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Unitsoftextilemeasurement
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Textilefibers,threads,yarnsandfabricsaremeasuredinamultiplicityofunits.
Afiber,asinglefilamentofnaturalmaterial,suchascotton,linenorwool,orartificialmaterial
suchasnylon,polyester,metalormineralfiber,ismeasuredintermsoflinearmassdensity,the
weightofagivenlengthoffiber.Variousunitsareusedtorefertothemeasurementofafiber,
suchas:thedenierandtex(linearmassdensityoffibers),superS(finenessofwoolfiber),
worstedcount,woolencount,cottoncount(orNumberEnglishNe),Numbermetric(Nm)and
yield(thereciprocalofdenierandtex).
Ayarn,aspunagglomerationoffibersusedforknitting,weavingorsewing,ismeasuredinterms
ofcottoncountandyarndensity.
Thread,usuallyconsistingofmultipleyarnspliedtogether
producingalong,thinstrandusedinsewingorweaving,is
measuredinthesameunitsasyarn.
Fabric,clothtypicallyproducedbyweaving,knittingorknotting
textilefibers,yarnsorthreads,ismeasuredinunitssuchasthe
momme,threadcount(ameasureofthecoarsenessorfinenessof
fabric),endsperinch(e.p.i)andpicksperinch(p.p.i).

Contents
1UnitsofMeasureforFibers
1.1Denier
1.2Tex
1.3SorsuperSnumber
1.4Worstedcount
1.5Yield
2Yarnandthread
2.1Cottoncount
2.2Yarnlength
2.3Thread
2.4Yarndensityconversion
3Fabric
3.1GramsperSquareMeter/GSMofFabric
3.2Mommes
3.3Threadcount
3.3.1IndustryStandard
3.4Endsperinch
3.5Picksperinch
4References
5Bibliography
6Externallinks

Threadmadefromtwothreads
pliedtogether,eachconsisting
ofthreeyarns

UnitsofMeasureforFibers

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Thelineardensityofafiberiscommonlymeasuredinunitsofdenierortex.Traditionalunitsinclude
worstedcount,cottoncountandyield.TexismorelikelytobeusedinCanadaandContinentalEurope,
whiledenierremainsmorecommonintheUnitedStatesandUnitedKingdom.TheInternationalSystem
ofUnitsuseskilogrampermetreforlineardensitiesinsomecontexts,thetexunitisusedinstead.

Denier
Denier/dnjr/orden(abbreviatedD),aunitofmeasureforthelinearmassdensityoffibers,is
definedasthemassingramsper9000meters.[1]Thedenierisbasedonanaturalreference:asingle
strandofsilkisapproximatelyonedeniera9000meterstrandofsilkweighsaboutonegram.Theterm
deniercomesfromtheFrenchdenier,acoinofsmallvalue(worth112ofasou).Appliedtoyarn,a
denierwasheldtobeequalinweightto124ofanounce.Thetermmicrodenierisusedtodescribe
filamentsthatweighlessthanonegramper9000meters.
Onecandistinguishbetweenfilamentandtotalmeasurementsindeniers.Botharedefinedasabove,but
thefirstrelatestoasinglefilamentoffibercommonlyknownasdenierperfilament(DPF)
whereasthesecondrelatestoayarn.
Broadertermssuchas'fine'maybeapplied,eitherbecausetheoverallyarnisfineorbecausefibers
withinthisyarnarethin.A75denieryarnwouldbeconsideredfineevenifitcontainsonlyafewfibers,
suchasthirty2.5denierfibers,butaheavieryarn,suchas150denier,isonlyconsideredfineifits
constituentfibersareindividuallyasthinasonedenier.[1]
Thefollowingrelationshipappliestostraight,uniformfilaments:
DPF=totaldenier/quantityofuniformfilaments
Thedeniersystemofmeasurementisusedontwoandsinglefilamentfibers.Somecommon
calculationsareasfollows:
1denier =1gramper9000meters
=0.111milligramspermeter
Inpractice,measuring9000metersisbothtimeconsumingandunrealistic.Generallyasampleof900
metersisweighed,andtheresultismultipliedbytentoobtainthedenierweight.
Afiberisgenerallyconsideredamicrofiberifitisonedenierorless.
Aonedenierpolyesterfiberhasadiameterofabouttenmicrometers.
Intightsandpantyhose,thelineardensityofyarnusedinthemanufacturingprocessdetermines
theopacityofthearticleinthefollowingcategoriesofcommerce:ultrasheer(below10denier),
sheer(10to30denier),semiopaque(30to40denier),opaque(40to70denier)andthickopaque
(70denierorhigher).[2]
Forsinglefibers,insteadofweighing,amachinecalledavibroscopeisused.Aknownlengthofthe
fiber(usually20mm)issettovibrate,anditsfundamentalfrequencymeasured,allowingthecalculation
ofthemassandthusthetiter.
Onecancalculatethediameter[3]ofafilamentyarnusingdenierwiththefollowingformula:

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withdensityingramspercubiccentimeteranddiameterinmillimeters.

