Textile Glossary - H

HAIRY: See FUZZINESS.

HAND: The tactile qualities of a fabric, e.g., softness, firmness, elasticity, fineness, resilience, and other qualities perceived by touch.

HAND-BLOCKED PRINT: A fabric that has been printed by hand with wooden or linoleum blocks. (Also see PRINTING.)

HANDLE: See HAND.

HANG PICK: A pick that is caught on a warp yarn knot for a short distance which produces a triangular hole in the fabric. Hang picks usually result from knots that are tied incorrectly, shuttle tension that is too loose, or harness that is timed too early.

HANG SHOT: See HANG PICK.

HANK:

1. A skein of yarn.
2. A standard length of slubbing, roving, or yarn. The length is specified by the yarn numbering system in use; e.g., cotton hanks have a length of 840 yards.
3. A term applied to slubbing or roving that indicates the yarn number (count); e.g., a 1.5 hank roving.

HANK ROVING: See HANK.

HARD FIBER: Stiff, elongated fibers obtained from leaves or stems of plants. Coarse and stiff, they are used in matting and industrial products.

HARDNESS: 1. When used in reference to water, hardness is the total parts per million (ppm) of calcium an CaCO3 plus the magnesium expressed as equivalent CaCO3 [ppm hardness (as CaCO3) = (ppm Ca x 2.497 + ppm Mg x 4.116)]. 2. Used in reference to pulp to denote the degree of delignification.

HARD SIZE: A condition found in areas of fabric where the warp contains an excessive quantity of sizing.

HARNESS: A frame holding the heddles in position in the loom during weaving.

HARNESS CHAIN: A mechanism used to control the vertical movements of the harness, or shaft, on a loom.

HARSH FIBER: Fiber that is rough or coarse to the touch, but not fused or bonded filaments.

HEAD END:

1. The beginning of a new piece of fabric in the loom that bears appropriate identification.
2. A small sample of fabric that may be submitted to a customer for approval.

HEATHER YARN: A term describing mottled or melange-type yarns.

HEAT RESISTANCE: A property of certain fibers or yarns whereby they resist degradation at high temperature. Heat resistance may be an inherent property of the fiber-forming polymer or it may be imparted by additives or treatment during manufacture. (Also see HEAT STABILIZED.)

HEAT-SETTING: The process of conferring dimensional stability and often other desirable properties such as wrinkle resistance and improved heat resistance to manufactured fibers, yarns, and fabrics by means of either moist of dry heat.

HEAT STABILIZED: A term to describe fiber or yarn heat-treated to reduce the tendency of the fiber to shrink or elongate under load at elevated temperature. (Also see HEAT RESISTANCE.)

HEAVYEND: 1. The higher boiling fraction in distillation. 2. See COARSE THREAD.

HEAVY FILLING: See COARSE THREAD.

HEAVY PICK: See COARSE THREAD.

HEDDLE: A cord, round steel wire, or thin flat steel strip with a loop or eye near the center through which one or more warp threads pass on the loom so that the thread movement may be controlled in weaving. The heddles are held at both ends by the harness frame. They control the weave pattern and shed as the harnesses are raised and lowered during weaving.

HELIX ANGLE:

1. The angle formed by the path of a ply and the major axis in a yarn or tire cord.
2. The angle between the tangent to a yarn and the minor axis of the package on which it is wound. Also called wind angle.

HEMICELLULOSES: The principal noncellulosic polysaccharides in wood. Wood contains 28 to 35% hemicelluloses, the balance being cellulose and lignin.

HEMP: A coarse, durable bast fiber of Cannabis sativa found all over the world. Used primarily for twines, cordage, halyards, and tarred riggings.

HERRINGBONE: A broken twill weave characterized by a balanced zigzag effect produced by having the rib run first to the right and then to the left for an equal number of threads.

HESSIAN: A name for burlap used in the United Kingdom, India, and parts or Europe. (Also see BURLAP.)

HETEROFILAMENT: Also called Heterofil. See BICOMPONENT FIBERS.

HEXAMETHYLENEDIAMINE: 1,6-diaminohexane, (H2N(CH2)6NH2). It is used in the polymerization reaction to form nylon 66.

HIGH-BULK YARN: See TEXTURED YARNS.

HIGH DENSITY: A term to describe a material with heavier than normal weight per unit volume. (Also see DENSITY.)

HIGHLOFT: General term for a fiber structure containing more air than fiber. Specifically, a lofty, low-density nonwoven structure that is used for applications such as fiberfill, insulation, health care, personal protection and cleaning material.

