove the hairiness from the surface of the yarn by yarn singeing, there will be fewer chance of pilling observed on the final product after a washing or on the pilling tester, which will lead to passing the pilling and abrasion test.
• The final stitched product is softer and more palatable to the touch, which is crucial for clothing that will be worn in close proximity to the flesh.

Disadvantages of yarn singeing

• Suppose you fail to do the singeing correctly, such as by using more heat than required, improperly fixing the burner, or using the wrong angle between the burner and yarn. In that case, the singeing will damage the yarn, negatively impacting the final product.
• Singeing will be an extra step in the processing, increasing product cost.
• During singeing, waste is produced, which can cause environmental issues. You must maintain proper ventilation and a proper waste management system.
• Singeing is unsuitable for all types of fibre, such as heat-sensitive fibres, which cannot bear the heat and will be damaged.

Conclusion

Hairiness occurs on the surface of yarn due to poor raw material, the spinning process, and machinery not being maintained. You should resolve such issues by selecting high-quality raw materials, optimizing your spinning process, and maintaining your machinery properly. If you made a hairy yarn so, apply yarn singeing, and if you made a greige hairy fabric, apply fabric singeing. Always take care while singeing so save your yarn or cloth from any type of defects. Always select the singeing method as per the nature of the fibres because some fibres are heat sensitive.

FAQs

What is yarn hairiness?

When the fibre protrudes from the yarn’s body, it is called hairy yarn.

How to reduce hairiness in yarn?

Increasing the fibre length reduces the yarn hairiness.

How do you remove hairiness from the yarn?

Perform the singeing method, also called gassing of yarn. In this process, protruding fibres burn, resulting in a smooth yarn.

How do you remove hairiness from the fabric?

Apply fabric singeing method to get rid of hairiness.

Related Resources

Yarn Testing-A Complete Guide for Textile Labs and Manufacturers

Yarn Hairiness Tester

All About Yarn: A Comprehensive Guide fron Front-Line Expert