Dinsmore textiles has great pride in the quality driven process it has developed over the last 200+ years
Dinsmore Textiles sources fabric from all over the world, with trusted partners we have been dealing with for decades. We can source any type of fabric from cotton to nylon and polyester, and everything in between, including blends. We can design and create our own fabrics to our specifications including construction, weave, weight, and physical properties like tear and tensile strength and abrasion resistance.
Once the fabric reaches us, we can either put it into work straight away or store it in our warehouse facility as greige/loomstate. At any one time our warehouse has hundreds of thousands of metres, of lots of different fabrics. The fabric gets booked in to our system so we know exactly what we have on hand, and can then be called off in consignments.
This is arguably the most important part of the whole process – if a fabric is not prepared well then it will not dye well and there can be quality issues. We take great pride in our quality, which means that our prep needs to be world class.
The specific processes can vary depending on the fibre type (e.g., cotton, wool, synthetics) and the desired end result, but the general steps include:
The raw, unprocessed fabric (known as “greige” or “grey” cloth) coming from weaving or knitting is first inspected for any visible defects such as loose threads, oil spots, stains, or inconsistencies. This early inspection helps identify issues that could lead to dyeing problems later.
Fabrics are often stitched together to form continuous lengths for more efficient processing.
Purpose: To burn off protruding fibres, fuzz, or “hairiness” from the fabric surface. These short fibres can make the fabric look dull, reduce its lustre, and interfere with even dyeing, leading to a “frosted” or “pilling” appearance.
Process: The fabric is rapidly passed over open flames (gas singeing) or hot plates/rollers. The speed of the fabric and the intensity of the flame are carefully controlled to burn only the surface fibres without damaging the main yarns.
Benefit: Improves fabric smoothness, lustre, reduces pilling, and allows for sharper prints and more even dye penetration. A quench bath immediately follows to extinguish any sparks.
Purpose: To remove sizing agents. During weaving, warp yarns (the lengthwise yarns) are coated with a “size” (often starch-based or synthetic polymers) to give them strength and reduce friction, preventing breakage on the loom. This size must be removed as it acts as a barrier to dye absorption.
Process: Desizing can be done by:
Enzymatic Desizing: The most common and environmentally friendly method, using enzymes (like amylase for starch) to break down the size into water-soluble sugars.
Oxidative Desizing: Using oxidizing agents to chemically degrade the size.
Acid Desizing: Using dilute acids, though this method needs careful control to avoid damaging cellulosic fibres.
Water Steeping (Rot Steeping): An older, slower method involving prolonged soaking in warm water to allow natural microbial degradation.
Benefit: Increases the fabric’s absorbency and prepares it for subsequent wet processes.
Purpose: To remove natural impurities (e.g., waxes, oils, fats, pectins, minerals, dirt) and any remaining added impurities (e.g., lubricants, dirt) from the fibres. Cotton, for example, contains a significant amount of natural waxes that repel water.
Process: The fabric is treated with a hot alkaline solution (typically caustic soda/sodium hydroxide), often with the addition of detergents, surfactants, and chelating agents, in large vessels (kier boilers for batch processes or continuous ranges). The alkali reacts with fats and waxes (saponification), and detergents help emulsify and suspend other impurities, making them washable.
Benefit: Makes the fabric highly absorbent (hydrophilic), ensuring uniform wetting and dye penetration. It also improves the fabric’s softness and feel. For wool, scouring removes lanolin and other natural grease.
Purpose: To remove natural colouring matter present in the fibres to achieve a high degree of whiteness and uniform appearance. This is particularly important for natural fibers like cotton, which have a yellowish or greyish tinge. Bleaching is essential for achieving bright, clear, and consistent shades during dyeing.
Process: Fabrics are treated with oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide (most common and environmentally preferred), sodium hypochlorite, or sodium chlorite. The bleaching process needs careful control of concentration, temperature, and time to achieve desired whiteness without damaging the fibres.
Benefit: Provides a clean, white “base” that allows the true colour of the dye to be reflected without interference from natural pigments, leading to improved brilliance and shade matching.
Thorough washing and rinsing steps are interspersed throughout the entire pretreatment process after each chemical treatment (desizing, scouring, bleaching, mercerization). This is critical to remove residual chemicals and impurities, preventing them from interfering with subsequent processes or damaging the fabric.
Neutralization steps (e.g., using a mild acid after alkaline treatments) may also be included to bring the fabric’s pH to a neutral or slightly acidic range, which is often ideal for dyeing.
Once these preparatory steps are completed, the fabric is considered “Prepared for Dyeing” (PFD) or “Ready to Dye” (RTD) and is ready for the actual dyeing process. The success of dyeing heavily relies on the effectiveness of these preliminary treatments.
