STAPLE FIBRE YARNS

• A staple spun yarn can be classified as being made from either short staple or long staple
• A staple fibre can have a length of between 10 to 500 millimetres
  • Short staple fibre has a maximum length of 60 millimetres, (cotton fibre is a short staple - about 25 to 45 mm)
  • Long staple fibre has a length of more than 60 millimetres, (wool fibre is a long staple - about 60 to 150 mm)

• There are a large number of different spinning methods
• Here we will look at some of the most relevant,ring spun, rotor spun, twistless, wrap spun and core spun yarns
  • ring spun yarns
    • The most popular method of staple fibre yarn production
    • The fibres are twisted around each other to give strength to the yarn
  • rotor spun yarns
    • Similar to ring spinning
    • Generally rotor spun yarns are only made from short staple fibres
    • Rotor spinning produces a more regular, smoother yarn than ring spinning
    • Rotor spun yarn is weaker than ring spun
  • twistless yarns
    • Rather than being twisted, the fibres are held together by some form of adhesive
    • The glued fibres are often laid over a continuous filament core
  • wrap spun yarns
    • The yarns are made from staple fibres bound by another yarn
    • The binding yarn is usually a continuous man-made filament yarn
    • They can be made from either short or long staple fibres
  • core spun yarns
    • Core spun yarns have a central core wrapped with staple fibres
    • They are produced in one operation at the time of spinning
    • For example, a cotton outer for handle and comfort, with a filament (often polyester) core
      for added strength, (lots of sewing threads)
      or cotton over an elastomeric core (shirring elastic)

• Under this heading we are going to categorise yarns made from more than one strand
• They are often referred to as compound, or complex or multiple yarns.
• They can be split into three categories, folded or double yarns, cabled yarns and novelty yarns
  
  
  • folded or doubled yarn
    • This yarn has two or more single ends twisted together
    • The yarns are twisted in a single operation
    • They are referred to as two-fold, three-fold, etc.
  • cabled yarns
    • Two or more already folded yarns are twisted together
  • novelty yarns
    • These are yarns that differ from normal yarns, in appearance, texture and handle
    • They constitute a vast range of types, many specifically designed for hand knitters
    • Novelty yarns can be further split into two categories, fancy and metalic
      • fancy yarns
        • Fancy yarns can be made from staple or filament fibres
        • They are intentionly produced to have a distorted or irregular construction
        • Popular effects include knops, snarls, loops and slubs
      • metalic yarns
        • Usually produced from aluminium sheets laminated with plastic film, cut into thin ribbons
        • Or can be core spun, for example a polyester core with a metalic outer