Styling Glossary

Decitex:
The Canadian and European equivalent to denier; equals the total weight in grams of 10,000 meters.

Deep-Dyeing fibres:
Fibres made from polymers that have been chemically modified to increase their dyeability. Carpets made of deep dye fibres can be dyed more easily to a darker colour depth.

Deluster:
To subdue or dull the natural luster of a textile material by chemical or physical means. The term often refers to the use of titanium dioxide or other white pigments used in textile materials.

Denier:
A weight-per-unit-length measure of filament fibres or yarns. Denier is numerically equal to the weight in grams of 9,000 meters of fibre. Denier is a direct numbering system in which the lower numbers represent the finer sizes and the higher numbers the coarser sizes. In the U.S., the denier system is used for numbering filament yarns and man-made fibre staple tow (but not spun yarns).

Denier per filament (dpf):
The size of an individual filament (BCF or staple). Dpf is the weight in grams of 9,000 meters of the individual filament. It can be calculated by taking the yarn denier and dividing it by the number of filaments in the yarn bundle. Common range of commercial carpet dpf is 15 dpf to 28 dpf.

Density:
The weight of pile yarn in a unit volume of carpet. It is expressed in ounces per cubic yard in the formula: Density = pile yarn Weight (in ounces per square yard) times 36 divided by pile Thickness or pile Height (in inches). Pile density factors for commercial carpets range from 4200 to 8000.

D = W x 36 / T or H

Differential dyeability:
Fibres that have different dye affinities combined together to produce multicolor carpet from a single dyeing.

Drop match:
A drop match is a pattern that continues across the carpet diagonally or at a 45-degree angle to the edge of the seam.

Dye methods:

• Beck dyed: A method of batch dyeing carpet. A piece dye method. The carpet is sewn into a loop, then hung on a large reel in the dye beck unit which moves the carpet through the dye liquor. This process is continued for a set time and achieves Excellent colour uniformity throughout the carpet.
  
  
• Continuous or "Kuster" dyed: A method of continuously dyeing carpet. A piece dye method.Kuster manufactures a continuous dye machine that is commonly used. Printing is another continuous dyeing process. Large lots of a single dye series are possible with continuous dyeing, but side-to-side colour consistency should be verified.
  
  
• Continuous solid colour dyed: A process of dyeing singles or plied yarn using dye troughs or jets. The application of dye is similar to continuous
  space dye process except that a single colour is applied to the yarn. These solid colour yarns can be tufted into multicolored carpets. Package dyed: This is similar to skein dyeing inasmuch as undyed yarn is wound on perforated tubes and the packages are dyed by passing dye liquor through the packages under pressure.
  
  
• Pad dyed: A process of dyeing carpet, yarn or fibre stock continuously. The material to be dyed passes through a trough containing the dye liquor and then between heavy rollers that squeeze the dye liquor evenly into the material.
  
  
• Skein dyed: A method of dyeing yarn. Undyed spun or filament yarns are plied and heatset, then reeled into skein form and dyed in skein dye kettles.
  
  
• Solution dyed: Pigment is added to the molten polymer from which the filaments are made. The fibre is extruded in colored form.
  
  
• Space dyed: A method of dyeing yarn. Space dye refers to yarn with multiple colors printed on each strand. There are three basic processes used to create this effect: the warp system, the knit de-knit process and the continuous dye process.
  
  
  1. In the warp system, multiple strands of yarn are continuously printed at spaced intervals with different colors. These yarns usually have "long" spaces of each colour. Typical colour lengths are 3/4"-7" with longer lengths becoming popular in carpets with strie aesthetics.
  2. In the knit-de-knit process, the yarn is first knitted into a tubular fabric (sock), dyed to a solid colour and then overprinted with up to seven different colors. These yarns usually have "short" (1/8"-1/4") spaces of colour.
  3. In the continuous dye process, yarn is dyed as singles or plied yarn and colour is applied either by air jet or dye troughs. This process allows for yarns to have either long or short spaces of colour.
     
     
• Stock dyed: Used for staple fibre only. Undyed, loose staple fibres are dyed in a vat. They are then blended, carded and spun into yarn.

Dye sites:
Functional groups within a fibre that provide sites for chemical binding with the dye molecule. Dye sites may be either in the polymer chain or in chemical additives included in the fibre.