At Dinsmore we can dye any fabric or substrate, using different methods or dyes to achieve the required results.
The dyeing process of fabric is a complex and highly controlled operation designed to impart specific, lasting colours to textile materials. It builds upon the thorough preparation steps (desizing, scouring, bleaching, etc.) to ensure optimal dye absorption and colourfastness.
The choice of dyeing method depends on several factors: the type of fibre, the fabric construction, the desired colourfastness properties, the size of the production batch, and economic considerations.
Normally, we will be asked to dye to a specific colour, shade, or pantone reference, or to match a sample piece of fabric the customer already has. We would firstly do a lab dip in our lab, to make sure the colour is correct, before we go to bulk dyeing of the fabric.
Once the colour has been approved then we can move into bulk dyeing.
Substrate: Woven fabrics, generally in open width.
Process: Fabric is wound back and forth from one roller to another, passing through a stationery dye bath at the bottom. This repeated passage ensures even dye penetration.
Advantage: Minimises creasing as fabric is kept at full width; suitable for delicate fabrics.
Disadvantage: Lower production speed, suitable for shorter runs.
Substrate: Delicate woven fabrics (e.g., synthetics like polyester, nylon, silk, rayon).
Process: Fabric (often sewn into a continuous rope form) is circulated through a dyeing chamber by a high-velocity jet of dye liquor. The fabric moves along with the liquor.
Advantage: High dyeing speed, low liquor ratio (less water and chemicals), minimises creasing due to fabric flotation, suitable for high-temperature/high-pressure dyeing for synthetics.
Disadvantage: Higher capital and maintenance costs, may not be suitable for very heavy fabrics.
Substrate: Woven or knitted fabrics, wound onto a perforated beam.
Process: The dye liquor is pumped through the perforated beam, penetrating the fabric from the inside out, or vice versa. The fabric remains stationary.
Advantage: Excellent for achieving uniform shades on tightly wound fabrics, low tension on fabric, minimal creasing.
Disadvantage: Limited flexibility for colour changes, requires careful winding of fabric onto the beam.
Regardless of the specific machine or method, the industrial dyeing process typically involves these stages:
Dyes, auxiliary chemicals (e.g., leveling agents, dispersing agents, pH regulators, electrolytes, softening agents), and water are mixed according to precise recipes in mixing tanks. The specific chemicals depend heavily on the dye class (e.g., reactive, direct, acid, disperse, vat) and fibre type.
The prepared fabric is introduced into the dyeing machine. The dye molecules migrate from the dyebath and are absorbed by the fibres. Temperature, time, and pH are crucial parameters controlled during this phase to ensure even and complete dye uptake.
This is the process of making the dye permanently bound to the fibre. This often involves:
Heat: Raising the temperature of the dyebath or passing through a steaming/thermosol unit.
Chemicals: Adding agents like alkali (for reactive dyes on cotton) or acids (for acid dyes on wool/nylon) to facilitate chemical bonding.
Time: Allowing sufficient time for the dye molecules to penetrate and react.
After fixation, the fabric undergoes extensive washing to remove unfixed or surface dyes, residual chemicals, and impurities. This is critical for achieving good colourfastness (resistance to bleeding, fading, rubbing) and preventing staining of white or lighter areas. Soaping (washing with detergents at high temperatures) is often used to remove hydrolysed dyes or dispersed particles.
The dyed fabric is then dried using various methods like hot air dryers, stentering machines (which also control fabric width and dimensional stability), or drum dryers.
Throughout the process, and especially at the end, rigorous quality control checks are performed. This includes:
Colour Matching: Comparing the dyed fabric against a standard sample under controlled lighting conditions.
Shade Consistency: Checking for variation across the fabric length and width, and between batches.
Colourfastness Tests: Evaluating resistance to washing, light, rubbing (crocking), perspiration, etc.
Physical Properties: Checking for any damage to the fabric (e.g., tensile strength, pilling).
The precise control of variables like temperature, pH, time, dye concentration, and auxiliary chemical concentrations is paramount in industrial dyeing to achieve consistent, high-quality, and reproducible results while minimizing environmental impact.
After the fabric has been dyed and thoroughly washed to remove unfixed dyes and chemicals, it undergoes a series of finishing processes. Fabric finishing is a critical stage that transforms the basic dyed textile into a product with enhanced aesthetics, hand-feel (touch), durability, and specific functional properties. The selection of finishing processes depends entirely on the desired end-use of the fabric (e.g., apparel, upholstery, technical textiles).
Finishing processes can be broadly categorised into Mechanical Finishing and Chemical Finishing.
