4-point inspection system
ASTM D5430 fabric grading: defects score 1–4 by length, capped at 4 per linear yard and normalized per 100 yd². Common acceptance is about ≤40 points; strict limits can be 20–28.
Abrasion Resistance
Resistance to wear from rubbing, commonly measured by Martindale; polyester strength supports durable knits.
Air-covered yarn (ACY)
Polyester filament is air-jet wrapped around an elastane core, creating a flat, high-recovery stretch yarn for swimwear, sportswear and shapewear.
Antistatic Finish
A finish or conductive-fibre treatment that reduces static, cling, sparking and dust attraction in synthetics.
Bird’s-eye Knit
Circular weft knit with knit-and-tuck dots and small holes; balances airflow, opacity and a smooth corporate look. Not woven houndstooth. Catalogue: 120–200 g/m².
Breathability
Ability to pass air and water vapour; open knits such as mesh/piqué and moisture wicking can improve comfort.
Calendering
Heated rollers flatten or smooth fabric and may add surface lustre.
Colorfastness
Resistance to washing, rubbing, light, perspiration, etc.; often graded 1–5 on a grey scale, higher being better.
Compactor
Mechanically compresses fabric lengthwise to meet residual-shrinkage targets. Typical target ~3–5% (premium <3%); steam cylinder about 140 °C.
Contact Angle
Water-drop/surface angle: below 90° is hydrophilic; above 90° hydrophobic. A core measure for wicking and water repellency.
Course
A horizontal row of knit loops; courses per length indicate lengthwise fabric density.
Denier
Linear density: grams per 9,000 m. Higher denier generally means thicker/heavier yarn; lower means finer.
Denier per Filament (dpf)
Total yarn denier divided by filament count; below ~1.0 dpf is microfilament. Lower dpf tends toward softer hand and denser cover.
Denier vs Tex
Both measure linear density: denier is g/9,000 m, tex is g/1,000 m; 1 tex = 9 denier. Tex is SI-based.
Dimensional Stability
Ability to retain width, length and shape after washing/wear; heat-setting, sanforizing and yarn selection improve it.
Disperse Dye
Sparingly water-soluble dyes for hydrophobic synthetics such as polyester; high heat/pressure helps dye diffuse into fibre.
Double-Knit
Two-bed knit with a clean face on both sides; interlock and scuba are examples, generally stable, substantial and low-curling.
DTY (Draw Textured Yarn)
Heat-and-twist textured polyester yarn with added bulk, stretch and softness; widely used in knits.
Durable Water Repellency (DWR)
Lowers surface energy so water beads; it repels water but is not waterproofing. PFAS-free chemistries are replacing older systems; tests include AATCC 22/ISO 4920.
Elastane (Spandex)
Highly stretchable, recoverable fibre; small amounts in polyester knits improve stretch, fit and shape retention.
Evaporative Resistance (Ret)
Resistance to sweat-vapour transfer (m²Pa/W), measured under ISO 11092; lower Ret means easier vapour transfer and better breathability.
Eyelet Mesh
Open circular-knit sports net with regular droplet holes; breathable and quick drying, but coarse pores reduce coverage and may snag. Catalogue 100–170 g/m².
FDY (Fully Drawn Yarn)
Fully drawn smooth polyester filament with lustre; compared with DTY it is sleeker, less bulky and shinier.
Feeder
Circular-machine point supplying yarn to needles each revolution; feeder count affects output/courses per turn. A 30-inch machine commonly has ~48–120.
Fleece
A knit surface raised into a soft air-trapping pile; polyester fleece is lightweight, warm and quick-drying.
Four-Way Stretch
Fabric stretches and recovers in both width and length, commonly in elastane-blended polyester knits.
Gauge
Needles per inch on a knitting machine; higher gauge generally gives a finer, denser knit, lower gauge a coarser, more open knit.
Greige
Unfinished knit fabric not yet dyed, bleached or finished; an intermediate awaiting wet processing.
GSM (g/m²)
Grams per square metre of fabric; key weight/thickness indicator. Low GSM is lighter, high GSM heavier.
Hand-Feel
Overall tactile quality—softness, drape, smoothness and stretch—shaped by fibre fineness and finishing.
Heat-Setting
Controlled heat stabilizes synthetic fabric dimensions, width and shape, reducing shrinkage and spirality.
Interlock
Two interlocked rib structures form a double knit smooth on both faces; substantial, stable and low-curling.
Jacquard
Needles are selected individually to knit complex patterns, colours or textures into fabric.
Kappa Fabric (Turkish trade name)
Turkish market term for microfilament polyester teamwear knits, not one construction. Jersey/interlock versions share a smooth closed sublimation surface; common weights ~170–200 g/m².
Lab Dip
Small dyed swatch matched to a target colour and approved before bulk production.
Liquor ratio (LR)
Dye-bath water mass to fabric mass; a major driver of water, energy and chemical use. Typical: old jet 1:15–1:20; soft-flow 1:5–1:8; low-LR rope 1:3.7–1:5; airflow 1:2–1:4.
Loft
Fabric thickness, bulk and air-trapping capacity; textured yarn and raising increase warmth and softness.
Loop
Basic knit unit formed by interlooping yarn; loop arrangement defines structure and stretch.
Martindale
Rubbing method for abrasion (ISO 12947) and pilling (ISO 12945-2), reported as rub counts or 1–5 grade.
Mesh
Open porous knit with visible holes; airflow and quick drying suit sportswear and linings.
