| The space between adjacent wires in a reed. Dents/inch | A unit of measure which denotes the number of reed wires and spaces between adjacent wires in one inch. |
| Tactel | A brand name used by DuPont for its nylon fibre. |
| Taffeta | "A closely woven, plain-weave fabric with a crisp handle and a smooth surface. Its a lustrous, medium weight, plain weave fabric with a slight ribbed appearance in the filling (crosswise) direction." |
| Tanquis | A type of long staple fibre cotton. |
| Tape yarn | "A yarn used for knitwear in the form of a tape with a large width-to-thickness ratio. Such yarns are typically formed by weaving or knitting. Knitted tape yarns are often made on circular knitting machines, giving them a tubular cross-section." |
| Tapestry | A closely woven figured fabric with a compound structure in which a pattern is developed by the use of coloured yarns in the warp or in the weft or both. A fine binder warp and weft may be incorporated. The fabric is woven on jacquard looms and is normall |
| Tartan | "A fabric, originally a woollen 2/2 twill worn by Scottish Highlanders, woven in checks of various colours." |
| Taupe | "A brownish-grey colour, from the French word for ""mole""." |
| Tear resistance | "A measurement of fabric strength. Also, a property imparted by using ""ripstop"" yarns in close woven fabrics." |
| Tear strength (geotextiles) | The force required to start or continue or propagate a tear in a geotextile under specified conditions. |
| Technical textiles | "Textile materials and products manufactured primarily for their technical performance and functional properties rather than their aesthetic or decorative characteristics. End uses include aerospace, industrial, marine, medical, military, safety and trans |
| Teflon | A brand name used by DuPont for a stain-resist fabric treatment. |
| Tenacity | "A unit used to measure the strength of a fibre or yarn, usually calculated by dividing the breaking force by the linear density." |
| Tencel | Acordis's brand name for a recently developed cellulosic fibre which is generically known as lyocell. Tencel is stronger than viscose cellulosic fibre and is characterised by its softness and drape. |
| Tendon | A tough band of tissue which connects muscle to bones. |
| Tensile strength | The longitudinal stress which a substance can bear without tearing apart. |
| Tension Control Weave | "A type of decorative weave, characterized by a puckered effect which occurs because the tension in the warp yarns is intentionally varied before the filling yarns are placed in the fabric." |
| Termination | "Device used at the end of a rope to secure it to a vessel, anchor, buoy, structure, etc, or to join two lengths of rope. A knot is the simplest form, but greater efficiency is achieved with splices, resin sockets, or mechanical grips." |
| Terry Velour | "A pile weave cotton fabric with an uncut pile on one side and a cut pile on the reverse side. Terry velour is valued for its soft, luxurious hand. Typical uses include towels, robes, and apparel." |
| Tex | "A measure of linear density; the weight in grams of 1,000 metres of yarn." |
| Textured yarn | "A continuous filament yarn that has been processed to introduce durable crimps, coils, loops or other fine distortions along the lengths of the filaments." |
| Texturing | A process during which a textured yarn is produced. |
| Thai silk | Silk from Thailand typified by a rough texture. |
| Thermal Bonding | "Part of a production route for making nonwovens in which a web, which must contain some meltable synthetic fibres, is heated by a hot gas or by calendering. The fibres melt and form inter-fibre bonds." |
| Thermal insulation | The property of a fabric or garment to prevent heat loss between one surface and the other. Important in outerwear garments. |
| Thermoplastic yarns | Yarns which are deformable by applying heat and pressure without any accompanying change. The deformation is reversible. |
| Thermoplastics | "A type of resin or polymer which can be remelted after cross-linking. Examples include polyolefins, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate." |
| Thermosets | "Thermosetting resins or polymers formed by chemical cross-linking which renders them permanently solid. This reaction is irreversible and, unlike thermoplastics, thermosets do not melt when heated. Typical thermosets are polyesters, acrylics, epoxies, ph |
| Through-air bonding | A process in which a web containing fibres with a low melting point is bonded in a carefully controlled hot air stream. |
| Ticking | "A tightly woven, very durable fabric, usually made of cotton, and used for covering mattresses, box springs, pillows, and work clothes." |
| Tie-dye | A traditional dyeing process in which fabric is tied and dyed. |
| Titre | "Linear density. (See also denier, decitex.)" |
| Tog | A unit used in Europe for the insulating properties of items such as duvets and sleeping bags. It is defined in the British Standards BS47451990 and BS53351991. Tog is analogous to the US clo unit (1 tog = 0.64 clo). |
| Toile de Jouy | Classic designs originally created in the 1760s for the French court by textile designers in the town of Jouy en Josas. |
| Ton | "(in this publication) 1,000 kilograms." |
| Tops | "Sliver which forms the starting material for the worsted and other drawing systems. Tops are usually formed by combing, or by the cutting or controlled breaking of continuous filament man-made fibres and the assembly of the resultant staple fibres into s |
| Torque | "A force which tends to cause rotation, usually due to twist having been inserted into a yarn or removed from a yarn (see twist liveliness)." |
| Tourmaline | "A group of hard, glassy minerals used in optical and electrical equipment and in jewellery." |
| Tow | The name given to an untwisted assembly of a large number of filaments; tows are cut up to produce staple fibres. |
| Transmissivity (geotextiles) | A measure of the ability of a geotextile to transmit fluids within its plane. |
| Trauma | Injury to a living tissue. |
| Tree bark | The visual effect of tree bark created in a fabric weave. |
| Triacetate | "A manufactured fiber, which like acetate, is made by modifying cellulose." |
| Tricot warp knitting machine | "A warp knitting machine using bearded or compound needles mounted vertically, or nearly so, in which the fabric is supported and controlled by sinkers. The fabric is removed from the knitting point at approximately 90° to the needles' movement (nearer th |
| Tricot warp knitted | "A warp knitted fabric knitted with two full sets of warp threads, each set making a 1 and 1 lapping movement but in opposite directions. Additionally the term is now used generically to cover all types of warp knitted fabric made on tricot warp knitting |
| Tricotine | "A weft-face woven fabric, originally with a cotton warp and worsted weft, which displays a fine, flat twill line." |
| Trilobal | "A fibre with a three-pointed, star-shaped cross-section. This gives the fibre rigidity and resilience. Also, it has many reflecting surfaces which are efficient at scattering light to hide dirt. For these reasons, trilobal fibres are often used in carpet |
| Tuck stitch | A stitch consisting of a held loop. |
| Tulle | "A lightweight, extremely fine, machine-made netting, usually with a hexagon shaped mesh effect. End-uses include dance costumes and veils." |
| Tussah | Wild silk from Thailand characterised by an irregular surface. |
| Tweed | "Originally, a coarse, heavyweight, rough surfaced wool fabric for outerwear, woven in Scotland. The term is now applied to fabrics made in a wide range of weights and qualities, generally from woollen spun yarns." |
| Twill weave | "A basic weave in which the fabrics are constructed by interlacing warp and filling yarns in a progressive alternation which creates a diagonal effect on the face, or right side, of the fabric. In some twill weave fabrics, the diagonal effect may also be |
| Twist liveliness | The tendency of a yarn to twist or untwist spontaneously. |
| Tyre cord fabric | A fabric that forms the main carcase of a pneumatic tyre. It is constructed predominantly of a ply warp with a light weft to assist processing. |
| Tyre yarn | Yarn that is used in the manufacture of the textile carcase of rubber tyres. |