You searched in Glossary Terms for [M]. We found 79 matching entries.
Maceration:
softening or sogginess of tissues owing to retention of excessive moisture.
Macramé:
knotted threadwork.
Madras check:
a colour-woven cotton fabric designed in colourful checks and usually associated with typical cotton checks from Madras in India.
Maguey (Agave americana):
(also known as the Century Plant) an agave originally from Mexico but now cultivated worldwide. The leaves of the plant yield fibres, known as pita, which are suitable for making rope, matting and coarse cloth. They are also used for the embroidery of leather in a technique known as piteado.
Mako cotton:
Very fine cotton spun from extra long staple Egyptian fibre.
Maltinté:
a yarn that is dyed unevenly to achieve an artificial aged effect.
Man-in-Simulant Test (MIST):
a test which determines whether materials that are breathable can be used to reduce heat stress to emergency responders—such as law enforcement personnel—who might use these ensembles over a longer duration in low challenge exposures and non-IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) atmospheres.
Man-made fibre:
a fibre which is manufactured rather than occurring naturally. Man-made fibres can be further divided into: cellulosic or artificial fibres, which are made from naturally occurring polymers such as wood pulp; and synthetic fibres, which are made from chemically derived polymers.
Man-made fibres:
fibres which are manufactured and which do not occur in nature. The term man-made fibres is also used to refer to man-made filament yarns.
Man-made filaments:
filaments which are manufactured and which do not occur in nature.
Manufactured fibres:
see man-made fibres.
Maquiladoras:
plants, common in Mexico and other Latin American countries, which process and assemble components or part-assembled goods made in the USA or another country and return the finished products to the USA or elsewhere for final sale. Usually, maquiladoras are in-bond assembly plants, which means that incoming goods can be freely imported without being liable to customs duty.
Maquilas:
see maquiladoras.
Marker (in garment manufacture):
a plan of pattern pieces from which the cloth will be cut. Effectively it is the final "jigsaw" of all the pattern pieces to be cut in a particular lay.
Market capitalisation:
a measure of company size, calculated by multiplying the number of shares which a company has issued by the current market price.
Marl yarn:
a yarn, usually woollen-spun, consisting of two or more single ends of different colours twisted together. (See also Grandrelle.)
Marocain:
a crêpe fabric with a weft-ways rib.
Mass coloration:
a method of colouring man-made fibres by incorporating a dye or colorant in the spinning solution or melt before extrusion into filaments. Also known as dope-dyeing.
Masterbatch:
a concentrated blend of pigments, additives and/or fillers in a base polymer. Masterbatch is added in small amounts to a large volume of material which is same as, or is compatible with, the base polymer to produce the desired formulation.
Matelass:
a double cloth with a quilted appearance.
Matelassé:
a double cloth with a quilted appearance.
Matt:
in healthcare, the formation of a rough or granular surface over an ulcer.
Mcd/m2:
millicandela per m2. The candela is the SI (Systéme International) unit for luminous intensity.
Mechanical bonding:
part of a production route for making nonwovens; the web is cohered by using inter-fibre friction caused by physical entanglement. The entanglement can be caused by needles, high pressure water jets (hydroentanglement) or air jets.
MEG:
Monoethylene glycol, a chemical intermediate used in the manufacture of polyester.
Mélange:
a yarn produced from coloured printed tops or slivers. It is indistinguishable from a mixture yarn in that each fibre carries more than one colour.
Melt blowing:
part of a production route for making a nonwoven fabric; extruded synthetic filaments are sucked by high pressure air jets from the die to form random length, very fine fibres which are deposited on to a belt.
Melt flow index:
an indication of the viscosity of molten polymer. The index serves to indicate the flow characteristics of a melt under given temperature and pressure conditions.
Melt spinning:
the conversion of molten polymer into filaments by extrusion through a spinneret and subsequent cooling of the extrudate.
Melt-spinning (nonwovens):
a process in which the fibre-forming substance is melted and extruded into a gas or liquid, where it cools and solidifies. To form a nonwoven, many fibres are created simultaneously and laid down as a web.
Meltblown:
a type of nonwoven fabric which is made by sucking extruded synthetic filaments using high pressure air jets from a die to form random length, very fine fibres which are deposited on to a belt.
Meltspun:
see melt spinning.
Membrane:
a polymer film incorporated in a garment to make it waterproof.
Mercerisation:
a treatment of yarns or fabrics with caustic alkali, in which fibres are swollen and stretched to increase lustre in the finished product.
Merino:
wool from the Merino sheep, with a mean fibre diameter generally of 24 microns or less.
Merino wool:
wool from the Merino sheep, with a mean fibre diameter generally of 24 microns or less.
Metallo-plastic:
a yarn made from a synthetic or plastic material with a metallic appearance.
MFA:
Multi-Fibre Arrangement-a special protocol agreed by members of Gatt as derogation from normal Gatt rules. The MFA, which ran from 1974 to 1994, permitted members to establish quotas restricting textile and clothing trade which applied to specific supplying countries. Normal Gatt rules insist that all Gatt parties are to be treated equally (see MFN). On January 1, 1995, the MFA was superseded by the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).