HIGH-LOW PILE: A pile construction characterized by the presence of two or more pile heights. High-low pile carpets sometimes combine looped and cut surface yarns.

HIGH MODULUS: A term that refers to a material with a higher than normal resistance to deformation. (Also see MODULUS.)

HIGH pH FINISH: A finish, basic in nature rather than acid or neutral, that is applied to yarn or fiber.

 HIGH-SHRINK STAPLE: Staple with a higher degree of potential shrinkage than regular staple of the same generic fiber. When blended with regular staple and treated (in yarn or fabric form) to induce shrinkage, it produces a high degree of bulk in the product.

HIGH-TEMPERATURE DYEING: See DYEING.

HIGH TENACITY: A term to describe a material with a higher than normal tensile strength. (Also see TENACITY.)

HITCH-BACK: See STICKER, 1.

HOLES (TOW): In tow opening processes, partial or complete filament breakage within a confined spread of tow, usually circular or oval in shape. Not to be confused with splitting or partial crimp deregistration, which are linear.

HOLLAND: See SHADECLOTH.

HOLLAND FINISH: A glazed or unglazed finish containing oil and a filling material. The finish is applied to cotton fabrics to make them opaque or semiopaque. The resultant fabric resembles a beetled linen fabric called Holland fabric.

HOLLOW FILAMENT FIBERS: Manufactured, continuous filament fibers, having voids created by introduction of air or other gas in the polymer solution or by melt spinning through specially designed spinnerets.

HOMESPUN: Coarse plain-weave fabric of uneven yarns that have a handspun appearance.

HONAN: A pongee-type fabric of the very best Chinese wild silk. Honan is sometimes woven with blue edges.

HOOK REED: See REED.

HOPSACKING: A coarse, open, basket-weave fabric that gets its name from the plain-weave fabric of jute or hemp used for sacking in which hops are gathered.

HORIZONTAL FLAME TEST: See FLAMMABILITY TESTS.

HORIZONTAL LINE: See RING.

HOT-AIR SHRINKAGE: Generally, the reduction in the dimensions of a fabric, yarn, or fiber induced by exposure to dry heat. Specifically, a fundamental property of fibers.

HOT-HEAD PRESS: A pressing machine capable of generating high temperatures and pressures. Used for pressing and processing permanent-press fabrics.

HOT-MELT ADHESIVE: A solid material that melts quickly upon heating, then sets to a firm bond upon cooling. Use of this type adhesive provides almost instantaneous bonding.

HOUNDSTOOTH: A term describing a medium-sized broken-check effect; the check is actually a four pointed star.

 HUCKABACK: A heavy, serviceable toweling made with slackly twisted filling yarns to aid absorption. The cloth has a honeycomb effect.

HYBRID COMPOSITE: Advanced composite with a combination of different high-strength continuous filaments in the matrix. Also, composite in which continuous and staple fibers are used in the same matrix.

HYBRID FABRIC: Fabric for composite manufacture in which two or more different yarns are used in the fabric construction. This provides design flexibility to meet performance requirements and controls cost by permitting some lower priced fibers to be used.

HYBRID YARN: In aerospace textiles, a yarn having more than one component. (Also see COMMINGLED YARN.)

HYDRAULIC ENTANGLEMENT: See HYDROENTANGLING.

HYDROENTANGLING: Process for forming a fabric by mechanically wrapping and knotting fibers in a web through the use of high-velocity jets or curtains of water. (Also see SPUNLACES FABRIC.)

HYDROEXTRACTOR: See CENTRIFUGE.

HYDROGENATION: The process of passing hydrogen into an unsaturated chemical in the presence of a catalyst to convert the material to a more saturated state (i.e., containing more combined hydrogen.)

HYDROLYSIS: A double decomposition reaction involving the addition of the elements of water and the formation of an acid and a base, an acid and an alcohol, or an acid and phenol.

HYDROPHILIC: Having strong affinity for or the ability to absorb water.

HYDROPHOBIC: Lacking affinity for or the ability to absorb water.

HYDROSCOPIC: Having the ability to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. All fibers have this property in varying degrees.

HYDROXYL END GROUP: A polymer chain-terminating (-OH) group.

HYGROSCOPIC: See HYDROSCOPIC.

HYSTERESIS:

1. In tire cord, a measurement of work lost through heat during dynamic operation.
2. In tensile testing, loss of linear recovery following repeated loading and relaxation.