The production of woolen fabric involves three main stages: spinning, weaving, and finishing. In the spinning stage, fibers undergo processes such as opening, combing, drawing, roving, and spinning to form uniform yarns. Wool fibers, due to their significant length variations, require combing to remove short fibers and increase yarn strength; synthetic fibers can be directly produced into filaments through melt spinning or solution spinning, and then cut into short fibers.
The weaving stage determines the fabric's texture and density. Common processes include twill, plain weave, and satin weaves. Twill fabrics (such as serge) have fewer warp and weft yarns, resulting in a softer fabric with a strong luster; plain weave fabrics (such as gaveneer) have a tighter structure and better abrasion resistance; satin weave fabrics (such as tweed) create a smooth surface through long floats and are often used in high-end coats.
Finishing is a crucial step in improving fabric performance, including processes such as fulling, raising, shearing, steaming, and shrink-proofing. Fulling uses mechanical friction to interlock the scales on the fiber surface, enhancing the fabric's thickness and warmth; raising and shearing control the pile length using wire brushes and shearing machines, creating different tactile sensations (such as the roughness of tweed or the delicacy of flannel); steaming uses high-temperature steam to fix the fabric's shape, reducing the risk of deformation; and anti-shrinkage treatment uses chemical agents or mechanical stretching to reduce the fabric's shrinkage rate, ensuring dimensional stability after washing.