MFN:
most favoured nation: a basic principle of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which requires countries to treat imports from one WTO member no less favourably than imports from another WTO member.
Microencapsulation:
the process of placing chemicals inside microscopic capsules. These can be added to textiles to impart special properties.
Microfibre:
a fibre or filament with a linear density of less than 1.0 decitex. Some commercial fibres or filaments as coarse as 1.3 decitex are classified as microfibres by their producers.
Microfilament:
a continuous filament with a linear density approximately below 1 decitex. Some commercial filaments as coarse as 1.3 decitex are classified as microfilaments by their producers (See also microfibre).
Micron (micrometre):
one millionth of a metre (10-6 metres).
Micronaire value:
a measurement of cotton fibre quality. The micronaire value is a function of fibre fineness and maturity: low values indicate fine and/or immature fibres, whereas high values indicate coarse and/or mature fibres. The micronaire value is determined in practice by measuring the resistance to air flow of a specified mass of fibres (in the form of a “plug”) confined in a chamber of a specified volume.
Microorganisms:
living organisms of microscopic size such as bacteria or fungi which produce infection and disease.
Microyarn:
a yarn consisting of several microfilaments.
Milling:
a process in which wool and other animal fibre fabrics are compacted by wetting them and putting them through a rotary milling machine.
Mock leno:
a woven structure which imitates the appearance of leno weaves, ie it has an open structure.
Modal:
a type of cellulosic fibre having improved strength and modulus when wet.
Modulus:
a measure of the ability of a fibre to resist extension. It is the ratio between the stress (or load) applied on the fibre to the elongation (strain) resulting from the application of that stress.
Mohair:
the hair of the angora goat.
Moiré:
a rippled effect created by applying heat and heavy pressure by means of rollers on a ribbed or corded fabric. Where not deliberately introduced as part of a design, moiré effects are caused by faults in the fabric and have the appearance of wavy lines.
Moisture management (in textiles and garments):
the process by which moisture is moved away from the skin and dispersed through a fabric to its outer surface. From here, moisture can evaporate, leaving both the skin and garment dry.
Moisture regain:
the percentage of moisture in a textile material brought into equilibrium with
a standard atmosphere after partial drying, calculated as a percentage of the
moisture-free weight.
Moisture vapour transfer rate (MVTR):
the rate at which a fabric allows moisture vapour to pass through to the outside air in a given amount of time
Moisture vapour transmission (MVT):
the passage of water vapour, usually perspiration, through a fabric or membrane.
Moleskin:
a thick cotton fabric, originally uncut corduroy having a very high weft sett, which is piece-dyed and given a smooth raised finish to simulate the fur of a mole.
Monoethylene glycol:
a chemical intermediate used in the manufacture of polyester.
Monoethylene glycol (MEG):
a chemical intermediate used in the manufacture of polyester.
Monofilament:
a yarn consisting of a single filament. Monofilament yarns can be woven, knitted or converted into nonwoven structures.
Monofilament yarn:
a yarn consisting of a single filament.
Monolithic (membrane):
continuous polymer layer.
Mordant:
a substance, usually a metallic compound, applied to a substrate to form a complex with a dye, which is retained by the substrate more firmly than the dye itself.
Mould (composites):
a shaped former used to fabricate an article from a liquid or semi-solid under the effect of heat or pressure. Also used to describe the process of making the article in a mould.
Mouliné:
a type of two-colour twist yarn which gives a mottled effect in fabric.
Mousseline:
a general term for very fine, semi-opaque fabrics-finer than muslins-made of silk, wool or cotton.
Mpa (Megapascal):
the pressure exerted by a force of 1 Newton applied over an area of 1 mm2.
MSW:
municipal solid waste.
Mullen burst:
the measured hydraulic bursting strength of a textile.
Multicompartment fibre, multicompartment yarn:
fibre or yarn formed from multicomponent (or conjugate) fibres by separately extruding fibres of different polymers. While still in the molten state, the fibres are combined and blown with fluid jets. This produces vortices within the fibre. As the fibre is drawn, the vortices can, under the right conditions, be converted to hollow structures running along the length of the fibre. The compartments so formed may lie side by side within the fibre or contained within it in an annular structure.
Multicompartment fibres:
fibres formed from multicomponent (or conjugate) fibres by separately extruding fibres of different polymers. While still in the molten state, the fibres are combined and blown with fluid jets. This produces vortices within the fibre. As the
Multicomponent fibre, multicomponent yarn:
a yarn which has two or more different continuous filament components (see also multicompartment fibre, multicompartment yarn and bicomponent fibre, bicomponent yarn).
Multicomponent fibres and yarns:
a yarn having two or more different continuous filament components (see also multicompartment fibres and yarns and bicomponent fibres and yarns).
Multifilament yarn:
a yarn made up of more than one filament.
Multilobal fibres:
see fibre cross-section, trilobal fibres.
MVTR:
moisture vapour transmission rateie the rate at which a fabric allows moisture vapour to pass through to the outside air in a given time.