Fabric & Blanket factory
An integrated fabric&blanket making factory in Japan
~ with the original techniques of skilled craftsmen ~
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Next, we move on to the finishing treatment. There are four steps in the process: pile-raising, brushing, polishing, and shearing. The finishing treatment is very complicated and it moves through various routes throughout the four steps depending on the kind of material that is used and the type of fabric texture that is being produced.
Brushing
After passing through the dryer, each yarn of the fabric is in a twisted state. Thus, we apply a needle roller to the fabric to untwist the yarn. This makes it fluffy and restores it from a carpet-like condition.
The craftsman adjusts the timing of hitting the fabric with the needle to a few millimeters using his eye and intuition. The fabric will be finished into a blanket with a large volume by pressing the hair firmly from the bottom of the fabric.
Pile-Raising
The front pile is peeled out on the back side with a needle and finished into a blanket. By slowly and repeatedly raising the pile using gentle force, fine piles come out.
Since the front pile’s density decreases as the pile comes out on the back side, it is important to adjust the pile-density balance between the front and back sides. Depending on the fabric’s material and density—and even the weather conditions—moderate strength may be used when brushing.
Only craftsmen with decades of experience can exquisitely adjust the degree of brushing.
After steaming, the fabric’s pile shrinks. Thus, heat is applied to the fabric to stretch out the pile, which produces gloss and volume. Simultaneously, the fabric becomes softer by applying a high temperature of about 200 degrees much higher than room temperature .
The shrunk pile is then stretched straight. If we compare the pile to human hair, it is like applying a straightening iron .
The heated cylinder rotates. Gloss is produced by using two cylinders with different temperatures. This is the same principle as applying a hair dryer to human hair at high temperature and then doing so again at a lower temperature.
Polishing
Shearing
In this process, we cut off the pile tips with a cutter in order to make the piles’ length equal. Making the pile height uniform produces a smoother fabric and also makes the color pattern of the fabric clearer.
A high-speed rotary spiral cutter is able to cut more without burdening the blade or the fabric. In addition, a suction machine is added on to the shearing machine to absorb the fine dust that is generated during the finishing treatment.
