Singeing

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Singeing is the burning off of loose fibers sticking out of textile goods and is a part of the pretreatment processes carried out in textile processing. It is usually the first step carried out after weaving.

[edit] Purpose

Singeing is often carried out on cotton fabrics, or fabrics with cotton blends and results in increased wettability (better dyeing characteristics, improved reflection, no "frosty" appearance), a smoother surface (better clarity in printing), improved visibility of the fabric structure, less pilling, and decreased contamination through removal of fluff and lint.

[edit] Process

Singeing usually involves passing/exposing one or both sides of a fabric over a gas flame to burn off the protruding fibers. Other methods of singeing include infra-red singeing and heat singeing for thermoplastic fibers. Singeing of yarns is called "gassing."

Cellulosic fibers such as cotton are easily singed because the protruding fibers burn to a light trace ash which is easily removed. Thermoplastic fibres are harder to singe because they melt and form hard residues on the fabric surface.