Tex
Texisaunitofmeasureforthelinearmassdensityoffibers,yarnsandthreadandisdefinedasthemass
ingramsper1000meters.[4]Theunitcodeis"tex".Themostcommonlyusedunitisactuallythedecitex
(abbreviateddtex),whichisthemassingramsper10,000meters.Whenmeasuringobjectsthatconsist
ofmultiplefibers,theterm"filamenttex"issometimesused,referringtothemassingramsper1000
metersofasinglefilament.
Texisusedformeasuringfibersizeinmanyproducts,includingcigarettefilters,opticalcable,yarnand
fabric.
Onecancalculatethediameter[3]ofafilamentyarnusingtexwiththefollowingformula:

withdensityingramspercubiccentimeteranddiameterinmillimeters.

SorsuperSnumber
Notatrueunitofmeasure,SorsuperSnumberisanindexofthefinenessofthewoolfiberandismost
commonlyseenasalabelonwoolapparel,woolfabric,andyarn.

Worstedcount
Worstedcount(orspinningcount)isanindirectmeasureofthe
finenessofthefiberinaworstedwoolyarnexpressedasthenumberof
560yard[5](1yard=0.9144meters)lengths(hanks)ofworstedyarn
thatapound(0.45359237kilograms)ofwoolyields.Thefinerthe
wool,themoreyarnandthehigherthecount.Ithasbeenlargely
replacedbydirectmeasures.

Yield
Similartotexanddenier,yieldisatermthathelpsdescribethelinear
densityofarovingoffibers.However,unliketexanddenier,yieldis
theinverseoflineardensityandisusuallyexpressedinyards/lb.

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Yarnspinningfactory

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Tex(g/km) Yield(yards/lb)
550

900

735

675

1100

450

1200

413

2000

250

2200

225

2400

207

4400

113

Yarnandthread
Cottoncount
Cottoncountisanothermeasureoflineardensity.Itisthenumberofhanks(840ydor770m)of
skeinmaterialthatweigh1pound(0.45kg).Underthissystem,thehigherthenumber,thefiner
theyarn.IntheUnitedStatescottoncountsbetween1and20arereferredtoascoarsecounts.A
regularsingleknitTshirtcanbebetween20and40countfinebedsheetsareusuallyintherange
of40to80count.Thenumberisnowwidelyusedinthestaplefiberindustry.
Hank:alengthof7leasor840yards(770m)
Onelea120yards(110m)

Yarnlength

l/m=1693lm/Necm/kg,wherel/mistheyarnlengthinmeters,lm/NecistheEnglishcotton
countandm/kgistheyarnweightinkilograms.
Englishcottoncount(Nec)isanindirectcountingsystem,thatis,thehigherthenumberthefinerthe
yarn.
Thread:alengthof54inches(1.4m)(thecircumferenceofawarpbeam)
Bundle:usually10pounds(4.5kg)
Lea:alengthof80threadsor120yards(110m)[6]
Toconvertdeniertocottoncount:lm/Nec=

5315
/den ,wherelm/Necisthecottoncountand/denisthe

densityindenier.
Toconverttextocottoncount:lm/Nec=

590.5
/tex ,wherelm/Necisthecottoncountand/texisthe

densityintex.

Thread
Threadisacottonyarnmeasure,equalto54inches(1.4m).

Yarndensityconversion
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Approximateyarnmeasurementcomparison
Denier m/g Tex Worsted Cotton Woolen(run) Linen(lea)
50

180 5.6 160

106

56

298

75

120 8.3 106

72

37

198

100

90

11.1 80

53

28

149

150

60

16.6 53

35

19

99

200

45

22.2 40

27

14

74

300

30

33.4 27

18

9.3

50

400

22.5 44.4 20

13

7.0

37

500

18

11

5.6

30

700

12.9 77.7 11.4

7.6

4.0

1000

111 8.0

5.3

2.8

15

1500

166 5.3

3.5

1.9

10

2000

4.5 222 4.0

2.7

1.4

55.5 16

Fabric
Becauseafabricissheetlike(i.e.,2dimensional),itismeasuredintermsofsurfacedensityorinterms
ofthenumberofthreadsinvolvedinapieceoffabricofgivensize.

