What Is Pile Fabric?

Pile fabric is a type of textile that has raised fibers or loops that create a soft, fuzzy surface. This type of fabric can be made from various yarns and is used in clothing, upholstery, and drapery. There are two main types of pile fabric: cut pile and loop pile. Cut pile is usually made from wool, while loop pile can be made from a wide variety of materials. Both types of pile fabric can be woven or knitted. In addition, there are some nonwoven fabrics that also contain pile. Cut pile fabrics are more expensive to produce than nonwovens, but they offer a unique texture that has a lot of design appeal.

A typical cut pile fabric is a tufted carpet, which is manufactured by stitching a pile yarn into the backing fabric with a series of needles. The needles are typically formed on a machine called a tufting gun, which forms a series of pile loops over the base fabric. The yarn used for the pile is traditionally a spun yarn, but there is increasing use of bulked continuous filament yarns. The resulting tufted fabric is often used for residential and commercial flooring.

There are a number of different methods to manufacture cut pile fabric, and each method involves some level of specialized weaving or knitting techniques. Woven fabrics may use an additional set of warp yarns to create the loops, or they can be produced with special terry or intarsia knitting. In either case, the additional warp or weft yarns are then sheared to produce the desired texture of the pile fabric.

It is important to consider the end use of the fabric when deciding which way to run the pile. If durability is important - such as for a pair of corduroy pants for your tiny tots - then it may be to run the pile downwards. This will reduce the number of areas where the fibers are exposed to rubbing and wear.

Another consideration is the color of the fabric. If the fabric is being used for a high-end garment, it may be to run the pile upwards, as this will give a richer color. However, it is also possible to achieve the same look with a contrasting color for the backing of the garment, and this can often be a more cost-effective solution.

There is a need for a method of forming a pile on a fabric during the process of knitting it so that the fabrication of a wide range of yarns and fibers may be accomplished in a more cost-effective manner. Currently, creating pile fabrics is a multi-step process that includes seikei (a process where raw threads are collected in one strand and tied around a massive roll known as a beam), weaving, steaming, thinning of the pile yarns (where they are trimmed to a uniform length) and shearing.

The present invention provides a novel method of forming a cut pile on a fabric during the knitting process. The method utilizes an innovative combination of weaving and shearing processes to provide a novel structure for a cut pile fabric that is very durable and easy to clean.