Metamerism
Two colours match in one light but differ in another; dye choice and standardized light booths help control it.
Microfiber
Very fine filament yarn, typically <1 denier per filament, offering soft hand, high surface area, moisture transport and coverage.
Microfibre Shedding
Microscopic fibre fragments released in washing/wear; staple and cut-edge fabrics shed more than filament constructions. ISO 4484 series measures it.
Moisture Management
Combined absorption, transport and evaporation of sweat; polyester knits are optimized through wicking, fibre cross-section and finishing.
Moisture Management Tester (MMT)
AATCC 195 instrument measuring liquid spread on both faces: wetting time, absorption, one-way transport and OMMC.
OMMC (Overall Moisture Management Capacity)
Single MMT score based on bottom-face absorption, one-way transport and spreading speed; 0–1 scale, higher is better.
Open-Width vs Tubular
Knit fabric is processed as a seamless tube or slit flat; open-width affects cutting efficiency and dyeing/finishing evenness.
Pilling
Tangled fibre balls form on fabric from abrasion; strong polyester pills can cling, with yarn quality/finishing helping reduce them.
Piqué
Raised waffle/honeycomb knit, common in polos; offers breathability and dimensional stability.
Polymesh
Turkish umbrella term for polyester mesh/net family, spanning coarse sports net, bird’s-eye, jacquard and fine lining mesh. Catalogue 70–250 g/m²; confirm intended hole size with a sample.
Positive yarn feed
Metered yarn delivery keeps stitch length/GSM consistent and helps prevent barré and tension faults.
Raising (Napping)
Wire-covered rollers lift surface fibres into a soft nap, creating fleece/brushed fabric hand.
Raschel
Multi-bar warp knitting for lace, mesh, net and 3D spacer. Double-needle-bar machines typically run ~700–850 courses/min.
Reactive Dye
Forms covalent bonds with cellulosic fibres such as cotton/modal; in polyester-cotton blends it dyes the cotton component.
Reductive Clearing
Reducing bath removes surface disperse dye after dyeing to improve wash and rubbing fastness.
Rib
Alternating knit/purl wales create strong widthwise stretch; common for cuffs, collars and waistbands.
Right-first-time (RFT)
Share of dye lots hitting target shade first time. Redyeing can nearly double water, energy, chemical and machine use, so higher RFT lowers cost.
rPET (Recycled Polyester)
Polyester yarn made mainly from recycled PET bottles or textile waste; can perform similarly to virgin polyester with lower environmental footprint.
Sanforizing
Mechanical compacting pre-shrinks fabric to reduce later wash shrinkage and improve dimensional stability.
Scuba
Smooth, slightly spongy elastane double knit; body comes from the knit itself. Foam-bonded neoprene-look fabric is a separate laminate.
Set / non-set yarn
DTY set yarn receives a second heat-set (~160–180 °C), making it stable/soft; non-set skips the heater, giving more stretch and torque.
Shrinkage
Percentage dimensional loss after washing or heat. Polyester is generally low-shrinkage; heat-setting controls it.
Single Jersey
One-bed weft knit with knit loops on face and purls on back; light, stretchable, economical but prone to edge curl.
Solution-Dyed (Dope-Dyed)
Pigment added before spinning locks colour into fibre, improving light/wash fastness and saving water/energy; minimum order per colour is a trade-off.
Spacer fabric (3D)
Two face fabrics joined by perpendicular monofilament pillars on double-needle-bar Raschel. Typical 2–15 mm gap provides airflow, pressure distribution and insulation.
Spin finish
Oil–water emulsion after quenching reduces friction/static and holds filaments together, protecting downstream drawing, texturing and knitting.
Spirality
Knit defect where loop slant twists garment seams sideways, often in single jersey; yarn twist and heat-setting help control it.
Stenter (Heat-Setting Frame)
Main finishing machine sets width, GSM and stability and can apply chemistry. Typical PET heat-setting: 180–210 °C for 20–60 s.
Stitch length (loop length)
Yarn length forming a loop; with gauge and yarn count it determines GSM. Longer stitch generally lowers GSM; single jersey typically ~2.1–2.9 mm.
Sublimation Printing
Transfer/digital process: disperse dye vaporizes under heat/pressure and bonds into polyester, creating vivid wash-durable prints.
Teamwear Knit Fabric
Use category, not one construction: microfilament jersey/interlock, mesh, piqué and jacquard. Market weights ~110–150 g/m² for match kit and ~150–200 for training/corporate.
Terry
Knit with uncut loop piles on face or reverse; absorbent, soft and lofty, used in sweatshirts/towel-like fabrics.
Thermal Resistance (Rct)
Resistance to dry heat flow (m²K/W), measured by ISO 11092 sweating hot plate; higher Rct means warmer.
Thermosol Dyeing
Continuous disperse-dye method: pad dye, dry and fix at ~190–215 °C; suited to high throughput.
Tricot
Fine smooth warp knit, usually 2–4 guide bars, stable and run-resistant for linings, swimwear, shapewear and mesh.
UPF (UV Protection Factor)
Measure of UV blocked by fabric; dense knit, dark colour and UV finishes can raise protection.
Wale
Vertical column of knit loops; wales per length indicate widthwise fabric density.
Wicking
Capillary action moves sweat/moisture to the surface for faster drying; central to polyester performance knits.
ΔE2000 (Colour Difference)
CIEDE2000 estimates perceptual difference between CIELAB colours, weighting lightness, chroma and hue; typical acceptance is around 1, product-dependent.