GramsperSquareMeter/GSMofFabric
IntheInternationalSystemofUnits,surfacedensityismeasuredinkilogramspersquaremeter.For
fabrics,gramspersquaremeter(GSM)isamorepracticalunitofmeasure.WecancalculatetheGSM
ofafabricbythefollowingformulae:[3]
UsingDenier,GSM=((DenierxEPIx39.37)/9000+(DenierxPPIx39.37)/9000))
UsingEnglishcottoncount,GSM=((5315/NecXEPIx39.37)/9000+(5315/NecxPPIx
39.37)/9000))
Processtechnique[3]tochecktheaboveformulae:1.Weave1metergreigefabric.Cutthefabricfrom
theloom.MeasureGSMandfindthedenier/dtex/tex/countyouhaveused.
Processtechniquetoachievezerodefectindippedorcoatedfabric.Dippingandcoatingtreatment
requiredhightemperatures.Totakethegreigefabricbeforedipping,followthesteps1.Weave1meter
greigefabric.Cutthefabricfromtheloom.MeasureGSMandfindthedenier/dtex/tex/count.2.Putthe
fabricforrequiredHAS(Hotairshrinkage)testing.3.Putthefabricininspectiontableandobserveit.If
allthefabricyarn/cordsareuniforminlengthproceedforweavingtherequiredfabric.
Theabovetechniquessuggeststhattheyarnandfabrictensiletestingstandardsshouldbeglobally
updatedto100cm.[3]

Mommes
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Mommes(mm),traditionallyusedtomeasuresilkfabrics,theweightinpoundsofapieceoffabricifit
weresized45inchesby100yards.Onemomme=4.340gramspersquaremeter8mommesis
approximately1ouncepersquareyardor35gramspersquaremeter.
Themommeisbasedonthestandardwidthofsilkof45incheswide(thoughsilkisregularlyproduced
in55inchwidths,and,uncommonly,inevenlargerwidths).
Theusualrangeofmommeweightfordifferentweavesofsilkare:
Habutai5to16mm
Chiffon6to8mm(canbemadeindoublethickness,i.e.12to16mm)
CrepedeChine12to16mm
Gauze3to5mm
Rawsilk35to40mm(heaviersilksappearmore'wooly')
Organza4to6mm
Charmeuse12to30mm
Thehighertheweightinmommes,themoredurabletheweave,andthemoresuitableitisforheavy
dutyuse.And,theheavierthesilk,themoreopaqueitbecomes.Thiscanvaryevenbetweenthesame
kindofsilk.Forexample,lightweightcharmeuseistranslucentwhenusedinclothing,but30momme
charmeuseisopaque.

Threadcount
Threadcountorthreadsperinch(TPI)[7]isameasureofthe
coarsenessorfinenessoffabric.Itismeasuredbycountingthe
numberofthreadscontainedinonesquareinchoffabricorone
squarecentimeter,includingboththelength(warp)andwidth
(weft)threads.Thethreadcountisthenumberofthreadscounted
alongtwosides(upandacross)ofthesquareinch,added
together.Itisusedespeciallyinregardtocottonlinenssuchas
bedsheets,andhasbeenknowntobeusedintheclassificationof
towels.
IndustryStandard
Threadcountisoftenusedasameasureoffabricquality,sothat
"standard"cottonthreadcountsarearound150whilegood
qualitysheetsstartat180andacountof200orhigheris
consideredpercale.Some,butnotall,oftheextremelyhigh
threadcounts(typicallyover500)tendtobemisleadingasthey
Imageshowinghowtodeterminethe
usuallycounttheindividualthreadsin"plied"yarns(ayarnthat
numberoftwistsperinchinapiece
ismadebytwistingtogethermultiplefinerthreads).For
ofyarn
marketingpurposes,afabricwith250twoplyyarnsinboththe
verticalandhorizontaldirectioncouldhavethecomponent
threadscountedtoa1000threadcountalthough"accordingtotheNationalTextileAssociation(NTA),
whichcitestheinternationalstandardsgroupASTM,acceptedindustrypracticeistocounteachthread
asone,eventhreadsspunastwoorthreeplyyarn.TheFederalTradeCommissioninanAugust2005
lettertoNTAagreedthatconsumers'couldbedeceivedormisled'byinflatedthreadcounts.[8]In2002,
ASTMproposedadefinitionfor"threadcount"[9]thathasbeencalled"theindustry'sfirstformal
definitionforthreadcount".[10]AminorityontheASTMcommitteearguedforthehigheryarncount
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numberobtainedbycountingeachsingleyarninapliedyarnandcitedasauthoritytheprovision
relatingtowovenfabricintheHarmonizedTariffScheduleoftheUnitedStates,whichstateseachply
shouldbecountedasoneusingthe"averageyarnnumber."[11]

