Synthetic fibers leave spinning smooth and straight, so a stuffer box or heat treatment presses a zigzag or helical wave into them, counted in crimps per centimeter or per inch. Crimp gives a card web the cohesion to hold together and adds bulk and resilience to the finished fabric. Too little and the web falls apart at the doffer; too much and fibers tangle into neps.
New lot has barely any crimp, the web keeps dropping off the doffer at full speed.
Also heard as
- fiber crimp
Related terms
Staple fiber
Fibers cut to a fixed, finite length, as opposed to continuous filament, used in carded, airlaid and wetlaid webs.
Carding
Combing staple fibers between wire-covered rolls to open them and form an even, mostly parallel web.
Nep
Small, tight knot of tangled fibers that shows as a speck or pimple on the fabric surface.
Loft
Thickness and springiness of a nonwoven, especially its ability to recover thickness after being compressed.