Slub Dyed Yarns

Slub Dyed Yarns

Clothing makes a statement and ultimately people are judged by their fashion selections the minute they step outside. Fashion is no longer only for the rich and thanks to the development of fashion retailing, it is now available for the majority at affordable prices. Fashion clothing is fast moving from a once utilitarian and functional product towards an inspirational and more psychologically uplifting aspect of consumer purchasing. Good fashion buyers leave no stone unturned as to where they seek inspiration for the next fashion trend. People buy the newest styles to establish themselves as individuals. Growing levels of disposable income among the middle class are the major forces driving the growth of the fashion and lifestyle segments in the country.

If the textile manufacturers need to add value to their product, they should not stop by with just applying new fabric patterns or innovative garment designs. If looked back along the production value chain, value addition scope might be discovered opening up at the yarn stage.

One such value addition in yarn production that has begun to sway the yarn market of late is the rediscovery of ‘slub’ yarn or the ‘effect’ yarn.

Slub yarn proved to be the perfect example of blessing in disguise. Earlier, during the process of automated carding and spinning, a soft lump or slub would appear from time to time over each run of one thousand linear feet of yarn, and would have to be removed before the material would be ready for warping or twisting. However, slowly the concept of yarns containing a high count of slubs as a textural and style alternative began to develop.

Slub yarn is a yarn having irregularities and varying thickness, which are bought about intentionally. By just modifying the production process, an enormous range of minute variations can be created. As a result, slub yarn produces a remarkable visual effect. It is mainly used in denim, shirting, knitwear and casual wear.

Initially, there were standards set in place that established what was considered an acceptable amount of slubbed yarn for first quality grading and sale. Yarn manufacturers would work to adjust or modify their machines in order to make sure the presence of slub in the yarn remained within acceptable perimeters. Yarn with slubs started to be used to add texture to fabrics, and also in the creation of what was referred to as slubbed silk.

By spinning slub yarn with predictable, repeating slubs, the material woven from it develops roves, or intentional patterns within the fabric. However, slub yarn has inherently has weak spots where there are roves. The challenges faced by any slub yarn manufacturer is to avoid thin places after and before the slub and to have maximum strength in the yarn.

Slub yarn may be considered a big problem or be an intentional element in fabric design, it all depends on the intended end use of the yarn. Yarns used for goods that need to have a high level of durability, such as upholstery for furniture or car seats, slub presence is not required. Yarn that is used to create soft material for table lines, window treatments or casual wear like denim, may include slub for the added visual impact.

Slub yarns are yarns of variable denier which are useful for providing special texture to fabrics. The frequent changes in denier along the length of the yarn provide a raised surface in finished fabric which is quite obvious and pleasing to the viewer. This effect is well recognized, for example, in linen fabrics. 

The combination of thicknesses and random variations ensures a range of effects, so rich that slub spinning is gaining ground in a growing number of applications. Slub yarn is no longer just present in traditional fabrics used in upholstery, lace, net curtains and household fabrics in general but it is becoming more popular in the production of denim, shirting, knitwear and more vivid casual wear.

A slub yarn can be used either as a single or a 2-ply yarn. The single slub yarn is untwisted or loosely twisted, spaced irregularly along the length of the yarn, creating soft, puffy areas much like the appearance of a thick-and-thin yarn. In a 2-ply yarn, the slubs may either be present in both plies of the yarn, or may only appear in one of the two plies, with the second ply acting as a stabilizer for the two-ply yarn construction.

Benlon India Ltd has been manufacturing slub yarn for long and is now a renowned name in the industry. Our yarns are carefully manufactured having slubs within industry set standards while maintaining the durability of the yarn and is therefore used by some of the leading brands nationally and internationally.

Types of Slub Yarn –

Injected Slub Yarn

In this process, two yarns are twisted together and short fibres are injected into the form-locking connection. These "Injected Slubs" or flame-effects are produced and located in just the right places. Its length, thickness and distance can be varied to create different structural effects on the fabric.

Micro Slubs and Multi Count Yarn

These yarns are made using the latest computerized yarn designing technique. The machines helps the spinners in designing, combining, and mixing different slub patterns in a single yarn. It is possible to create attractive and innovative patterns as per one’s imagination with the help of these machines.

Polyester Slub Yarn

100% Polyester, Polyester/Cotton 40/60 & Polyester/Viscose 65/35 Slub yarns can also be manufactured using the latest computerized yarn designing technique. It is possible to create attractive shades with single component dyeing of Cotton or Viscose portion.

Linen Look Yarn

The concept of yarns containing Nano-slubs as a textural and style alternative has begun to develop. While retaining an overall smooth texture, Nano-slub made out of pure Supima also is characterized by what is referred to as "Linen look knit fabric". Essentially, a Nano-slub is an intentional pattern of slub yarn that is produced when spinning and twisting machinery is adjusted to allow the presence of the fuller lumps in the yarn itself. The result is that when the fabric is knitted, the Nano-slubs form a continuous pattern in the material with a very pleasing "Linen look" effect.

Viscose Slub Yarn

Known for their soft and absorbent features, Viscose slub yarn fabric soothe and cool skin faster as compared to cotton.

Process of Slub Yarn manufaturing

The process for the manufacture of slub yarns from continuous filaments comprises feeding continuous filaments through the inlet orifice of a guide tube at a feed rate superior to the withdrawal rate at the outlet orifice. Then sucking them into a connecting tube by means of a sucking jet in such a manner that an increasingly enlarging open loop is formed; wherein a gaseous medium, in intervals and periods of time programmed by a control system, is blown into the connecting tube. Thereby passing through the feeder tube of a blowing jet mounted to the end of the connecting tube which is adjacent to the guide tube; the gaseous medium causing a ligature of the neck of the open loop of the yarn, which loop so ligatured is subsequently united over its total length with the continuous filament.

Despite technological advancement, slub yarn manufacturers and spinners still face some problems while slub yarn manufacturing. They are as follows –

· Randomness of the intended slub effect
· Yarn mix-up (wrong bobbins)
· Repeated patterns
· Mass decreases before or after the slub
· Relating the settings of the slub insertion system to characteristics or parameters of a slub yarn and eventually relating them to the fabric appearance 

However, Benlon India takes every possible care and has technically qualified staff to manufacture slub yarns without facing any such problem.

If you are interested in our products and would like to be part of our growth story, please contact us on sales@benlonindia.com 

For more information about our company and our products, please visit www.benlonindia.com