Textiles Intelligence || Textiles Glossary || Section [S]

Safeguard:

(see also product-specific safeguard, textile safeguard) a measure available to a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enabling it to restrict imports of a product temporarily (take "safeguard" action) under Article XIX of the WTO if its domestic industry is injured or threatened with serious injury caused by a surge in imports. An import "surge" justifying safeguard action can be a real increase in imports (an absolute increase), or it can be an increase in the share of imports in a shrinking mark

Last referenced in: Trends in US textile and clothing imports, April 2014

Salt and pepper:

a fabric with a speckled effect, often black and white.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European Fabric Fairs for Autumn/Winter 2014/15

Sandwash:

the soft peachskin finish obtained by blasting a fabric with fine sand.

Sandwich construction:

a laminate comprising two composite skins bonded to a structural core. Used to create stiff lightweight structures.

Last referenced in: Fast track: trends in performance apparel at ISPO Munich 2014

Sanforizing:

a controlled compressive shrinkage process. The word Sanforized is a registered trade mark and can be used to describe fabrics which meet defined and approved standards of washing shrinkage.

Last referenced in: Profiles of 18 Textile and Apparel Companies in Indonesia

Sari patterns:

traditional Indian sari designs.

Satin weave:

a warp faced weave in which the binding places are arranged with a view to producing a smooth fabric surface, free from twill.

Last referenced in: Product developments and innovations in the home textiles market, June 2013

Scaffold:

a temporary platform used for tissue growth.

Last referenced in: Technical textile markets: product developments and innovations, 1st quarter 2013

Schappe silk yarns:

spun silk yarns which have not been degummed through a fermentation process. Up to 10% of gum may remain on the fibre prior to spinning.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European Yarn Fairs for Spring/Summer 2012

Scouring:

the treatment of textiles in aqueous or other solutions in order to remove natural fats, waxes, proteins and other constituents, as well as dirt, oil and other impurities.

Last referenced in: Profile of Mizuno: a world-renowned sports brand

Scrim:

a fabric with an open or loose configuration of strands or filaments which can usually be easily seen through from a distance.

Last referenced in: The world nonwovens industry: ten smaller producers, part 3 of 3, 2013-14

Scutching (flax):

the operation of separating the woody part of deseeded or retted flax straw.

SDY:

see spin draw yarn.

Last referenced in: Profiles of 18 Textile and Apparel Companies in Indonesia

Seasonless solids:

Basic colours which do not change from season to season, including black, white and navy.

Seersucker:

a fabric characterised by the presence of puckered areas contrasted by flat areas, usually in stripes along the length of the cloth.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European fabric fairs for spring/summer 2014

Segmented pie (microfibres):

a bicomponent yarn with a cross-section comprising segments or wedges made from nylon alternating with segments or wedges made from polyester. Microfibres are formed by processing the yarns into a carded web, which is then passed through a high pressure jet of air or water to split the fibres into their constituent parts.

Last referenced in: Prospects for the textile and clothing industry in China

Selvedge:

the longitudinal edge of a fabric or a garment panel produced during knitting. The term can also be applied to fabric in which the yarn is cut rather than turned at the end of a course of loops.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European fabric fairs for spring/summer 2014

Separation (geotextiles):

the function of a geotextile as a partition between two dissimilar geotechnical materials, eg soil and gravel. The geotextile prevents intermixing of the two materials throughout the design life of the structure.

Last referenced in: Dornbirn 2013 -- developments and opportunities in man-made fibres

Sett:

a term used to define the weft or warp density of a woven fabric, usually in terms of the number of threads per centimetre.

Last referenced in: Global technical textiles business update, 3rd quarter 2008

Shantung:

a silk fabric similar to pongee, but heavier, which was originally woven in wild silk from Shantung, China.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European Yarn Fairs for Spring/Summer 2012

Shape memory polymers (SMPs):

chemical compounds which have one form at a certain temperature, which can be given a different shape when subjected to a stimulus such as heat, and which, under certain conditions, can return to their original "memorised" form. Current textile research i

Shear force:

a force which is directed parallel to a surface or at a tangent to a surface. A shear force tends to cause one portion of an object or fluid to slide, displace or shear with respect to another portion of the object or fluid.

Last referenced in: Editorial: Filter media containing nanofibres are playing a vital role in protecting the environment

Sheaves:

rollers or pulleys over which ropes, wires or umbilicals may be deployed.

Shed:

an opening formed during weaving by raising some warp threads and lowering others to facilitate the passage of a weft yarn or a weft carrying device across the weaving machine.

