What is taffeta fabric? Describe the taffeta fabric manufacturing process.

Taffeta Fabric

Taffeta fabric is a shiny, smooth, simple woven fabric made from silk, rayon as well as nylon, and polyester. It is considered a high-end fabric that is suitable for ball gowns, wedding dresses, protective dresses; Medical gowns, and interior decoration for curtains or wall coverings. Taffeta is made using the simple weaving technique, where the threads are twisted, resulting in the rigidity and structure of the fabric. Taffeta fabric was originally made from silk, but in the twentieth century, manufacturers began weaving taffeta out of semi-synthetic fibers such as rayon and synthetic fibers such as nylon, polyester, and acetate. Polyester taffeta is the most popular taffeta today because it is cheap and silk imitation is good.

Characteristics of taffeta fabric

Taffeta fabric is considered a high-end fabric, it has a beautiful, smooth surface and unique features.

1. The taffeta fabric is shiny and holds its shape well as a result of the yarns woven together in a plain woven fashion.

2. It has a lustrous shine that is unique to the fabric and comes from the innate qualities of silk or polyester.

3. It also has a smooth surface and piece-dyed taffeta in particular is especially soft.

4. Taffeta, especially yarn-dyed taffeta, makes a rustling sound called scroop when it rubs together.

5. It is a shimmery, crisp fabric that has created many iconic looks. The shimmer comes from the type of fiber used to make taffetas, such as silk or rayon.

6. Taffeta is a stiff fabric that can create a beautiful, structural silhouette. Taffeta also doesn’t lose its shape over time.

7. Since the fibers are so fine and delicate, the fabric can snag easily and create pulls.

8. Taffeta doesn’t have much stretch so it’s not ideal for items where flexibility is needed.

9. Silk taffeta can be very expensive because of the cost of silk. However, polyester taffeta is much more affordable.

10. Since the fibers are so fine and delicate, the fabric can snag easily and create pulls.

Application field of taffeta fabric

1. The heavier, stiffer forms of taffeta create beautiful, flowing window curtains. Taffeta is also sometimes used for wallpaper.

2. Taffeta really shines when used for dressmaking. From evening dresses to wedding dresses to prom dresses, Taffeta is a major part of fashion for its lustrous appearance and beautiful shapes that create texture.

3. Taffeta is also frequently used for undergarments like corsets,

4. Piece-dyed silk taffeta is great for lining jackets, as the fabric is both decorative and soft to touch.

5. Piece-dyed silk taffeta was used for creating parachutes in World War II.

6. Polyester and Nylon Taffeta are used for protective coveralls and also Medical gowns and other hospital purposes.

Different types of taffeta fabric

1. Shot silk taffeta: This is a type of silk taffeta where the warp and the weft threads are different colors, which creates a beautiful iridescent effect.

2. Warp-printed taffeta: This kind of silk taffeta has printed warp threads before weaving that creates a pastel pattern of different colors. It was very popular in France in the eighteenth century.

3. Paper taffeta: Paper taffeta is an extremely thin, lightweight form of taffeta that has a paper-like consistency.

4. Antique taffeta: Antique taffeta is woven from unevenly spun yarns, which leads to slight bumps in the material from the inconsistencies.

5. Faille taffeta: This type of taffeta is made from staple fibers, which are short-length fibers like cotton or wool.

6. Stretch-taffeta: Stretch taffeta is a type of fabric that incorporates spandex into the weave for added stretch and flexibility.

100 % polyester taffeta: Taffeta is originally a sort of silk, now there is a polyester imitation called polyester taffeta. Polyester taffeta is a full polyester thin fabric. It has a slimy texture, durable, easy to wash, inexpensive, and has other advantages that are used for lining all kinds of clothing and luggage.

Application of polyester taffeta: Polyester taffeta is used for jackets, umbrellas, car sets, sportswear, ocean umbrellas, handbags, bags, sleeping bags, tents, artificial flowers, medical PPE, shower curtains, tablecloths, chair sets, and so on.

