| Lamb's wool | "The first clip of wool sheered from lambs up to eight months old. The wool is soft, slippery and resilient. It is used in fine grade woolen fabrics." |
| Lace | Fine open-work fabric with a mesh ground upon which patterns are worked. |
| Lacquer | A fabric finish which achieves a varnished look. |
| Ladder yarn | A knitted tape yarn with the appearance of a ladder. |
| Lamé | A woven fabric using flat silver or gold metal threads to create either the design or the background in the fabric. |
| Lawn | "A light, fine cloth made using carded or combed, linen or cotton yarns. The fabric has a crease-resistant, crisp finish. Linen lawn is synonymous with handkerchief linen. Cotton lawn is a similar type of fabric, which can be white, solid colored, or prin |
| Leaching | The removal of a substance (such as a dyestuff) by a liquid which is in contact with the substance. |
| Leno weaving | A form of weaving in which warp threads are made to cross one another between weft insertions. |
| Leno woven fabric | A fabric characterised by an open cellular appearance. |
| Leno-mesh | A fabric in which warp threads have been made to cross one another between picks during leno weaving. |
| Linear density | the weight per unit length of a yarn or fibre. Units of linear density include decitex and denier. |
| Linen | "A fabric made from linen fibers obtained from inside the woody stem of the flax plant. Linen fibers are much stronger and more lustrous than cotton. Linen fabrics are very cool and absorbent, but wrinkle very easily, unless blended with manufactured fibe |
| Lining | "A fabric that is used to cover the inside of a garment to provide a finished look. Generally, the lining is made of a smooth lustrous fabric." |
| LLDPE | Linear low density polyethylene. |
| Loden | "A thick heavy waterproof woollen cloth which is used to make garments, especially coats." |
| LOI (limiting oxygen index) | A measure of flammability; the level of oxygen in the oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere (expressed as a percentage) that must be present before a fibre will ignite and burn when exposed to flame. |
| Looper | An eyed stitch-forming element which carries an under thread or a cover thread on some types of sewing machine. |
| Loom | A machine used for weaving fabrics. |
| LOY | Low orientation yarn. |
| Lurex | "The brand name for a yarn with a metallic appearance, made by the company Lurex. The word is also used by the trade as a generic description." |
| Lycra | DuPont's brand name for its elastane or spandex fibre. |
| Lyocell | "The generic name given to a new family of cellulosic fibres and yarns that have been produced by solvent spinning. The process is widely regarded as being environmentally-friendly, and the product offers a number of advantages over traditional cellulosic |