Tow

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For other uses, see Tow (disambiguation).

A tow is an untwisted bundle of continuous filaments. It often refers to flax, hemp or jute in the textile industry, and to human-made fibers, particularly carbon fibers (also called graphite), in the composites industry. Flax tows are often used as upholstery stuffing, and tows in general are frequently cut up to produce staple fibers.

Tows are designated by the number of fibers they contain, e.g. a 12K tow contains about 12,000 fibers. Tows can be grouped together (usually without twisting) to create roving.