Glossary
Uniform fabric, term by term.
The vocabulary that turns up on spec sheets, quotations and tender documents, defined in a line or two. Where a term deserves more than that, it links to the guide that covers it properly.
A
- Abrasion resistance
- How well a fabric withstands rubbing before its surface breaks down. It is the property that decides whether a uniform still looks presentable after a year of wear rather than only after a wash. Read the guide
B
- Blend ratio
- The proportion of each fibre in a fabric, written as percentages such as 65/35 or 70/30. It drives handle, cost, shrinkage and how the fabric takes dye. Read the guide
- Bowing
- A finishing fault where the weft yarns curve across the fabric instead of running square to the selvedge. It is most visible on checks and stripes, where the pattern reads as sagging in the middle. Read the guide
C
- Carded yarn
- Yarn spun after carding only, so it still contains the short fibres. It is cheaper than combed yarn, slightly hairier in handle, and more prone to pilling. Read the guide
- Chambray
- A plain-weave fabric woven with a coloured warp and a white weft, which gives it a soft mottled surface. Common in shirting, and often mistaken for denim, which is a twill. Read the guide
- Colour fastness
- How well a fabric holds its colour against washing, light, rubbing and perspiration. Reported as a grade on a numbered scale rather than as a pass or fail. Read the guide
- Combed yarn
- Yarn spun after an extra combing step that removes the shortest fibres. Smoother, stronger for the same count and less prone to pilling than carded yarn, and more expensive. Read the guide
- Composition
- What a fabric is made of, by fibre and percentage. It is the first field on any spec sheet, because almost every other property follows from it. Read the guide
- Construction
- How a fabric is built on the loom: the weave, the yarn counts and the number of yarns per unit width and length. Two fabrics of identical composition and weight can behave differently because of it. Read the guide
- Crocking
- Colour transferring off a fabric when it is rubbed, either dry or wet. It usually points to unfixed surface dye rather than to the dye itself being weak. Read the guide
- Cuttable width
- The usable fabric width once the selvedges are excluded. It is the figure that decides how many garment panels you get per metre, and it is always less than edge-to-edge width. Read the guide
D
- Delta E
- A single number expressing the measured difference between two colours, used alongside visual assessment in shade approval. A smaller value means a closer match. Read the guide
- Dimensional stability
- How well a fabric holds its length and width after washing. Usually specified as a maximum permitted shrinkage percentage after a stated wash cycle. Read the guide
- Dobby
- A weave that uses a dobby mechanism on the loom to produce small repeating geometric figures in the cloth itself, rather than printing them on. It gives texture without added colour. Read the guide
- Dye lot
- One batch of fabric dyed together as a single unit. Fabric from the same lot matches; fabric from two lots of the same shade can differ slightly, which is why lot numbers matter on reorders. Read the guide
E
- E-way bill
- An electronically generated document that accompanies a consignment of goods above a threshold value while it is in transit, linking the shipment to its invoice. Read the guide
- EMD
- Earnest money deposit: a refundable amount a tendering body requires with a bid, as a guarantee that the bidder is serious. The amount and terms are set in the tender document. Read the guide
- Ends and picks
- Ends are the warp yarns running along the fabric length; picks are the weft yarns running across it. Counts of both per unit length describe how densely a fabric is woven. Read the guide
F
- Fastness grade
- The numbered rating given to a colour fastness test result, assessed against a reference scale. A claim that a fabric is colour-fast means little without the grade and the test it refers to. Read the guide
- Finish
- Any treatment applied to fabric after weaving and dyeing, from a basic wash and set to wrinkle resistance, water repellency or an anti-microbial treatment. Read the guide
- Four-point system
- The trade standard for grading woven fabric, scoring each defect by its length and totalling points across a measured area. The acceptance threshold is agreed between buyer and supplier. Read the guide
G
- Gabardine
- A tightly woven twill with a clear diagonal rib on the face and a smooth back. Firm, hard-wearing and long used for uniform trousers and outerwear. Read the guide
- Greige
- Fabric as it comes off the loom, before dyeing or finishing. Pronounced grey-zh, and sometimes written grey fabric. Read the guide
- GSM
- Grams per square metre: the standard measure of fabric weight. It is the single most quoted figure in uniform fabric, and it is not a measure of quality on its own. Read the guide
H
- Handle
- How a fabric feels to the hand: soft, crisp, dry, smooth. It is subjective but consistent enough between experienced buyers to be worth discussing against a physical sample. Read the guide
- Heat-setting
- Passing a polyester-rich fabric through controlled heat to lock its dimensions. It is the polyester equivalent of sanforizing, which applies to cotton. Read the guide
- HSN code
- A code from the Harmonised System of Nomenclature that classifies goods for tax and customs. Fabric is classified by fibre and construction, not by the garment it will become. Read the guide
I
- Incoterms
- Standard three-letter trade terms such as FOB or CIF that define who arranges and pays for transport, insurance and customs at each stage of an international shipment. Read the guide
- Input tax credit