Endsperinch
Endsperinch(EPIore.p.i.)isthenumberofwarpthreadsperinchofwovenfabric.[7][12]Ingeneral,
thehighertheendsperinch,thefinerthefabricis.Thecurrentfashionistoweartshirtswithahigher
threadcount,suchassoftandcomfortable"30single"teeshirtthathas30threadsperinchascontrasted
tothestandardtshirtwithan18threadcountperinch.
Endsperinchisverycommonlyusedbyweaverswhomustusethenumberofendsperinchinorderto
picktherightreedtoweavewith.Thenumberofendsperinchvariesonthepatterntobewovenandthe
thicknessofthethread.Plainweavesgenerallyusehalfthenumberofwrapsperinchforthenumberof
endsperinch,whereasdenserweaveslikeatwillweavewilluseahigherratioliketwothirdsofthe
numberofwrapsperinch.Finerthreadsrequiremorethreadsperinchthanthickones,andthusresultin
ahighernumberofendsperinch.
Thenumberofendsperinchinapieceofwovenclothvariesdependingonthestageofmanufacture.
Beforetheclothiswoven,thewarphasacertainnumberofendsperinch,whichisdirectlyrelatedto
thesizereedbeingused.Afterweavingthenumberofendsperinchwillincrease,anditwillincrease
againafterbeingwashed.Thisincreaseinthenumberofendsperinch(andpicksperinch)and
shrinkageinthesizeofthefabricisknownasthetakeup.Thetakeupisdependentonmanyfactors,
includingthematerialandhowtightlytheclothiswoven.Tightlywovenfabricshrinksmore(andthus
thenumberofendsperinchincreasesmore)thanlooselywovenfabric,asdomoreelasticyarnsand
fibers.

Picksperinch
Picksperinch(orp.p.i.)isthenumberofweftthreadsperinchofwovenfabric.[12]Apickisasingle
weftthread,[13]hencetheterm.Ingeneral,thehigherthepicksperinch,thefinerthefabricis.

References
1. Haynes,Williams(1946)."XVII:NewFibres:NewFabrics".ThisChemicalAge.London:Seckerand
Warburg.p.217.
2. AllAboutDenier"AllAboutHosieryDenier"(http://www.uktights.com/page/denier).
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Selva1979
4. Collier1970,p.3
5. Collier1970,p.74
6. Curtis1921,p.Cottoncount
7. SchwalbeTires:WhatdoescarcassEPImean?(http://www.schwalbe.de/gbl/en/technik_info/reifenaufbau/?
gesamt=31&flash=0&ID_Land=38&ID_Sprache=2&ID_Seite=140&tn_mainPoint=Technik)
8. FederalTradeCommissionLetter(http://www.nationaltextile.org/library/ftc/thread_count.pdf)retrievedfrom
NTAwebsiteFebruary9,2009
9. RevisedTestMethodFurtherDefinesFabricCount
(http://astm.org/SNEWS/FEBRUARY_2003/fabric_feb03.html)
10. Hometextilestoday.com(http://www.hometextilestoday.com/article/CA475384.html)"DownForthe
(Thread)Count"
11. DownForthe(Thread)Count25October2004HomeTextilesToday
(http://www.hometextilestoday.com/article/CA475384.html)
12. Curtis1921
13. "Pick."TheOxfordEnglishDictionary.2nded.1989.
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13. "Pick."TheOxfordEnglishDictionary.2nded.1989.

Bibliography
Collier,AnnM(1970),AHandbookofTextiles(http://www.amazon.com/HandbookTextiles
ANNMCOLLIER/dp/0080180574),PergamonPress,p.258,ISBN0080180574,ISBN008
0180566,retrievedJanuary2009
Curtis,HP(1921),"GlossaryofTextileTerms"
(http://www.oneguyfrombarlick.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=7122),ArthurRobertsBlackBook.
(Manchester:Marsden&Company,Ltd.1921),retrieved20090111

Externallinks
TextilesIntelligenceGlossary(http://www.textilesintelligence.com/glo/)
TextileYarnCountConversionCalculator(http://www.textileschool.com/calculators/662/yarn
countconversioncalculator)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Units_of_textile_measurement&oldid=662895557"
Categories: Unitsofdensity Textiles
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