Uniform fabric terms: B

B

Basic customs duty

The base layer of Indian import duty, charged as a percentage of the assessable value of the goods. Cesses and integrated GST are levied on top, and a customs notification can exempt or reduce it for a stated period.

Bid security

A deposit or declaration submitted with a tender bid, returned when the tender is awarded or the bid rejected, and forfeited if the bidder withdraws or refuses the award. Also called earnest money deposit or EMD. Read the guide on Bid security

Bill of entry

The customs declaration an importer files to clear goods into a country, the import-side counterpart of the shipping bill an exporter files on despatch. It is where the importer states the classification, the declared value and the country of origin, so it is the document on which a preferential duty rate is actually claimed and the one a later origin verification is checked against.

Bill of lading

The carrier's document of title for a sea shipment. The line releases the container against a delivery order, and issues that only once the bill of lading has been surrendered, so a delay in getting it from the mill or through the banks holds the cargo while the free days are already running. Read the guide on Bill of lading

BIS

The Bureau of Indian Standards, India's national standards body. It writes the IS documents that tender specifications cite, runs the ISI certification mark scheme, and is the certifying authority under Quality Control Orders that make certain product standards compulsory. Read the guide on BIS

Bleaching

A preparation step that removes natural colour and residual impurities before dyeing or before a white is finished. Oxygen bleach is the safe route on blends; chlorine bleach degrades the fibre and sets yellowing rather than clearing it. Read the guide on Bleaching

Blend ratio

The proportion of each fiber 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 on Blend ratio

Blue wool scale

The 1 to 8 scale used to rate light fastness, where each step represents roughly twice the exposure of the one below. It is a different scale from the 1 to 5 grey scale used for wash and rubbing fastness, and the two are often confused on spec sheets. Read the guide on Blue wool scale

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 on Bowing

Breathability

How readily a fabric lets air and water vapour pass through it, which is what decides whether a uniform feels stifling in heat. It is a function of fibre, yarn and how tightly the cloth is set, not of a finish. Read the guide on Breathability

Brent crude

The North Sea crude oil benchmark against which much of the world's traded oil is priced, quoted in dollars per barrel both as a futures contract and as a physical spot assessment. The polyester chain, from paraxylene through PTA and MEG to fibre, follows it with a lag.

Buffer stock

Extra fabric held beyond the calculated requirement to absorb size-mix variation, cutting wastage and late additions. Ordered with the main batch it stays in the same dye lot; ordered later it may not, which is the whole argument for planning it up front. Read the guide on Buffer stock

Bulk approval

The buyer's sign-off on a cutting taken from the actual production lot, given before the lot is despatched. It is the last checkpoint after the lab dip and the pre-production sample, and it approves the delivered cloth rather than a representation of it. Read the guide on Bulk approval

Bulk lot

The full production batch dyed and finished against an approved shade, as opposed to the lab dip or trial length that came before it. Shade is judged lot to lot, so the bulk lot is what a reorder has to match. Read the guide on Bulk lot

Burn test

A rough field check on fibre content, where a small snippet is burned and the flame behaviour, smell and residue are read: polyester melts to a hard bead, viscose burns like paper to a soft ash. It indicates a blend rather than measuring it, so it settles an argument at a counter, not a specification. Read the guide on Burn test

Bursting strength

The pressure a fabric withstands before rupturing when force is applied perpendicular to its plane, usually by inflating a diaphragm beneath a clamped specimen. It is the multidirectional counterpart to tensile and tear strength, which pull in a single direction, and it is the more meaningful figure for knitted cloth than for woven.

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