Woollen and Cotton Flannel.—A fabric answering to the description of true Flannel, usually woven with either a plain or twill weave, soft finished, but which is made from carded union yarn, i.e., yarn composed of wool and cotton in varying proportions according to the quality of the material it is intended to produce. If a Woollen and Cotton Flannel were described as a Union Flannel it would be composed of distinct yarns, some of which were all cotton and some all wool. In its broad acceptance the term is applicable to any fabric woven partly of wool and partly of cotton to resemble true All-wool Flannel.
Woollen and Cotton Mixtures.—This term is used to designate fabrics which are composed of the fibres of wool and cotton which have been blended or scribbled together rather than to fabrics composed of distinct threads which are all-cotton and all-wool yarns woven together. A cotton warp and wool weft fabric is a union, not a mixture. Mixtures may be recognised, when dyed, by a careful examination of the fibres constituting the yarn. When such fibres are not of the same colour, it will be found to have been due to the difference of affinity for the dye between cotton and wool. The burning test is not close enough. Carbonising is the surest test that can be applied to determine the presence and percentage of cotton in any Woollen and Cotton Mixture fabric.
Woollen Fabric.—The typical woollen is a full-handling fabric in which structure and colouring cannot always be defined on account of the threads and picks, and even the fibres, having become thoroughly intermingled in passing through the operations of finishing. Strictly speaking, a woollen fabric should be made of fine wool (possibly noils included); but in the English Law Courts a definition of "woollen" fabrics as being composed of mungo, shoddy, cotton, etc., has been accepted.
Woollen Lastings, Craped.—A fabric similar in the main to a Plain Lasting, but which, owing either to special process of weaving, chemical process during finishing, or to the action of suitably engraved rollers through which the material is made to pass, has a face finish resembling Crape Cloth, Plain, under which heading will be found the distinctive characteristics of Crape Cloth.
Woollen Lastings, Figured.—Like Cotton Lastings, this fabric is essentially a plain twill or kindred weave fabric, firmly woven from hard-twisted yarns. It is woven from strong wool and can be described as a fine, durable fabric of a somewhat hard handle, but smooth in appearance and ornamented by the introduction of a figure, pattern, or design produced either by means of an extra thread or by combination of warp and weft threads.
Woollen Lastings, Plain.—A plain twill or kindred weave fabric firmly woven from hard-twisted yarns. It is woven from strong wool and can be described as a fine, durable fabric of a somewhat hard handle, smooth in appearance, and free from any ornamentation produced either by weaving or printing. Used extensively in the manufacture of boot and shoe uppers.
Woollen Yarn in appearance possesses a fringe-like covering which gives it a fuzzy appearance. This is arrived at by using shorter wool than in the manufacture of worsted yarn and by giving it a twist. This fuzzy appearance distinguishes it from worsted yarn, which is a straight yarn in which the component fibres lie smoothly and parallel to each other. Woollen yarn is particularly suitable for the manufacture of cloths in which the colourings require to be blended, the fibres napped, as in Tweed, Cheviot, Doeskin, Broadcloth, Beaver, Frieze, Chinchilla, Blanket, and Flannel. Woollen yarn may be said to be a thread in which all the component fibres are entangled into each other and are in all different directions: this results in a yarn which is rough in appearance, non-lustrous, and more irregular than worsted yarn. It is only in this type of yarn that low-grade materials, such as mungo, shoddy, or extract, can be utilised. The fibres which constitute a woollen yarn are not as readily separated from the body of the yarn or cloth as in the case of worsted.
In the case of woollen yarn there are numerous systems for denoting the count, varying with the locality in which it is spun and the character of the product. In the United States there are two systems employed, but the one in most general use is known as the "American run counts." This is based on the number of "runs," each containing 1,600 yards, to the pound. Thus, a yarn running 8,000 yards to the pound is called a "5-run" yarn, a yarn with 5,200 yards to the pound is equal to a "3¼-run." In the vicinity of Philadelphia woollen yarn is based on the "cut," each cut consisting of 300 yards, and the count is the number of cuts in a pound. Thus, No. 30 cut yarn consists of 9,000 yards to the pound. A similar system prevails in England, where 200 yards go to the "cut," and the number of "cuts" per pound equals the count. In certain parts of England (Yorkshire) 256 yards go to the hank. The count is also arrived at on the basis that the number of yards per dram equals the count.
Worsted Diagonal.—The name explains itself and is applied to a worsted cloth having as its chief characteristic a prominent weave effect running diagonally—from left to right—across the face of the cloth. Generally in solid colours and finished so as to bring the weave into prominence.