4. UNEVEN DYING/PRINTING/DYE MARKS

Dye marks are irregular patches on the surface of raw textiles. Dye marks are typically the result of

• Low quality base fabric
• Improper leveling agents
• Incorrect pH in the production process
• Dye machine entanglement

Causes and prevention of dyeing/printing/dye marks

Ensuring there are no initial problems with the base fabric prior to stitching can help prevent dye marks. Any issues missed will be present in later production processes.

Other preventative measures include maintaining the correct pH level, using an appropriate dying agent and using a backup power generator to ensure production machines don’t shut down during use.

5.DROP STITCHES

One of the most common quality issues found in raw textiles, drop stitches are holes or missed stitches that appear randomly in the fabric. Drop stitches are typically caused by:

• Incorrect set-up of yarn carriers
• Slubs and knots
• Yarn overfeeding or underfeeding
• Loose stitching during the production process

Causes and prevention of drop stitching

Checking the yarn carrier and any other machines to verify they’re set to the right tension during production can prevent drop stitches. You can minimize the occurrence of drop stitching in your fabric or textile by regulating the yarn feed rate.

Resetting the pattern chain can fix this issue.

• MISPRINTING, OFF PRINTING OR ABSENCE OF PRINTING

Misprint defects are only relevant to printed fabrics. Misprint is when the print of the fabric does not match your specified design. This is usually displayed in one of the following ways:

• Colors and/or patterns are completely or partially missing
• Colors and patterns are incorrectly positioned relative to each other

Causes and prevention of misprinting

Misprints are most often the result of

• Wrong dyeing recipe
• Wrong leveling agent
• Incorrect dye combinations in lots
• Improper scouring of grey fabric

Implementing uniform dyeing, leveling and scouring processes can help prevent misprinting.

If you’re sourcing a printed fabric, make sure to provide clear specifications regarding the colors and patterns of your printed fabric to your factory. Consider providing pantone color numbers and design files as a guide for your supplier.

• CREASE MARKS

A crease mark is a visible deformation in fabric. A crease mark differs from a crease streak, as it’s unlikely to appear for an entire roll. Rather, it appears in just one spot on the fabric.

If final pressing cannot restore fabric to the original condition, a crease mark will be left on the final product. Discoloration can also be a problem associated with this fabric defect.

Causes and prevention of crease mark

Crease marks often happen when fabric passes through squeeze rollers in the dyeing process. Creasing is inevitable as fabric is fed through machines in rope form. But if properly handled, crease marks should not be permanent.

Crease marks can be caused by:

• Inadequate preparation, relaxation or bulking of fabric
• Poor quality of fabric: a tight construction, high twist yarns or dense weight
• Poor suitability of machine: not moving folds properly
• Incorrect loading of fabric into machine, resulting in twisted or knotted rope
• Excessively rapid heating or cooling rates

Along with rectifying these issues, using anti-crease agents during the scouring process prior to dyeing can help prevent crease marks.

To be continue…