The tendency of a yarn to shed fly or lint during any mechanical process is termed as lint shedding. It is more predominant in knitting as the yarns are not sized. Staple yarns have a characteristic hairiness that consists of fibre ends and loops protruding from the surface. During knitting many of these fibre ends and loops are either pulled or sheared from the yarn and accumulate around the knitting elements, guides and other machine parts.

In high speed circular knitting, the occurrence of sudden loads are very common. Yarns with good recovery from stretch are ideal for high speed knitting. Among other things, the elastic recovery of yarns is influenced by the breaking elongation. Higher the breaking elongation of yarns, better wiII be the elastic recovery and vice versa. Yarns with breaking elongation >5% will be good for high speed knitting.

The tendency of a yarn to shed fly or lint during any mechanical process is termed as lint shedding¹. It is more predominant in knitting as the yarns are not sized. Staple yarns have a characteristic hairiness that consists of fibre ends and loops protruding from the surface. During knitting many of these fibre ends and loops are either pulled or sheared from the yarn and accumulate around the knitting elements, guides and other machine parts.

These fibre accumulations are picked up by the incoming yarn; they jam the needles, break the yarn or the needles and deteriorate the fabric appearance. Around 25% of all the faults occurring during knitting process can be traced directly back to the incidence of lint/fibre fly. This excludes faults such as needle stripes and dropped stitches.

About the Authors

The authors are associated with The South India Textile Research Association Coimbatore

Originally published in Textile Review: October 2009