Last referenced in: Trade and trade policy: leading clothing suppliers to the EU

Shed (weaving):

an opening formed during weaving by raising some warp threads and lowering others to facilitate the passage of a weft yarn or a weft carrying device across the weaving machine.

Shedding:

a motion in weaving whereby a shed is created to facilitate the passage of a weft yarn or a weft carrying device across the weaving machine.

Last referenced in: Prospects for the Textile and Clothing Industry in South Africa

Shedding machinery:

machinery designed to effect shedding.

Shepherd’s check:

a small check effect in contrasting colours, often black and white.

Shetland:

a wool yarn or fabric with a soft yet firm handle, plain dyed or in mixture shades.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European Fabric Fairs for Autumn/Winter 2014/15

Shibori:

a Japanese resist dyeing technique for creating patterns on cloth which has been folded and secured before immersion in the dye bath.

Shin gosen:

fabrics made from ultra-fine polyester filament yarns with enhanced comfort, handle, drape and aesthetics. Shin gosen fabrics are designed specifically to appeal to end users by employing a combination of sophisticated fibre and fabric processing technologies.

Shirring:

Making puckers or gathers in a fabric, often by using elasticated thread in parallel rows.

Last referenced in: New Technologies and Techniques for Garment Decoration

Shives (flax):

short pieces of woody waste beaten from flax straw during scutching.

Shot:

a colour effect seen in a fabric woven with a warp of one colour and a weft of a contrasting colour.

Last referenced in: World trade in T-shirts

Silicone softeners:

softeners applied to improve the softness and handle of a fabric. Silicone softeners work by filling in irregularities in the fibre surface and thereby make surfaces feel and appear smoother. This, in turn, enables the fibres to slip easily past one another and prevent fibres sticking together.

Single knitted fabric:

a fabric produced by knitting a single yarn continuously. In this type of fabric, the face and the back show different patterns.

Sinker:

a sinker is a blade which works in conjunction with knitting needles, and assists with loop formation and holding a fabric down.

Last referenced in: Fast track: innovations at ITMA

Sintering:

a process in which larger particles are formed by applying heat and/or pressure to a powder.

Sirospun yarns:

worsted ply yarns spun on a slightly modified ring-spinning frame, which creates the yarns directly from two rovings. In forming the yarns, the spinning frame twists the two rovings together, thereby holding the fibres in place. The process, developed in Australia, eliminates the step of forming two separate single yarns.

Size:

a gelatinous film-forming substance applied to yarns (usually warp) before weaving to protect, strengthen and lubricate them during weaving.

Last referenced in: Introduction to radio frequency identification (RFID) in apparel

Sizing:

a process in which size is applied to yarns (usually warp) before weaving to protect, strengthen and lubricate them during weaving.

Last referenced in: Profiles of 12 US Textile Companies

Slim straight:

a style of trousers which are tightly fitted around the hips of a wearer and in which the circumference of the trouser legs is the same all the way down the legs.

Sliver:

an assemblage of fibres in continuous form without twist.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European yarn fairs for spring/summer 2015

Slub yarns:

yarns with a deliberately uneven surface.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European yarn fairs for autumn/winter 2014/15

Slubbing:

the name given to fibrous strands produced during the stages of preparation for spinning, and also to strips of web from a condenser card which have been consolidated into a circular cross-section by rubbing (see roving).

SMC:

sheet moulding compound.

Last referenced in: Editorial: innovations in composites for technical textiles

SMMS:

a nonwoven structure consisting of spunbond/meltblown/meltblown/ spunbond layers.

Last referenced in: The world nonwovens industry: 20 medium sized producers, part 2 of 3, 2013-14

SMS:

a nonwoven structure consisting of spunbond/meltblown/spunbond layers.

Last referenced in: The world nonwovens industry: ten smaller producers, part 3 of 3, 2013-14

Snarl yarns:

yarns which are so highly twisted that they curl back on themselves into knots and snarls, like twisted strands of elastic.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European Yarn Fairs for Spring/Summer 2014

Soft shell:

a soft shell is an outerwear garment which performs the functions of two or more garments in traditional layering systems. It is soft to the touch, resistant to wind and water, and highly breathable. (See also hard shell).

Last referenced in: Profile of Craghoppers: a leading supplier of world travel and adventure clothing

Soleiado:

a term, originally the name of a company, used to describe a Provençal print.

Solution dyeing:

see mass coloration.

Solvent spinning:

the process of dissolving and subsequently spinning a fibre or filament without the formation of an intermediate derivative (in contrast to the process used to make viscose fibre).

Sorona:

a brand name for DuPont’s PBT fibre.