Specifications of Polyester taffeta: 170T, 180T, 190T, 210T, 230T, 240T, 260T, 300T (poly100%) on all can be coated PA, PU and PVC coated, silver coated, white red-coated, black super strong anti-splashing, and so on a series of post-processing. The most important thing is that the price of polyester taffeta is very cheap, much cheaper than silk taffeta, so in many places to replace the role of silk taffeta. To set up a 100% Polyester Taffeta (PT) factory first needs the mind set up of the finished fabric price; normally the polyester taffeta price is around 50 Cents/Meter. Need the big volume plant to ensure the turnover.

Yarn specification: The 100% polyester finer count FDY yarn is used to make different grade Polyester taffeta fabric. Using polyester filament yarn makes the fabric soft and smooth.

Key grey specifications/special features

1. Warp: 50D/ 58D/68D/75D Polyester

2. Weft: 68D/75D/100D Polyester

3. Width: 60" 63" 67" 71" up to 120,

4. Specification: 170T/180T/190T/2 00T/210T/220T/230T/240T/290T

5. GSM: 60, 72; 80; 100; 120

6. Grey, Azo-free Plain Dyed, Print, Embossed, Cire finish, Antistatic, W/R, W/P

7. Polyester Taffeta can be made of various coatings such as PA, PU, PVC, silver, milky coating, with waterproof, water repellent affection.

The weaving process of polyester taffeta fabric

Taffeta fabric is plain weave fabric and polyester yarn is hydrophobic yarn. And the best way of taffeta weaving is water jet weaving.

Water jet weaving

Water jet weaving means weaving on a water jet loom. A water jet loom is the same as an air jet loom but uses water instead of air to transport yarn around the shed. Water jet weaving is only suitable for yarns of hydrophobic nature such as polyester PET, acetate CA or polyamide. Despite only hydrophobic materials being used for water-jet weaving, one has to dry the fabric afterward.

Working process of water jet loom

The water jet loom is a shuttleless loom that uses a jet of water to pull the weft yarn across the shed. The frictional traction force of the water jet weft insertion on the weft yarn is larger than that of the jet weft insertion, and the diffusibility is small, and it is suitable for the weft insertion of the synthetic fiber and the glass fiber which is smooth on the surface.

Advantages of water jet loom

1. The water jet loom machine consumes less power than others.

2. This type of loom is suitable for producing synthetic fabric.

3. The production rate is higher. It can reach up to 2000 PPM

4. It creates less noise than rapier and other looms.

5. It can overcome the static electricity caused by the conductivity of synthetic fiber.

6. The production efficiency is extremely high. Disadvantages of water jet loom

7. By using hard water, there may form rust on the yarn.

8. It is not perfect for Hydrophilic yarn such as cotton.

Dyeing process of taffeta fabric

The taffeta Fabric Dyeing and finishing compare to easy and shorter than any other Woven fabric. There is 2 way of dyeing taffeta: By High-Temperature jigger and Jet Dyeing

Process: 1: Grey Taffeta > Batching > Disperse Dyeing in High-Temperature Jigger Dyeing machine > Unloading > Finishing in Stenter > Delivery

Process 2: Grey Taffeta > Batching > Disperse Dyeing in High-Temperature Jet Dyeing machine > Unloading > Finishing in Stenter > Delivery

The details of high-temperature jigger dyeing

The Jigger Dyeing is a very simple and proven dyeing machine for mainly woven fabric. Almost all types of woven fabric can be dyed in the jigger in a discontinuous way. The Jigger dyeing is 2 types of normal temperature m/c and high-temperature m/c. Normal temperature jigger also makes in Norshingdi are mainly reactive dyeing but for the Taffeta need high-temperature Jigger Dyeing machine.

Printing

The Printing on taffeta fabric can be done by regular Digital printing; Rotary printing or Flatbed printing as per the demand of customers.

Conclusion

Taffeta is a shimmery, crisp fabric that has created many iconic looks. The shimmer comes from the type of fiber used to make taffetas, such as silk or rayon. Taffeta is a stiff fabric that can create a beautiful, structural silhouette. Taffeta also doesn’t lose its shape over time.