Decatising
Encyclopedia
Decatising or decatizing, also known as crabbing, blowing, and decating, is the process of making permanent a textile finish
on a cloth
, so that it does not shrink during garment making. The word comes from the French décatir, which means to remove the cati or finish of the wool. Though used mainly for wool
, the term is also applied to processes performed on fabrics of other fibers, such as cotton
, linen
or polyester
. Crabbing and blowing are minor variations on the general process for wool, which is to roll the cloth onto a roller and blow steam through it.
Decatized wool fabric is interleaved with a cotton, polyester/cotton or polyester fabric and rolled up onto a perforated decatizing drum under controlled tension. The fabric is steamed for up to ten minutes and then cooled down by drawing ambient air through the fabric roll. The piece is then reversed and steamed again in order to ensure that an even treatment is achieved.
There are several quite different types of wool decatizing machines including batch decatizing machines, continuous decatizing machines, wet decatising machines and dry decatizing machines.
Finishing (textiles)
In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to any process performed on yarn or fabric after weaving or knitting to improve the look, performance, or "hand" of the finished textile or clothing...
on a cloth
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
, so that it does not shrink during garment making. The word comes from the French décatir, which means to remove the cati or finish of the wool. Though used mainly for wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, the term is also applied to processes performed on fabrics of other fibers, such as cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
or polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
. Crabbing and blowing are minor variations on the general process for wool, which is to roll the cloth onto a roller and blow steam through it.
Decatized wool fabric is interleaved with a cotton, polyester/cotton or polyester fabric and rolled up onto a perforated decatizing drum under controlled tension. The fabric is steamed for up to ten minutes and then cooled down by drawing ambient air through the fabric roll. The piece is then reversed and steamed again in order to ensure that an even treatment is achieved.
There are several quite different types of wool decatizing machines including batch decatizing machines, continuous decatizing machines, wet decatising machines and dry decatizing machines.