Napping
Also known as: Napping, Raising, Brushing
Mechanical raising of the fabric surface with rotating needle or card rollers — produces a soft, warm pile on fleece, sweat or wool fabrics.
Description
Napping is a mechanical textile finishing in which the fabric runs over one or more rotating rollers fitted with fine metal hooks (card clothing) or natural teasels (historically). These hooks tear fibre ends out of the weft or warp yarn and raise them perpendicular to the fabric surface. The result is a soft, airy pile.
Classic napped fabrics are sweat fabric (napped on the inside = French terry vs. loop-back), fleece (napped on both sides + sheared), molton, flannel and loden. On fleece, shearing rollers bring the pile height to a uniform level after napping, often followed by an anti-pilling treatment so the raised fibres do not felt.
Economically and thermally useful: the napped pile holds air pockets between the fibres and insulates significantly better than smooth fabric. Well-known brands are Polartec Fleece (100/200/300 by weight/thermal performance), Everest Fleece and anti-pilling fleeces by 3M and Toray.
Properties
| Process | Rotating card or needle rollers |
|---|---|
| Hand feel | Soft, fluffy, warming |
| Application | Fleece, sweat fabric, molton, flannel |
| Effect | Better thermal insulation via air pockets |
Related product categories
Sources & references
1- Wikipedia: Textile finishing Wikipedia — Freie Enzyklopädie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_finishing
