| Barré | "An imperfection, characterized by a ridge or mark running in the crosswise or lengthwise directions of the fabric. BarrŽs can be caused by tension variations in the knitting process, poor quality yarns, problems during the finishing process." |
| Basket Weave | "A variation of the plain weave construction, formed by treating two or more warp yarns and/or two or more filling yarns as one unit in the weaving process." |
| Batiste | "A medium-weight, plain weave fabric, usually made of cotton or cotton blends. End-uses include blouses and dresses." |
| Ballotini | Small glass beads which are normally used in reflective paints but which can also be incorporated into fabrics. |
| Bandana | "Handkerchief designs in simple colour and white stylised patterns, including spots." |
| Barrier (geotextiles) | a material which prevents fluid movement across the plane of a geotextile. A nonwoven geotextile saturated with an impermeable substance (eg bentonite clay) can act as a barrier material. |
| Bast fibre | "Strong, soft, woody fibers, such as flax, jute, hemp, and ramie, which are obtained from the inner bark in the stems of certain plants." |
| Batik | A traditional dyeing process in which portions of cloth are coated with wax and therefore resist the dye. Batik fabrics are characterised by a streaky or mottled appearance. |
| Batt | Single or multiple sheets of fibre used in the production of nonwoven fabric. |
| Bayadère | A fabric or design with horizontal plain or patterned stripes. |
| BCF | Bulked continuous filament(BCF) textured yarn used mainly in the construction of carpets or upholstery. |
| Bedford cord | A cord cotton-like fabric with raised ridges in the lengthwise direction. |
| Belt-edge separation (tyres) | "Separation of the plies of reinforcing fabric from the rubber matrix of a tyre, at the edge of the belt of reinforcement." |
| Bias belted tyres | Tyres reinforced by layers of tyre cord fabric arranged alternately so that the main load bearing yarns lie at an angle of less than 90° to the plane in which the tyre rotates and yarns of adjacent layers cross each other. |
| Bi-component fibres | "Fibres spun from two different polymers. The most common types are made from polymers which have different melting points and are used for thermal bonding. Another variant is produced from polymers which have differing solubilities. In this case one |
| Bicomponent yarn | A yarn having two different continuous filament components. |
| Bilaminate (fabric) | A fabric formed by bonding two separate fabrics together. |
| Binder | An adhesive material used to hold fibres together in a nonwoven structure. |
| Biocompatibility | Compatibility with living tissue or a living system by not being toxic or injurious. |
| Birdseye | "A fabric woven to produce a pattern of very small, uniform spots." |
| Bi-shrinkage yarn | "A yarn containing two different types of filament, which have different shrinkages." |
| Blinding (geotextiles) | "A condition in which soil particles block openings on the surface of a geotextile, thereby reducing the hydraulic conductivity of the geotextile." |
| Blend | "A term applied to a yarn or a fabric that is made up of more than one fiber. In blended yarns, two or more different types of staple fibers are twisted or spun together to form the yarn. Examples of a typical blended yarn or fabric is polyester/cotto |
| BOD | Biological oxygen demand- A measure of pollution by oxygen-consuming organic materials in an effluent stream. |
| Boiling | A process in which a yarn or garment made from staple fibre containing wool or animal hair is left in boiling water so that the original fabric construction is obscured by the felted surface. |
| Bonded fabric | "A nonwoven fabric in which the fibres are held together by a bonding material. This may be an adhesive or a bonding fibre with a low melting point. Alternatively, the material may be held together by stitching." |
| Bonding agent | See binder. |
| Bouclé | A compound yarn comprising a twisted core with an effect-yarn wrapped around it so as to produce loops on the surface. |
| Bouclette | A small bouclé effect. |
| Bourette | A silk noil fabric made from short fibre (silk waste) with a textured surface. |
| Bowl | One of a pair of large rollers forming a nip. |
| Braided yarn | Intertwined yarn containing two or more strands. |
| Breaking extension | The percentage extension at maximum load. |
| Breaking strength (geotextiles) | The ultimate tensile strength of a geotextile per unit width. |
| Breathability | "The ability of a fabric, coating or laminate to transfer water vapour from one of its surfaces through the material to the other surface. See also moisture vapour transmission rate (MVTR)." |
| Brocade | "Usually a jacquard woven fabric in which the figure is developed by floating the warp threads, the weft threads, or both, and interlacing them in a more or less irregular order." |
| Broadcloth | "A plain weave tightly woven fabric, characterized by a slight ridge effect in one direction, usually the filling. The most common broadcloth is made from cotton or cotton/polyester blends." |
| Brocatelle | A heavy figured cloth in which the pattern is created by warp threads in a satin weave. |
| Burlap | "A loosely constructed, heavy weight, plain weave fabric used as a carpet backing, and as inexpensive packaging for sacks of grain or rice. Also, as fashion dictates, burlap may also appear as a drapery fabric." |
| Burn-out | "A brocade-like pattern effect created on the fabric through the application of a chemical, instead of color, during the burn-out printing process. (Sulfuric acid, mixed into a colorless print paste, is the most common chemical used.) Many simulated e |