CLASSIFY THE FAULT

Defects in Woven Fabric

After the knit defects post, we will talk about the defects found in woven fabrics. Defects found in fabric ruin the aesthetic appeal and quality of
the final garment, making it really important to identify and take corrective measures at the right time.

Defects in woven fabric can be a result of yarn imperfections, incorrect weaving process or errors in the finishing process. They can be catego-
rized into 3 groups: yarn related defects, defects occurring in warp direction and defects in the filling direction.

Yarn Related Defects:

1. Mixed End/ Thick End: It can be identified as the warp end having larger diameter than the other warps.

Cause Remedies

Occurrence of excessive count variation Conduct frequent inspection to make sure

count mixing does not happen
Accidentally missing up of counts in winding
and warping

Piecing up of broken ends with wrong count

thread

Defects in woven fabric 17

2. Slub Or Slug: Abnormally thick place occurring in the yarn that affects the fabric’s appearance.

Cause Remedies

Occurrence of undrafted portions or sections in Ensure proper yarn spinning and yarn cleaning
the yarn during the winding processes

Warp Direction Defects:

1. Reedy Fabric Marks: Appearance of fine cracks across the fabric between warp end groups which resemble denting pattern in the reed.

Cause Remedies

High warp tension Ensure warp tension as required

Insufficient shade toughing Early shed timing

Late shed timing that causes tension imbalance Back rest should be raised by around 2 cms
at beat-up above the front rest level

Defects in woven fabric 18

2. Warp Streaks: Warp streaks can be identified as the warp way stripes of shade variations occurring between groups of threads.

Cause Remedies

Uneven reed dents spacing Use of good quality warp thread

Variations in warp Periodic checking of the reed’s condition

Coarse count and tight ends spacing appear
lighter in shade, whereas, finer count and
wider spaced appear darker in shade
Metal reeds give better results than the pitch
bound reeds
Ensuring proper material handling and
storage will help us avoid any yarn count
mixing

3. Misdraws / Wrong Draw: Design or stripes in the final fabric being damaged due to drawing of incorrect ends.

Cause Remedies

The fault in drawing-in of beam or drawing-in of Proper training of the drawing-in

the broken-ends by the weaving operator operator is necessary

End of different colour than needed being drawn Fabric inspection on the loom

Defects in woven fabric 19

4. Broken / Missing End: It can be identified as the space created in the fabric when a yarn partially or completely is missing from the fabric

Cause Remedies

Weaver fails to attend the warp breaks Use spare ends on the loom to
immediately substitute missing ends

The warp stop motion isn’t working properly in Instruct the weaver to attend to the warp
the machine breakages attentively and fast

Check the warp stop motion assembly before

weaving starts

Inspect the drop pins and replace any

defective ones when putting on a new beam

Weft Direction Defects:

1. Starting Marks: Thick or thin places occurring in fabric due to pick density variation when starting the loom, causing starting marks.

Cause Remedies

Anti-crack motion not functioning Training of the weaver to follow the correct
properly procedure

Fell of the fabric is very close to the reed due Ensure take-up motion is working correctly
to faulty take-up motion

Defects in woven fabric 20

2. Filling/Weft Bars:

Cause Remedies

Periodic variation in the count of the weft yarn Incorporate count identification and rectifica-
due to spinning defect tion processes

Mixing of different counts or different twist Properly segregate yarn to avoid lot mix-up of
yarns weft during weaving

3. Broken Pick: Broken Pick defect can be identified as the weft inserted to only a partial portion of the pick.

Cause Remedies

Weft breaks in ordinary looms Inspect the shuttle for any loose fitting
pirn or any form of roughness of
Faulty weft fork mechanism on surfaces, as friction might cause
automatic looms weft breakages

Check the shuttle and shuttle box for

settings and surface smoothness to
prevent weft cuts

Ensure weft fork mechanism is running

smoothly

Check for any loose picks before

starting the loom

Defects in woven fabric 21

4. Broken Pattern: This defect occurs on drop box looms for fabrics that have patterns. If the sequence of weft yarn colour breaks or pattern
width of particular colour is distorted, broken pattern defect appears.

Cause Remedies

The pattern cards or lattices are not
properly adjusted
Weaver fails to adjust the pattern chain
after mending or break
Pick being inserted in wrong shed when
mending a break
Train the weaver to be vigilant regarding the
design needs and to find picks before
restarting the loom
The pattern cards should be checked and
adjusted as needed at the start of the beam

5. Double Pick: This defect happens when more than one pick is inserted in the single shed.

Cause Remedies

In ordinary looms, when restarting the loom, Pick finding every time the loom is restarted
weaver might fail to find out the correct shed for
inserting the pick Proper pirn change with weft feeder mechanism

On automatic looms, if the pirn change gets

affected by the weft form then double pick
defect appears

Defects in woven fabric 22

6. Gout: Appearance of foreign matter or contamination like lint, waste, etc woven into the fabric.

Cause Remedies

Waste disposed off randomly by the weaver Ensure the machine’s and shed’s
maintenance and cleaning
Foreign matter or waste getting into the
weaving shed

7. Sloughing off: When a bunch of or coil of yarn slips from the pirn during weaving then thick yarn bunches or coils appear on the fabric.