Last referenced in: Dornbirn 2013 -- developments and opportunities in man-made fibres

Space dyed:

a dyeing process in which yarn is coloured at intervals.

Space dyeing:

a dyeing process in which yarn is coloured at intervals.

Space-dyed yarns:

yarns produced by the space dyeing process.

Spacer fabric:

three-dimensional structures consisting of two warp- or weft-knitted layers connected by monofilament spacer yarns. They can also be knitted on doublejersey circular or on electronic flat machines.

Last referenced in: Technical textile markets: product developments and innovations, 1st quarter 2014

Spacer material:

a three-dimensional knitted thick fabric.

Spandex:

the generic name used in the USA to denote elastane fibre.

Last referenced in: Performance apparel markets: product developments and innovations, 1st quarter 2014

Special Apparel Provision:

see AGOA.

Last referenced in: AGOA: New Opportunities for the Textile and Clothing Industries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Spin draw yarn (SDY):

a yarn which has undergone a spin drawing process.

Spin drawing:

a process for spinning partially or highly oriented filaments in which the spinning and drawing processes are integrated sequential stages. Most of the orientation in spin drawing is introduced between the first forwarding device and the take-up.

Spinlaying:

part of a production route for making nonwovens in which synthetic filaments are extruded and gathered on to an endless belt.

Spinneret:

a nozzle or plate provided with fine holes or slits through which a fibre-forming solution or melt is extruded during fibre manufacture.

Last referenced in: Dornbirn 2013 -- developments and opportunities in man-made fibres

Spinning:

the process used in the production of yarns or filaments. In the manufacture of staple fibre yarns, the process entails the drafting and, where appropriate, insertion of twist in natural or man-made staple fibres to form a yarn. In the manufacture of man-made filaments, fibre-forming substances in the plastic or molten state, or in solution, are forced through the holes of a spinneret or die at a controlled rate in a process called extrusion. See also spinning solution, Dref spinning, dry spinning, melt spinning, reaction spinning, spinning solution, and wet spinning. Filaments can also be spun from glass, metals, or ceramics.

Last referenced in: Global apparel markets: product developments and innovations, 1st quarter 2014

Spinning solution:

a solution of fibre-forming polymer ready for extrusion through a spinneret.

Spunbond:

nonwovens made from a continuous mat of randomly laid filaments. The filaments are bonded together by heat and pressure or needlepunching.

Last referenced in: Global technical textiles business update, 4th quarter 2013

Spunbonded:

a nonwoven made from a continuous mat of randomly laid filaments. The filaments are bonded together by heat and pressure or needlepunching.

Last referenced in: Statistics: fibre consumption for technical textiles in Japan, 1st quarter 2014

Spunbonding:

the process used to manufacture spunbonded nonwovens.

Last referenced in: Global technical textiles business update, 1st quarter 2014

Spunlaced fabric:

a fabric manufactured by spunlacing.

Last referenced in: Technical textile markets: product developments and innovations, 1st quarter 2014

Spunlacing:

a process for bonding a nonwoven fabric by using high pressure water jets to intermingle the fibres.

Last referenced in: The world nonwovens industry: ten smaller producers, part 3 of 3, 2013-14

Spunlaid fabric:

a fabric produced by laying freshly formed synthetic filaments into a web.

Last referenced in: Global technical textiles business update, 1st quarter 2014

Spunmelt:

a nonwoven structure made by extruding molten polymer through spinnerets to form fibres. Spunmelt processes are used in the manufacture of spunbonded nonwovens, meltblown nonwovens and combinations of the two.

Last referenced in: Global technical textiles business update, 1st quarter 2014

Sputtered:

a material which has been subjected to sputtering.

Last referenced in: Developments in medical textiles, 3rd quarter 2013

Sputtering:

a process in which atoms, ions and molecules are ejected from the surface of a target material when it is irradiated by an ion beam. One application of sputtering is to exploit the conditions in which the ejected particles re-form on another substrate as a thin film or coating. For instance, thin metallic films are often applied in this way to electrically non-conductive substrates to give them conductive properties.

SSMMSS:

a nonwoven structure consisting of spunbond/spunbond/meltblown/ meltblown/spunbond/spunbond layers.

Stain resistance:

the ability of a fabric to withstand permanent discoloration by the action of liquids. This property depends partly upon the chemical nature of the fibre but may be improved by proprietary treatments.

Last referenced in: Performance apparel markets: business update, 1st quarter 2014

Standard minute:

the amount of effort expended in one minute by the average worker, suited and accustomed to his or her task, working at normal speed under normal conditions, with due allowance for fatigue resulting from the effort expended. A standard minute corresponds

Standard performance:

the rate of output which qualified workers will naturally achieve without over-exertion as an average over the working day or shift provided they know and adhere to the specified method and provided they are motivated to apply themselves to their work. This performance is denoted as 100 on the standard rating and performance scales.

