Use a Tenter Frame-Erase Yarn Memories!

By Randy Mitchell Conductive Textiles, Conductive Yarns and Threads, Shielding 0 Comments

Use a Tenter Frame-Erase Yarn Memories! Yarns develop bad “memories” from the knitting process. Think of the knitting process as a traumatic event for the yarn. These “memories” first show up when oils and binders are removed by washing after knitting. The removal of these oils and binders is an “aqueous process”. As the yarns dry from the washing, the yarn appears wrinkled. These “wrinkles” are physical swelling or “bellies” caused by the yarn’s “knitting memory”. These “physical memories” make textile processing difficult. In order for the textile to be processed further it is “tentered” or “framed”. This process involves “smoothing” the fabric on a tenter frame. The fabric is held on the frame with clips or pins. The fabric is then treated with heat or steam while in the frame. The tenter frame stabilizes the width and length of the fabric. The tentering process “resets” the warp and weft of woven fabrics at right angles to each other. This allows the textile to be rolled and sold.

Use a Tenter Frame-Erase Yarn Memories! The fabric will likely need several “downstream processes” as it is processed into final product. The issue is that any “aqueous downstream process” revives the “knitting memory”. Examples of these “aqueous downstream processes” are dying and metalizing. After these processes, tentering process must be repeated to “Erase the Yarn memory”. This is necessary before the next step in textile processing. A “uniform textile” makes the finished products better. Processing the fabric without resetting it can give some very poor results. You can clearly see the differences before and after tentering from Top to Bottom below. Quality fabric production gives quality final results!

V Technical Textiles, Inc. has the world’s largest selection of conductive fabrics, conductive yarns, and notions. Contact us regarding you metalized textile needs!

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