Nap (textile)

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Nap (textile)

Primarily, nap is the raised (fuzzy) surface on certain kinds of cloth

Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
, such as velvet

Velvet

File:Ottoman cover.jpgVelvet is a type of tufted textile in which the cut yarns are very evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinct feel....
. Nap can refer additionally to other surfaces that look like the surface of a napped cloth, such as the surface of a felt

Felt

Felt is a non-weave cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials....
or beaver hat

Hat

A hat is a headcovering. It may be worn for protection against the elements, for religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status....
.

Starting around the 14th century, the word referred originally to the roughness of woven

Weaving

Weaving is the textile arts in which two distinct sets of yarn, called the Warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a textile....
cloth before it was sheared. When cloth, especially woolen cloth, is woven, the surface of the cloth is not smooth, and this roughness is the nap.

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Encyclopedia

Primarily, nap is the raised (fuzzy) surface on certain kinds of cloth

Textile

Velvet

Felt

Hat

Weaving

Piled nap

Since the 15th century, the term nap generally refers to a special pile

Pile (textile)

In textiles, pile is the raised surface or nap of a fabric, which is made of upright loops or strands of yarn. Examples of pile textiles are carpets, corduroy, velvet, plush, and Turkish towels.....
given to the cloth. The term pile refers to raised fibers that are there on purpose, rather than as a by product of producing the cloth. In this case, the nap is woven into the cloth, often by weaving loops into the fabric, which can then be cut or left intact. Carpet

Carpet

A carpet is any loom-woven, felted textile or grass floor covering. The term was also used for table and wall coverings, as carpets were not commonly used on the floor in European interiors until the 18th century....
s, rug

Rug

A rug can be:* a floor covering produced by rug making* a carpet command-line interface to the ZENworks Linux Management agent, which uses Red Carpet for Linux Management...
s, velvet

Velvet

File:Ottoman cover.jpgVelvet is a type of tufted textile in which the cut yarns are very evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinct feel....
, velour

Velour

Velour or velours is a plush, knits fabric or textile. It is usually made from cotton but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester....
, and velveteen

Velveteen

Velveteen is a cotton cloth made in imitation of velvet. The term is sometimes applied to a mixture of silk and cotton. Some velveteens are a kind of fustian, having a rib of velvet pile alternating with a plain depression....
, are made by interlacing a secondary yarn through woven cloth, creating a nap or pile.

Raising the nap

In the finishing process of manufacturing textiles

Textile manufacturing

Textile manufacture is a major industry. It is based in the conversion of three types of fiber into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. These are then fabricated into clothing or other artifacts....
, after the cloth is woven, it goes through processes such as washing, fulling

Fulling

Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woollen Textile manufacturing which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker....
, raising the nap, and trimming the nap. After the nap is trimmed, the fabric is considered finished. The raising process, which draws out the ends of the fibers, is done on both woolen

Woolen

Woollen is the name of a yarn and cloth usually made from wool. Woollen yarn is known for being light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn....
and cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
fabric. Flannelette

Flannel

Flannel is a soft #Weave fabric, of various fineness. It usually doesn't have a nap , and instead gains its softness through the loosely spun yarn it is woven from....
is a cotton fabric that goes through this process. There are ways to 'raise the nap', most of which involve wire brushes such as raising card

Raising card

A raising card is used to raise cloth. Raising is the technique used to produce the nap of cloth. Originally, only woolen cloth was raised, but now flannel#Flannelette and other cotton fabrics are also raised....
s. Originally, dried teasel pods were used and were still preferred for use on woolen cloth for a long time. Woolen fabrics, which must be damp when raising the nap, are then dried and stretched before the nap is trimmed or sheared. Cotton cloth goes straight to the shearing process, where the nap gets trimmed to ensure that all the raised fibers are the same length.