Cause Remedies

Pirn winding done without the proper tension Maintaining proper tension during pirn winding
being maintained during the winding process
Check the picking mechanisms
Due to harsh picking Condition the weft yarn appropriately before
using it
The humidity settings in the pirn
storage or shed are not set as required

Defects in woven fabric 23

8. Snarl: When yarn doubles back on itself especially because of high twist yarn, then snarling appears. It can be found randomly spread across
fabric width or only in a region nearby the selvedge.

Cause Remedies

Use of high twist weft yarn Weft conditioning before using it

Keeping the weft tension extremely low Ensuring needed drag in the shuttle

The weft fork is not set correctly Propel shuttle and weft fork setting
monitoring
Shuttle rebounds between its way

Now we know some of the common defects that can appear in woven fabric that can hamper the quality of the final garment produced out of it.
With the knowledge of what causes these defects and how we can avoid them during the weaving process, we can ensure the fabric produced is
as per the quality and appearance intended.

Image sources:

• http://textilelearner.blogspot.in/
• http://tohproblemkyahai.com/
• http://www.garmentsmerchandising.com/
• http://www.slideshare.net/hiteshhobbit/
• http://opticalengineering.spiedigitallibrary.org/

Defects in woven fabric 24

CLASSIFY THE FAULT
Defects in knit fabric
Defects spoil the aesthetics of the fabric and hence causes a gigantic quality issue. In this series of articles, we are going to discuss various
defects that can occur in knit and woven fabrics, the embroidery defects encountered and also the dyeing and printing ones.

Defects in knits are caused due to the faulty raw material, faulty knitting elements, wrong machine settings or faulty dyeing and finishing
processes.

Raw Material (yarn) Related defects:

There is a simple way to identify yarn related defects: these defects mostly appear in the horizontal direction in the fabric.
Some of the major yarn related knit fabric defects are:

• Barriness: Horizontal Stripes or streaks of uniform or uneven width, visible in the fabric.

Cause Remedies

Barriness occurs when the yarn is at high
tension or there is a high level of variation in
the thread count in the fabric. This happens
when many yarn lots get mixed
Make sure that there is a limited count
variation in every lot: not higher than +/- 0.3.
For this, ensure yarns being used belong to
the same lot and there is a consistent yarn
tension across all the feeders* in the
machine

*Feeder: helps to feed the yarn through the machine

Defects in knit fabric 25

• Imperfections: Imperfections are the occurrence of knots, slubs, thick or thin yarns, and neps in the fabric.

Cause Remedies

If the yarn being used has knots, slubs or neps or is Use good quality yarn to control these imperfec-
thick or thin at places tions and so, convey quality parameters clearly to
the yarn supplier

• Contaminations: When foreign matter like dead or dyed fibres or husk, etc appear in the fabric.

Cause Remedies

Caused due to the presence of dead fibres
or other foreign elements being present in
the staple spun yarn like dyed fibres, or
husk, etc.
Sometimes adjacent machine’s fibres can
fly to the fabric and get
embedded in it
Using yarns with rich fibre mixing leads to
the occurrence of a lesser number of dead
fibres in the fabric
In the blow room, tight control in cotton
mixing needs to be ensured to prevent any
foreign matter mixing. Also,
partitioning machines specially spinning
and knitting with plastic curtains can
prevent contamination

Defects in knit fabric 26

• Snarling: Snarls are big twisted yarn loops on the fabric surface.

Cause Remedies

High twist in the yarn being used for knitting The yarn twist should be as per
causes appearance of snarls predefined TPM (twist per metre)

• Spirality: Spirality is when after washing garment gets twisted, and the seams of the garment get displaced from the sides of front and back of
the garment.

Cause Remedies

Using high TPM (twist per metre) hosiery yarn The yarn twist should be as per
or uneven fabric tension on the machine predefined twist per metre (TPM)
causes spirality

If the feeding of fabric at stenter,

calendar and compactor are on
uneven rates

Defects in knit fabric 27

Knitting Elements Related Defects
These defects appear vertically in the fabric. There are two main defects that come under this categorization:

• Needle and Sinker Lines: Prominent or feeble vertical lines across the fabric.