Last referenced in: Performance apparel markets: product developments and innovations, 1st quarter 2014

Staple fibre:

short length fibres, as distinct from continuous filaments, which are twisted together (spun) to form a coherent yarn. Most natural fibres are staple fibres, the main exception being silk which is a filament yarn. Most man-made staple fibres are produced in this form by slicing up a tow of continuous filament.

Last referenced in: A strong future for carbon, glass, synthetic and natural fibre textiles in composites

Staple fibres (man-made):

man-made fibres of predetermined short lengths, usually prepared by cutting or breaking filaments of the material into lengths suitable for their intended processing route.

Stent:

a narrow tube commonly used to keep blood vessels open in the arteries.

Last referenced in: World markets for textile machinery: part 3 -- finishing, November-December 2007

Stitchbonded fabric:

a fabric made by stitchbonding.

Last referenced in: The world nonwovens industry: ten smaller producers, part 3 of 3, 2013-14

Stitchbonding:

a process in which a series of interlooped stitches are inserted along the length of a pre-formed fabric, an array of cross-laid yarns or a fibre web. Proprietary systems include Arachne, Malipol and Maliwatt.

Last referenced in: A strong future for carbon, glass, synthetic and natural fibre textiles in composites

Stock dyeing:

dyeing which is carried out at the fibre stage.

Stock-keeping unit (SKU):

a unique numerical reference—such as a serial number, bar code or other numerical code—which is used to identify a product in a factory, warehouse, mailing system or retail outlet. An SKU is an integral part of a data management system and is used to systematically track and report stock levels, often automatically or with limited human input.

Last referenced in: Global apparel markets: business update, 4th quarter 2013

Stone washing:

a washing process in which jeans are put into a machine with a perforated drum, pumice stone is added, and the jeans are then tumbled in the machine. Stone washing creates a worn look on the surface of the fabric and imparts a soft handle.

Strain:

the change in length per unit length of a material in any given direction.

Last referenced in: Editorial: innovations in composites for technical textiles

Striated:

an effect applied to a yarn to give the appearance of striations—lines of colour or fine parallel scratches or grooves, as on the surface of a rock over which a glacier has flowed.

Subcontracting:

An arrangement whereby one business (subcontractor) manufactures all or part of a specific product on behalf of another business (main contractor) in accordance with plans and technical specifications supplied by the main contractor. The main contractor has final economic responsibility in such an arrangement.

Last referenced in: Prospects for the textile and clothing industry in the Philippines

Subgrade intrusion (geotextiles):

localised penetration of a soft cohesive subgrade and resulting displacement of the subgrade into a cohesionless material.

Sublimation:

a process in which a substance is changed directly from a solid into a gas or vapour without first melting.

Last referenced in: Global apparel markets: product developments and innovations, 3rd quarter 2012

Substantivity:

the attraction between a fibre and a substance (such as a chemical finish) under conditions whereby the substance is selectively extracted by the fibre from the application medium (for example, water).

Sueded fabric:

a fabric finished in such a way as to imitate suede leather.

Superconductor:

a material that can conduct electricity or can transport electrons from one atom to another with no resistance—usually at temperatures near absolute zero.

Surfactant:

a molecule which, when added to a liquid at low concentration, changes the properties of that liquid at a surface or interface. Surfactants are used in cleaners and detergents to: improve wetting and spreading; provide detergency by solubilising and suspe

Last referenced in: Fast track: trends in performance apparel at ISPO Munich 2014

Survivability (geotextiles):

the ability of a geotextile to perform its intended function without undergoing degradation.

Last referenced in: Global technical textiles business update, 1st quarter 2014

Syndiotactic:

polymer which has alternating stereochemical configurations of the groups on successive carbon atoms in the chain.

Synthetic fibre:

a man-made fibre made from a polymer that has been produced artificially, in contrast to fibres made from naturally occurring polymers such as cellulose.

Last referenced in: Survey of the European yarn fairs for spring/summer 2015

Synthetic fibres:

man-made fibres made from a polymer that has been produced artificially, in contrast to fibres made from naturally occurring polymers such as cellulose. The term synthetic fibres is also used to refer to synthetic filaments.

Last referenced in: Statistics: fibre consumption for technical textiles in the USA, 3rd quarter 2008

Synthetic filaments:

man-made filaments made from a polymer that has been produced artificially, in contrast to filaments made from naturally occurring polymers such as cellulose.