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Textile Glossary
Cutting through the jargon
This glossary is a resource aimed at helping share and simplify both generic and industry specific information, expertise and knowledge. This service is provided as a committment to visitors to our site and the industry as whole. Although we aim to ensure that all the content is correct, please bear in mind that some areas of the industry move fast and terminology and its application can change.
Nap
(1) a fibrous surface, produced on a fabric or felt, in which part of the fibre is raised from the basic structure., note: originally nap and pile were used synonymously, but the present trend of using the two terms for different concepts is to be encouraged as providing a means of differentiation and avoidance of confusion. (2) a local variation, used in the flax-processing industry, of nep. (3) in raw cotton, matted clumps of fibres which are entangled more loosely than those in neps.
Napoleonic Collection
Collection of cloths suitable for groups re-enacting Napoleonic Battles.
Napoleonic Era
Relates to the time when Napoleon the first was French Emperor 1804 - 1825.
Napped
See brushed/nap.
Natio
A kind of cap popular in gujarat and rajasthan. It consists generally of a woven piece and headband, with a long flap, which hangs at the back to cover the neck.
Natural
Refers to the colour of the fibre as found in nature, i.e. Unbleached and undyed. Linen and linen blends are often sold in their natural brown colour.
Natural & colour
Refers to yarn dye fabrics which combine natural yarns and colored yarns in the design.
Natural flax
Scutched flax produced from deseeded straw without any intermediate treatment such as retting.
Navel
In rotor spinning a device, aligned on the axis of the rotor, through which the yarn is withdrawn.
Neck
In the process of drawing synthetic filaments or films, the relatively short length over which a reduction in cross-sectional area occurs as a result of stretching beyond a critical value., note: commercial drawing processes for man-made fibres and films do not necessarily involve the formation of a neck.
Neckcloth
Term used from the 17th century until ca. 1840 to describe either a cravat, stock, kerchief or bandanna worn around the neck.
Necking (synthetic fibres)
The sudden reduction in diameter that may occur when an undrawn filament is stretched.
Needled
A type of nonwoven in which the fibres are entangled and mechanically bonded by needle punching.
Needlepoint lace
A method of making lace by buttonhole stitches using an embroidery needle and thread on a heavy paper base.
Nep
A small knot of entangled fibres. (in the case of cotton it usually comprises dead or immature cotton hairs).
Nep
Small knots of fibre embedded in the yarn. May be intentional or unintentional.
Neppy yarn
A yarn in which the incidence of nep occurs at a relatively high level and so constitutes a fault., note: neppy yarns are sometimes used purposely as decoration.
Neutral-dyeing acid dye
An acid dye that from a neutral bath has useful substantivity for wool, silk or polyamide.
Nightcap
Worn in bed or in the 16th to 18th centuries informally within the house. Those worn by men were often exquisitely embroidered.
Nimainimatana
A kind of tunic, a modified version of the kurta (q.v.), generally made of fine material.
Nip
The line or area of contact or proximity between two contiguous surfaces that move so as to compress and/or control the velocity of textile material passed between them.
Nip roller
One of a pair of rollers intended to run with their cylindrical surfaces in contact or separated yarn or other textile material., note: the two rollers are intended to have the same surface speed and one normally drives other by frictional contact.
Noil (wool)
The shorter fibres separated from the longer fibres in combing.
Non Woven Felts
Cloth neither woven or knitted made by condensing matting and pressing fibres.
Non-ionic dye
A dye that does not dissociate electrolytically in aqueous solution.
Nonwoven fabric
In general, a textile structure made directly from fibre rather than yarn. Fabrics are normally made from extruded continuous filaments or from fibre webs or batts strengthened by bonding using various techniques: these include adhesive bonding, mechanical interlocking by needling or fluid jet entanglement, thermal bonding and stitch bonding., note: opinions vary as to the range of fabrics to be classified as nonwoven. The controversial areas are: (i) wet-laid fabrics, containing wood pulp, in which the boundary with paper is not clear, (ii) stitch-bonded fabrics, which contain some yarn for bonding purposes; (iii) needled fabrics containing reinforcing fabric.
Nonwoven fabric thermally-bonded
Textile fabric composed of a web or batt of fibres containing heat-sensitive material, bonded by the application of heat, with or without pressure. The heat-sensitive materials may be in the form of fibres, bicomponent fibres or powders.
Nylon (synthetic fibre) (generic name)
See polyamide (synthetic fibre)
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