Cause Remedies
Needle lines are caused due to bent Replacing bent or worn out sinkers and
needles, i.e. bent latches, needle hooks or defective needles, along with cleaning of
needle stems that form distorted stitches the sinker grooves by removing fibres

Sinker lines are formed due to bent or

worn-out sinkers, or if the sinkers are set
too tight

• Drop Stitches (or holes): Appearance of small or big random holes in the fabric.

Cause Remedies

Caused due to high yarn tensions; yarn over or
under feed, or due to the
incorrect gap between the dial and cylinder
rings while knitting
Malfunctioning needles might also cause drop
stitches
To ensure holes free knit fabric, make sure
that there is a uniform yarn
tension on all the feeders and the gap
between cylinder and dial should be accurate-
ly adjusted to suit the loop size

Defects in knit fabric 28

Knitting Machine Settings Related Defects
The defects that appear due to wrong machine settings or faulty machine parts come under this category:

• Yarn streaks: Thin horizontal lines that appear at irregularly spaced intervals and are of various sizes.

Cause Remedies

If the winding of the yarn packages is not When yarn packages are being
done properly, i.e. when winding the yarn wounded, ensure that the yarn runs
runs out of the belt on the pulley on the belt around the pulley

• Fabric Press off: Appearance of holes in the fabric due to an interruption in a loop formation.

Cause
If some or all needles on the machine fail to
function, then the fabric falls off the
machine and the design gets
distorted, this is known as for press off. It
can happen due to interruption in loop
forming process due to yarn
breakage or needle hooks being closed
Remedies
Before starting a lot, inspect for broken
needles and replace them
Maintain a consistent yarn tension across
all feeders and check, set needle detectors
properly

Defects in knit fabric 29

• Broken Ends: a bunch of ends knitted at a point.

Cause Remedies

When the end of the yarn breaks, the loose end Ensure consistent yarn tension and avoid using
strays in the fabric into yarn with thick and thin places. Hence, manage
another area. It can be due to high tension in the the quality of the yarn being  used
yarn or if a cone gets finished in between

Unlike woven fabric, yarn strength in knit fabric is of secondary importance in the quality management of the fabric, as the load that the yarn
undergoes during knitting is lower than that in weaving. But knit fabric yarn must have elasticity and should be even with no thick and thin places
to ensure quality and prevent frequent needle breaks. Yarns with low friction and even moisture content are hence the preferred choices. When
using knit fabrics or when involved in knitting process, keep in mind the above-described defects with their causes and remedies to ensure
required parameters are being met, and the fabric thus obtained is of the demanded quality.

Image sources:

•http://www.slideshare.net/OliyadEbba/faults-remediespreventive-measures-in-knitted-fabric-dyeing
http://www.slideshare.net/88azmir/fault-of-knitted-fabrics
•http://www.slideshare.net/sheshir/an-investigation-on-the-inspection-of-grey-finished-knit-fabric-in-wet-processinge
•http://textilecollection.blogspot.in/
•https://shosh101.files.wordpress.com/

Defects in knit fabric 30

CLASSIFY THE FAULT
Defects in garment manufacturing
In our defects blog series, we have so far covered the defects occurring in knitted and woven fabrics and also in embroidery. Now, we are going to
take up the defects that occur in our final garments, and how can we control or correct them.

Garment defects can be caused due to the use of defective fabric, workmanship defects, and handling defects, and due to the defects in the
trims and accessories being used in the garment.

1. Fabric defects: Part of the defects occurring in the final garment could be caused due to the defects in the fabric being used. In our previous
articles, we have discussed the defects in knitted fabric and defects in woven fabric, their causes and possible remedies in depth.

2. Workmanship & handling defects: Garment manufacturing is a long process compromising of various stages, pattern making, spreading,
cutting, sewing and finishing. Hence, defects can creep in any of or all of these stages, so we need to stay vigilant at each of these stages to
ensure the desired quality of the final garment.

There is a variety of workmanship and handling defects that occur commonly in garments:

Pattern stage: There are various defects in patterns that mark the garment quality. At times patterns or parts of the patterns can be missing from
the marker, or if the marker wasn’t correctly labeled, we can end up with mixed garment parts, which can lead to garments with the wrong size of
parts. In napped fabrics, if patterns are not facing the right direction, garment design can be compromised.

Pattern not properly aligned to fabric’s grain line, or poor line definition can lead to inaccurate cutting. Skimpy marking to better utilize the fabric
by not using the patterns’ outside edge for cutting, or moving pattern to squeeze into smaller spaces, can lead to patterns with worn out edges or
faulty and wrong sized parts, which leads to puckering or pleating when the garment parts are sewn together as they are not of correct sizes.
Missing or displaced notches and drill marks, not enough knife clearance, wrong check matching, or wrong check boxing, all can hamper the quality
of the final garment.

