Uniform fabric terms: W

W

War risk surcharge

An additional charge levied by carriers and underwriters on cargo routed through waters designated as high risk, quoted separately from the base freight rate. It is applied per container or as a percentage of hull or cargo value, it moves with the designation rather than with the market, and it can appear or disappear between the quotation and the booking. Read the guide on War risk surcharge

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 on Warp

Warp beam

The large roller at the back of a loom holding thousands of warp ends wound to a set length, prepared at warping before weaving starts. A beam is set up for one construction and one run, which is a large part of why mills carry a minimum order quantity. Read the guide on Warp beam

Warping

Winding thousands of warp yarns onto a beam in the right order, count and tension before weaving starts. Faults introduced here, a crossed end or an uneven tension, repeat down the whole length of every piece woven from that beam, which is why warp faults show as continuous lines rather than isolated marks. Read the guide on Warping

Wash fastness

How well a dyed fabric holds its colour through washing, tested against a numbered method and reported as a grade for shade change and for staining of adjacent white cloth. It is the fastness type a uniform tender names most often, because institutional laundering is what the cloth will actually face. Read the guide on Wash fastness

Wastage

Fabric lost rather than used: cutting loss from the marker layout, faults cut out, and end-of-roll remnants too short to lay. It is the reason an ordered quantity is higher than a calculated requirement, and it is stated as a percentage. Read the guide on Wastage

Water repellent finish

A surface treatment applied at the finishing stage that makes water bead and run off rather than soak in. It is not waterproofing, since the fabric still breathes and will wet through under sustained pressure, and it wears down with laundering. Read the guide on Water repellent finish

Wear trial

Garments given to a small group of real wearers for a set period before bulk stitching, to see how the fabric behaves in use and after repeated laundering rather than on a table. Read the guide on Wear trial

Weft

The yarns running across the fabric width, inserted by the loom through the warp. Also called filling or pick. Read the guide on Weft

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 on Weft bar

Wet processing

The stages between woven greige cloth and finished fabric that use water and chemistry, including desizing, scouring, bleaching, dyeing and finishing. At Benny Cotts these run at partnered Bhilwara processing houses rather than in-house. Read the guide on Wet processing

Wholesale Price Index (WPI)

India's official index of wholesale prices, published monthly with separate lines for manufacture of textiles and manufacture of wearing apparel. Because it is an index, a move in it is a percentage rather than a price, and the gap between the textile line and the apparel line is the readable official measure of whether a cost increase is being passed down the chain.

Wicking

The movement of moisture along and across a fabric so it spreads out and evaporates instead of sitting where it landed. It is a construction and finish effect rather than a fibre one, which is why a polyester cloth can be engineered to move sweat that cotton would simply hold. Read the guide on Wicking

Woollen

The spinning system in which shorter wool fibres are carded but not combed, leaving them lying in many directions, which gives a softer, hairier and bulkier yarn and a fuller-handling cloth. It is the contrast to the worsted system, and classic formal suiting is worsted rather than woollen because the smooth clear finish comes from combing. Read the guide on Woollen

World Container Index

A weekly published assessment of spot container freight rates on major East-West routes, quoted in dollars per 40ft container. It is a market benchmark rather than the rate on any one booking, and it is useful for reading direction when a quote's freight line moves.

Worsted

Suiting spun from long, combed and parallel-laid wool fibres, giving a smooth, clear-finished cloth with a crisp handle, as against the softer, hairier woollen system. In uniform buying the word is often used loosely for any smooth, worsted-look suiting, including poly-viscose ones. Read the guide on Worsted

Wrinkle recovery

How completely a fabric returns to flat after being creased, reported as a recovery angle rather than a pass or fail. It is a property of fibre, construction and finish together, which is why two cloths of the same blend can behave differently over a working day. Read the guide on Wrinkle recovery

Wyzenbeek

An abrasion test method, ASTM D4157, in which the specimen is drawn back and forth across an abradant on an oscillating cylinder and the result is reported in double rubs. It is common in North American and furnishing specifications, where Martindale dominates elsewhere. Read the guide on Wyzenbeek

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