- The mechanism by which tax paid on a business purchase can be set against tax collected on your own sales, subject to conditions, so it is not absorbed as a cost. Read the guide
L
- Lab dip
- A small trial dyeing produced on the actual fabric to match a colour reference before any bulk quantity is committed. Once approved it becomes the shade standard. Read the guide
- Lead time
- The time from order confirmation to despatch. For a custom shade it is counted from shade approval rather than from the order date, since dyeing cannot start before approval. Read the guide
M
- Matty
- A basket-style weave where yarns are grouped rather than crossing one over one, giving a flat textured surface. Common in institutional and school uniform fabric. Read the guide
- Mercerising
- A caustic treatment of cotton under tension that increases lustre, strength and dye uptake. It applies only where cotton is present, and means nothing on an all-polyester fabric. Read the guide
- Metamerism
- Two samples matching under one light source but visibly differing under another. It is a real property of the dyes involved, not an error of perception, and it is why shades are approved under defined lights. Read the guide
- MOQ
- Minimum order quantity: the smallest quantity a mill will supply, set per shade because dyeing runs in batches. Ours is 50 m per shade from ready stock and 500 m per shade for a custom shade or construction. Read the guide
P
- Piece-dyed
- Fabric woven first and then dyed as finished cloth. Simpler and faster to reorder than yarn-dyed fabric, and the normal route for solid institutional shades. Read the guide
- Pilling
- Small balls of tangled fibre forming on a fabric surface under abrasion. Carded yarns pill more readily than combed, because the short fibre ends that cause it are still present. Read the guide
- Plain weave
- The simplest weave, each weft yarn passing over one warp yarn and under the next. Flat, stable and economical, with no diagonal line on the face. Read the guide
- Poly-cotton
- A blend of polyester and cotton. It trades some of cotton's breathability for polyester's strength, faster drying and lower shrinkage. Read the guide
- Poly-viscose
- A blend of polyester and viscose, the workhorse of Indian uniform suiting. Polyester brings durability and shape retention, viscose brings a softer handle and better drape. Read the guide
R
- Reed mark
- A fine line running along the fabric length, caused by a damaged or wrongly set reed on the loom. It shows as a streak rather than a spot. Read the guide
- Residual shrinkage
- The shrinkage still left in a fabric after pre-shrinking at the mill, stated as a percentage. It is the figure worth asking about, rather than accepting the word sanforized alone. Read the guide
S
- Sanforized
- Cotton-containing fabric that has been mechanically pre-shrunk under steam so most first-wash shrinkage has already happened. It reduces shrinkage rather than eliminating it. Read the guide
- Selvedge
- The finished edge on each side of a woven fabric, formed as the weft turns back. It stops the fabric fraying and is excluded from cuttable width. Read the guide
- Serge
- A twill with a distinct diagonal rib visible on both faces of the cloth. Long associated with uniform and service dress. Read the guide
- Shade card
- A supplier's set of available colours in a given fabric, presented together. Distinct from a swatch, which is a piece of one specific fabric in one specific shade. Read the guide
- Shade standard
- The approved physical reference that every production lot of a program is matched against. Matching each lot to the previous delivery instead is how a program's colour drifts. Read the guide
- Skewing
- A finishing fault where the weft runs at a slope across the fabric rather than square to the selvedge. Like bowing, it shows up worst on checks and stripes. Read the guide
- Slub
- A short thickened section in a yarn, showing in the woven fabric as a small raised irregularity. Occasional slubs are normal; frequent ones point to a yarn problem. Read the guide
- Spectrophotometer
- An instrument that measures colour numerically, used in shade approval to quantify how far a submission sits from the standard. It supports visual assessment rather than replacing it. Read the guide
- Swatch
- A physical piece of a specific fabric in a specific shade, used to judge colour, weight and handle. The strongest possible reference when asking for a shade match. Read the guide
T
- Tolerance
- The permitted variation either side of a specified value, for example on GSM or width. Where a specification states a tolerance it is part of the specification, not a courtesy. Read the guide
- Twill
- A weave where each weft yarn passes over two or more warp yarns in a stepped sequence, producing a diagonal line on the face. Stronger and better draping than plain weave at the same weight. Read the guide
W
- Warp
- The yarns running along the length of a fabric, held under tension on the loom. They are set up before weaving begins, which is why a warp change is a batch-level decision. Read the guide
- Weft
- The yarns running across the fabric width, inserted by the loom through the warp. Also called filling or pick. Read the guide
- Weft bar
- A band running across the fabric width, slightly different in shade or texture from the fabric around it, caused by a change in weft yarn or loom tension. Read the guide
Y
- Yarn count
- A number describing how fine or coarse a yarn is. In the cotton system a higher number means a finer yarn, so 2/40s is finer than 2/20s. Read the guide
- Yarn-dyed
- Fabric woven from yarn that was dyed before weaving, which is the only way to produce a woven check or stripe. It carries a longer lead time than piece-dyeing a solid shade. Read the guide
Looking for something that isn't here? The full guide library goes deeper on every term above, and you can always ask us directly.
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