Spreading stage: Narrow fabric lay, misaligned plies, or not enough plies, all can lead to missing bits in the garment parts. Incorrect ply tension

Defects in garment manufacturing 31

leads to size variations in the parts. Also, while spreading, incorrect ply direction, splicing errors, distortion in lay due to static between plies can
lead to incorrect cutting, especially if the fabric has checks or stripes.

Cutting Stage: Failure to precisely follow the marker lines, leaning straight knife while cutting, using round knife on a considerably high speed,
misplaced or incorrect notches and drill marks, frayed or fused edges due to blunt knife, faulty marker placement, etc. lead to distorted garment
parts or missing bits which leads to quality issues at later stages.

Some of the defects that occur due to faulty workmanship and handling are:

• Shade variation:

Causes Remedies

Shade variation in fabric Fabric inspection and quality monitoring

Parts mixing Proper numbering and bundling

processes

• Seam puckering: Bunching of fabric in a seam is seam puckering.

Causes Remedies
High thread tension Maintain proper thread tension while sewing

Faulty fabric feeding Fabric should be fed through the machine at a

constant rate
Using wrong thread and/or needle
Choosing appropriate needle and thread thickness
as per the fabric requirements

Defects in garment manufacturing 32

• Open or broken seams: Openings or unstitched parts in seams.

Causes Remedies

Faulty sewing practices Ensuring the garments are folded

properly and pressure is not being applied on
seams

Proper sewing operator training

• Broken stitches:

Causes Remedies

Improper thread feed to machine Training workers to handle the garment properly

Incorrect thread tension Thread trimming should not be done aggres-

sively
Abrasive handling of the piece
Manage the thread feed and tension

Defects in garment manufacturing 33

• Skipped stitches: Irregular stitches along the seam.

Causes Remedies

Use of bent needles Use reinforced needles

Incorrect tension in sewing and bobbin thread Set the needle guard to ensure needle clearance

Manage thread tension

Select proper thread twist and thickness

• Wavy seam: Wavy Seam occurs when the seam is not straight.

Causes Remedies

Rough handling when cutting and sewing Ensure proper material handling

Tension applied on part while sewing is high Train operator to not pull excessively while
cutting or sewing
Wrong Needle size
Choose the correct needle size

Defects in garment manufacturing 34

• Misaligned buttons and buttonholes:

Causes Remedies

Error made by the machine operator Internal QC checks

Operators should be aware of the design and dimension

specifications
‘

• Untrimmed threads: Extra lose thread appearing along the seam.

Causes Remedies

Tail ends left untrimmed post sewing Trim the threads using clipper or
trimmer

Defects in garment manufacturing 35

• Out of tolerance sizing: The dimensions or measurements of the garment parts are not within the tolerance limits defined by the buyer.

Causes Remedies

Cutting and Sewing operators having incorrect Ensure the operators have the
information dimension specifications.

Ensure correct pattern making

Inspect first piece form every size in

an order
‘

3. Trims & Accessory defects: At times the use of wrong color or size of trims or embroidery or wrong placement of the same can also make the
garment defective.
The defects that can appear in embroidery have been discussed in depth in our previous blog of this series “Embroidery Defects” (LINK). Other
than embroidery defects some of the other commonly occurring trim defects are:

• Broken Trim: Use of broken or inoperable trim or if the trim is insecure.

Causes Remedies

Rough trim handling Internal QC checks

Rushing through production process Good quality trims

Defects in garment manufacturing 36

• Wrong trim: The trim used differs in color or size, or might be missing when compared against the buyer’s specification.

Causes Remedies

Rough trim handling Internal QC checks

Rushing through production process Good quality trims

• Trim Bleeding:

Causes Remedies
Trim quality not as per specification Internal QC checks

Garment finishing not appropriate Good quality trims

Garment label should contain care instruc-

tions

Garment finishing should follow the manu-

facturer’s care instructions
for trim

Defects in garment manufacturing 37

With the knowledge of the commonly occurring defects and their causes and remedies, we can take measures to alleviate the risks of quality
fallouts in our orders. Keeping the above pointers in mind, we can align the quality inspection process in our factories to produce quality output.

Image Sources:

• http://www.impactiva.com/blog/apparel-the-importance-of-performing-materials-qc-before-starting-production/
• http://en.renataperito.com/
• http://www.onlineclothingstudy.com/
• http://www.slideshare.net/hiteshhobbit/fabric-defects-11884107
• http://www.slideshare.net/InTouchQuality/garment-defects-58264246
• http://textilelearner.blogspot.com/
• http://ehow.com

Defects in garment manufacturing 38

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