In textile manufacturing, crease marks pose significant challenges, detracting from fabric quality and impacting businesses. Causes range from operational errors to material properties. Such flaws lead to increased rejection rates, higher production costs, and diminished brand reputation. Understanding these issues is crucial for implementing effective strategies to mitigate crease formation and maintain competitiveness in the market.
Crease marks cause factors such as fabric load, bleaching, nozzle diameter, and yarn tightness contribute to creasing. Optimizing cycle time and implementing smart storage solutions are essential for minimizing crease impact.
Causes of crease marks on knit fabric
Issues contributing to crease marks in the dyeing processes include fabric overload or underload in the dyeing machine, which can cause crease marks due to improper tension. Improper bleaching, such as over-bleaching, weakens fibers, increasing susceptibility to creasing. Nozzle diameter and entry angle errors result in fabric bunching and uneven tension. High fabric loading speeds stress fabric, leading to abrasion and weakened fibers prone to creasing. Temperature gradient errors from incorrect control or improper grading systems cause thermal shock to fabric fibers, damaging their internal structure. Optimizing cycle time is crucial for uniform dyeing and minimizing crease formation. Excessively tight knitting creates stiffness in the fabric, affecting its drape and creating new crease lines. Extended storage, especially in compressed or folded conditions, allows wrinkles to set, leading to permanent crease marks. Stitch length in knitting influences crease formation and should be adjusted according to fabric type and GSM following standard operating procedures.
Crease marks can be particularly noticeable and challenging to eliminate as it’s caused by lots of factors as mentioned above. The countermeasures against crease marks is given below.
Potential countermeasures
- Optimum yarn tension: Maintaining appropriate tension levels during knitting processes is critical to minimize crease formation. Monitoring and adjusting machine settings, such as yarn tension can help achieve uniform fabric tension and reduce the likelihood of crease marks.
- Roll-wise fabric storage: After inspection, fabric transitions to the storage section, often in a rough and tumble manner. To enhance, organize, and minimize wrinkles, implement a fabric roll device. This ensures a more orderly storage process.
- Nozzle diameter increase: Smaller nozzle diameters may result in high load and excessive pressure during dyeing, leading to crease marks. As per Industry experts nozzle diameter less than 140mm causes permanent crease marks.
- Anti-creasing agents: Exploring proper anti-crease agents can enhance the fabric’s resistance to crease formation.
- Stitch Length: For 180 GSM fabric with 24s comb compact yarn, it is recommended to maintain a range between 2.75 mm to 2.85 mm, with higher values required for darker shades to optimize dye penetration.
- Temperature Gradient: To prevent thermal shock, it is crucial to maintain a temperature gradient within the range of 2 to 4, ensuring stable fabric processing conditions.
- Cycle Time: The standard cycle time for 180 GSM fabric is stipulated to be within the range of 2.7 min to 3 min. However, it is noteworthy that cycle time tends to increase proportionally with GSM increments.
- Softener: Instead of silicone softener, consider the integration of a fatty acid-based alternative to preserve fabric flexibility and mitigate creasing tendencies.
Business case study
The business impact of crease marks in textile products encompasses buyer dissatisfaction and returns, as well as increased production costs and compromised profits. Creased garments are perceived as low-quality, tarnishing brand image and sales potential. Despite efforts to eliminate crease marks, they often persist, leading to either rejection by buyers or acceptance with commercial approval for minor creases. Both scenarios can detrimentally affect business operations. Additionally, crease marks indicate poor fabric quality, resulting in rejected or reprocessed products, escalating production costs and reducing profit margins. Material consumption rises due to reprocessing, while lead times and machine engagement are affected, further compromising profitability for textile manufacturers.
