Warp Ribs.—The term "warp ribs" is used to designate a warp-surface weave in which, owing to the thickness of the weft threads (or picks) or to the grouping together of a number of weft picks, the warp threads are made to bend round them and, being thus thrown to the surface of the fabric, produce a ribbed appearance running from selvedge to selvedge in which the warp threads are on the face of the fabric. Poplin is a typical warp-ribbed fabric.
Warp Sateen.—A common form of Cotton Sateen cloth is that woven with a "warp sateen" weave on the five threads and picks system, which results in four-fifths of the warp threads appearing on the face of the fabric and therefore four-fifths of the weft threads appear on the back of the fabric. The object of weaving on this principle is to obtain a smooth cloth surface by distributing the interlacing points and so destroying the common "twilled" effect. A Warp Sateen will be much closer in the warp threads than in the weft threads, and therefore stronger in that direction.
Warp Welt.—A fabric having thick raised cords at close intervals, as in the case of Bedford Cords and Piqués. In cotton goods, when the cords run lengthways of the piece, the fabric is known as a "warp welt." Sometimes called "wale."
Warp-faced Cloth.—A fabric which shows on its face a greater number of warp threads than "picks," or weft threads.
Waste and Condenser Wefts.—These are made from certain waste cotton which accumulates in certain parts of the machinery during the process of spinning yarn. This waste is treated by special machinery, which spins it into a full, level, and soft yarn, which is used for weft in weaving Sheetings.
Waste and Flocks.—Cotton mill waste is the by-product derived from the cotton in its various processes through the mill. Each pound of cotton before it becomes cloth loses on an average 15 per cent. visible and invisible waste. The visible waste is of two kinds, hard and soft; hard waste, which has been made on spinning and subsequent machines, and which bears a slight twist; soft waste, which includes that part of the fibre rejected by all machines up to the spinning frame. The invisible waste is equal to the amount of evaporation of moisture in the cotton during the process of manufacture. Flocks are short fibres removed from cloth during the process of napping.
Waste Cloths.—Cotton fabrics woven from waste yarns, generally plain woven and of low grade. The weft thread is coarse and is spun from waste or short-fibre cotton.
Watering.—As a textile term, it is used to designate the process whereby certain distinctive effects are produced on the face of plain-woven fabrics—especially silks. The process of giving a wavy or wave-like appearance in fabrics by either passing them through suitably engraved metal rollers which, bearing unequally upon the fabric, render the surface unequal, making it reflect light differently. The same result is obtained by pressing two plain-woven fabrics together, when the coarser weft threads of the fabric produce the wave-like indentations on the face of the fabric it is pressed against. A fabric is said to be "watered" when ornamented by either of the above processes. The principle of this operation is that two fabrics of precisely similar build, when pressed together, naturally "water" each other, owing to the coincidence or non-coincidence of the threads or picks causing flatness or ribbedness of a sufficiently marked character under conditions of heat and pressure. "To tabby" is another expression for "to water," and the adjective "tabby," usually referring to a brindled cat, signifies streaked with wavy lines.