Uniform fabric terms: F

F

Fabric consumption

The metres of cloth needed to cut one garment at a given fabric width, size and pattern. It moves with width, with the size mix and with any stripe or check that has to match, so a consumption figure is only meaningful with the width it was calculated at. Read the guide on Fabric consumption

Fabric defect

A visible or measurable fault in a length of cloth, such as a missing end, a hole, a stain or a shade streak, recorded by roll number, position along the roll and distance from the selvedge. Defects are scored by length under a points system and a roll passes or fails against an agreed threshold. Read the guide on Fabric defect

Fabric yield

How many usable pattern pieces come out of a given length of fabric. Yield is always lower than length times width, because pieces have to be laid to the grain and around the pattern, and it is why a wider fabric can cost less per garment than a cheaper narrow one. Read the guide on Fabric yield

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 on Fastness grade

FCA (Free Carrier)

An Incoterms rule under which the seller clears the goods for export and hands them to the buyer's nominated carrier at a named place, where risk passes. It is the rule the ICC recommends for containerised goods in place of FOB. Read the guide on FCA (Free Carrier)

FCL

Full Container Load, where the shipment fills a container booked for one consignee. It is priced per container rather than per cubic metre, which is why the cost per meter falls sharply once a consignment approaches a full container. Read the guide on FCL

Filament yarn

Yarn made from continuous strands rather than short fibres spun together, which is what staple yarn is. Filament gives a smoother, cooler, shinier cloth with little hairiness; staple gives a softer, more cotton-like handle and is what spun poly-viscose shirtings and suitings are built from. Read the guide on Filament yarn

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 on Finish

Finished width

The usable width of the cloth after dyeing, processing and finishing, as opposed to the width on the loom. Finishing pulls and sets the fabric, so finished width is always the narrower of the two and it is the only one that matters for marker planning and consumption. A specification that names a loom width without a finished width has not told you what you can cut from. Read the guide on Finished width

Fire-retardant finish

A chemical treatment applied at the processing stage that slows ignition and flame spread on a fabric, tested to a named standard and pass level rather than described as fireproof. It is a finish on top of the base cloth, so it wears with laundering and must be specified with the test method and the number of washes it is expected to survive. Read the guide on Fire-retardant finish

Firm price

A price held for a stated quantity and period regardless of input movement in between, as distinct from a price quoted subject to confirmation at each call-off. On an annual plan it is what converts a rate into something a budget can rely on. Read the guide on Firm price

Fit sample

A single garment stitched to check pattern and fit before a size set is made. It only tells you the truth if it is stitched from the approved fabric lot, since a substitute cloth drapes and shrinks differently. Read the guide on Fit sample

Float

A length of yarn that passes over two or more opposing yarns before interlacing again. Floats are what make a twill diagonal and give it drape, and they are also why a longer float snags more easily than a plain weave's one-over-one-under structure. Read the guide on Float

FOB

Free On Board. The mill's responsibility ends once the fabric is loaded on the ship, and the buyer arranges freight and insurance from there. It does not cover import duty or inland transport at the destination. Read the guide on FOB

Forced labour

Work exacted from a person under threat of penalty and not offered voluntarily, following the definition in ILO Convention No. 29. It is the trigger concept in the EU Forced Labour Regulation and in the Indian export declaration requirement introduced alongside it, both of which turn on whether goods were made with it at any stage.

Formaldehyde

A residue that can remain on fabric finished with a crosslinking resin, which is the chemistry behind most easy-care and wrinkle-recovery finishes. It is measurable in parts per million, and several destination markets set a limit by product category. Read the guide on Formaldehyde

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 on Four-point system

Four-way stretch

Trade shorthand for cloth that gives along both the warp and the weft. It needs elastane in both directions or a knitted structure, costs more than weft stretch, and is rarely what uniform tailoring requires. Treat it on a quotation as a question about construction rather than as a feature. Read the guide on Four-way stretch

Free time

The number of days a carrier or a terminal allows before time-based charges begin. It is set per facility and per direction rather than by a global rule, and charges beyond it escalate in slabs, so the free days for the actual destination port are worth getting in writing before the vessel sails. Read the guide on Free time

Free trade agreement (FTA)

A treaty under which member countries cut or remove import duties on each other's goods. The lower rate applies only to goods that meet the agreement's rules of origin and arrive with the right origin paperwork, so an FTA rate is claimed shipment by shipment rather than granted automatically. Read the guide on Free trade agreement (FTA)

Free-issue

An arrangement where the buyer purchases the cloth directly from the mill and supplies it to the stitching vendor, who is paid for making up only. The buyer carries the fabric cost, the stock and the risk on it, and in exchange controls the quality and the lot. The contrast is nomination, where the vendor still buys and pays for cloth the buyer has specified. Read the guide on Free-issue

Freight forwarder

The agent who arranges carriage, consolidation and documentation for a shipment without carrying the goods themselves. Which of the buyer or the seller appoints one, and who pays, follows from the Incoterm rather than from custom. Read the guide on Freight forwarder

Fusing

The garment-side operation that bonds an interlining to a shell fabric under heat and pressure, turning collars and cuffs into a single stiff board. The shell caps the safe temperature, so a high-polyester shirting fused at cotton settings can glaze or shrink locally. Read the guide on Fusing

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