These processes alter the physical structure or surface of the fabric without significantly changing its chemical composition.
Purpose: To remove excess water from the fabric after dyeing and washing.
Process: Fabric is typically passed through large hot air dryers, loop dryers, or cylinder dryers. Stenters (tenter frames) are commonly used, which hold the fabric by its selvedges (edges) under tension as it passes through heated chambers.
Benefit: Prepares the fabric for subsequent dry finishing processes and helps control width and dimensional stability.
Purpose: To straighten the fabric grain (warp and weft yarns at right angles), control final width, dry the fabric uniformly, and for synthetic fabrics, to “heat-set” the fibres to prevent future shrinkage and creasing.
Process: The fabric is gripped by pins or clips along its selvedges and pulled through a heated chamber. The controlled tension and heat align the yarns and “set” the fabric’s dimensions.
Benefit: Crucial for preventing skew and bow in the fabric, achieving desired width, and providing dimensional stability, especially important for knits and synthetic blends.
Purpose: To impart smoothness, lustre, or specific surface patterns.
Process: The fabric is passed through a series of heated, highly polished rollers (calenders) under pressure. Variations include:
Plain Calendering: Achieves a smooth, flat surface.
Friction Calendering: One roller rotates faster than the other, creating a high gloss (chintz effect).
Schreiner Calendering: Engraved rollers impart fine, parallel lines that increase lustre.
Embossing: Engraved rollers press a raised pattern onto the fabric (e.g., simulated leather, wood grain).
Benefit: Improves aesthetic appeal, hand-feel, and can affect drape and permeability.
These processes involve applying chemical agents to the fabric to impart specific functional properties that were not inherent in the original fibres. Application methods typically include padding (dipping and squeezing) or coating.
Purpose: To improve the hand-feel, making the fabric softer, smoother, and more pliable.
Chemicals: Various softening agents (e.g., fatty acid condensates, silicones, quaternary ammonium compounds).
Benefit: Enhances comfort and drape, improves sewability.
Purpose: To enable fabrics to resist wrinkling and to retain their smooth appearance after washing without ironing.
Chemicals: Resins (e.g., formaldehyde-based, non-formaldehyde cross-linking agents) that chemically bond with cellulose fibres.
Benefit: Reduces maintenance, improves appearance retention, common for cotton shirts and blends.
Purpose: To make the fabric resistant to water penetration.
Chemicals: Fluorocarbons (PFCs), silicones, waxes, or specialized polymeric coatings.
Benefit: Protects the wearer or underlying materials from moisture, essential for outdoor gear, rainwear (like Arktis products). Waterproof finishes often involve a continuous film or membrane.
Purpose: To reduce the flammability of the fabric or prevent it from sustaining a flame.
Chemicals: Phosphorous-based, halogenated, or antimony compounds.
Benefit: Crucial for protective clothing, furnishings, and industrial applications.
Purpose: To inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes on the fabric, reducing odor and degradation.
Chemicals: Silver salts, quaternary ammonium compounds, chitosan.
Benefit: Improves hygiene, freshness, and extends product lifespan (e.g., sportswear, medical textiles).
Purpose: To make the fabric resistant to soiling and easier to clean.
Chemicals: Fluorochemicals or soil-release polymers.
Benefit: Maintains appearance, reduces cleaning effort, common for uniforms, table linens, and upholstery.
Purpose: To protect the wearer from harmful UV radiation.
Chemicals: UV absorbers, titanium dioxide.
Benefit: Important for outdoor apparel and shade structures.
Purpose: To reduce the accumulation of static electricity on synthetic fabrics.
Chemicals: Hygroscopic agents or conductive polymers.
Benefit: Improves comfort (reduces cling), important for carpets and some garments.
Many chemical finishes require a final high-temperature heat treatment (“curing”) to permanently set the chemical cross-links or polymers onto the fabric fibres.
The finished fabric undergoes a rigorous quality control inspection for:
Visual Defects: Stains, tears, holes, uneven finish application.
Dimensional Accuracy: Correct width, length, and absence of skew/bow.
Hand-Feel: Confirming the desired softness, crispness, etc.
Performance Tests: Checking for specified functional properties (e.g., water repellency, wrinkle recovery, colourfastness after washing/rubbing).
The finished fabric is then rolled onto tubes, wrapped, and prepared for shipment to garment manufacturers or other customers.
The entire finishing process is highly engineered to meet specific product requirements, balancing aesthetic appeal, comfort, durability, and functionality. Our customer service team keeps our customers up to date on where we are at in the process and updates on delivery times.
When dispatching, the customer can either organise to pick up the fabric from our factory, or we can organise delivery. We normally use trusted freight companies who can deliver anywhere in the UK within 2 days.