Glossary
Uniform fabric terms: N
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.
N
- NABL
- India's accreditation body for testing and calibration laboratories, which accredits a laboratory against ISO/IEC 17025. Accreditation covers the laboratory's competence for named tests, not the product it tests. Read the guide on NABL
- Naphtha
- A light fraction separated from crude oil at a refinery, and the starting point for paraxylene and ethylene, the routes to the two feedstocks of polyester. Read the guide on Naphtha
- Natural fiber
- A fiber grown by a plant or an animal, such as cotton, linen, wool or silk. Plant fibers are mostly cellulose; animal fibers are protein. Read the guide on Natural fiber
- Ne
- English cotton count, an indirect yarn numbering system in which a higher number means a finer yarn. It is the opposite convention to denier and tex, where a higher number means thicker, so a count is only readable once you know which system it is in. Read the guide on Ne
- Neps
- Small tangled knots of fiber, often from immature cotton, that show as specks in yarn and fabric and can take dye differently from the fibers around them. Read the guide on Neps
- Nesting
- Arranging pattern pieces on a marker so they interlock with as little waste as possible. The usable width of the fabric sets how tightly pieces can nest, which is why width changes cutting yield. Read the guide on Nesting
- Noil
- The short fibers, neps and trash removed from cotton during combing. Taking more noil gives smoother yarn but costs fiber. Read the guide on Noil
- Nomination
- An arrangement where the buyer specifies which mill and quality the stitching vendor must buy the cloth from, while the vendor still places the order and carries the payment. The buyer gets the specification, not the commercial relationship. Read the guide on Nomination
- Non-preferential certificate of origin
- A certificate of origin that states the country of manufacture for clearance, compliance and trade-remedy purposes and carries no duty benefit. It is a different document from the preferential certificate, so a buyer intending to claim a concession has to ask for the right one. Read the guide on Non-preferential certificate of origin
- Nylon
- A synthetic fiber from the polyamide family, very strong and highly resistant to abrasion. Used in outerwear, linings, sportswear and to reinforce some workwear. Read the guide on Nylon
Looking for something that isn't here? The full guide library goes deeper on every term, and you can always ask us directly.
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