What is a technical textile?
Technical textiles and other textiles, such as clothing and fashion, differ significantly. Clothing and fashion fabrics have aesthetic look and form as the key parameters whereas technical textiles are fabrics that have specific functional properties for demanding environments. Technical fabrics are carefully designed and engineered for the specific application to give confidence, that the properties required will be delivered consistently.
Yarn Types
Technical textiles from James Dewhurst are usually manufactured from synthetic materials, such as glass fibre, polyester, nylon, polyamide, spun polyester, aramid, and mixed yarns. Other yarn types are used and many more are available, please ask us if you need a particular yarn type not specified here. The materials are usually continuous filaments with or without twist. The higher the weight, the more filaments there are to manage.
Common Terms
There is a certain amount of jargon in weaving, not all of which is immediately obvious. When talking about textiles, you will hear warp, weft, ends, picks amongst many other terms. The terms below are worth focusing on because they are in widespread usage and can be confusing. When giving us details of your needs, if you use a different count system just let us know your needs in the count system you use and our technical team will do the rest.
Warp
This refers to the yarn running in the machine direction.
Weft
This refers to the yarns running in the cross direction.
Ends
Typically the warp or machine direction yarn count is referred to as ends per cm or ends
per inch.
Picks
Typically the weft or cross direction yarn count is referred to as picks per cm or picks per inch.
Tex
A measure of the yarn weight in grams per 1,000m of yarn.
dTex
A measure of the yarn weight in grams per 10,000m of yarn.
Interstice
This is the gap between adjacent yarns, or the 'hole' between the yarns.
Challenge Us To Find Your
Reinforcement Solution
At James Dewhurst, we take pride in our dedicated technical experience with woven, laid, and laminated textiles. It’s our job to work closely with our customers on a variety of new projects not only as suppliers, but as developers. This involves getting to know you and your project needs inside and out, so that we can dedicate ourselves to creating the ideal solution for you.
Do you have an idea or project in mind that James Dewhurst can bring to fruition? If so, we want to be your partner. Please contact a member of our team to find out more information.