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2026-05-13
Full Analysis of Classification and Properties of Textile Fabrics

Textile fabrics, walking works of art, play an indispensable role in people’s lives with their unique charm and diverse properties. From lightweight gauze and thick cotton cloth to delicate silk and sturdy linen fabrics, each type of textile boasts distinctive styles and functions. They not only beautify our daily lives but also deliver essential practical values.

Fabrics are two-dimensional fiber assemblies formed by weaving, netting and other processes with yarns or fibers, which are widely seen in daily life. They can be woven fabrics structured by interlacing warp and weft yarns on looms, knitted fabrics made by looping and intermeshing yarns via knitting needles, or braided products shaped by hand or mechanical braiding of threads and ropes. Besides, nonwoven fabrics are also common textile materials, directly fabricated through fiber web formation and consolidation without traditional weaving processes. As a major category, woven fabrics occupy a pivotal position in the textile industry thanks to their diverse weaving techniques and structural designs.
Knitted fabrics are formed by looping and interlocking yarns with knitting motions, holding an irreplaceable status in textiles. Loops, their basic structural units, shape the unique features that distinguish knitted fabrics from other fabric types.
Nonwoven fabrics are sheet-like materials, fiber webs and battings manufactured by bonding randomly or directionally arranged fibers through friction, cohesion, adhesion or combined methods. It shall be noted that papers, woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, tufted fabrics and wet-felted felts are excluded from this definition.

Braided fabrics fall into two main categories: one is made by bending, overlapping or twisting two or more strip materials; the other is formed by interlooping and twisting single or multiple strips.


Classification and Characteristics of Fabrics

Boasting rich varieties and unique traits, fabrics can be categorized by weaving techniques and raw materials. The following is an in-depth analysis of fabric classification and features.

Classification by Raw Materials

This mainstream classification method clearly reflects the fundamental characteristics of fabrics for better application and research.

1. Classification by Fiber Raw Materials

  • Pure Fiber Fabrics: Made of single type of fiber, such as pure cotton and pure wool fabrics.
  • Blended Fabrics: Composed of two or more mixed fibers, e.g. cotton-polyester blended fabrics.
  • Interwoven Fabrics: Woven with yarns of different fibers, such as fabrics with pure cotton warp yarns and polyester weft yarns.

2. Classification by Yarn Types

  • Single Yarn Fabrics: Fully woven with single yarns for weaving, knitting and braiding.
  • Plied Yarn Fabrics: Made entirely of folded yarns with high strength and durability.
  • Half-ply Fabrics: Interwoven with plied yarns and single yarns (mostly weft-wise), combining advantages of both yarn types.
  • Fancy Yarn Fabrics: Produced with special-effect fancy yarns including slub yarns and spiral yarns.
  • Filament Fabrics: Woven with natural silk or chemical filament fibers, featuring elegant luster and soft hand feel.

Classification by Fabric Specifications

Fabric specifications determine appearance and service performance, affecting texture, hand feel, durability and wearing comfort. Precise specification control is core to textile quality management.

1. Classification by Fabric Width

  • Tape Fabrics: Narrow strip or tubular fabrics with width ranging from 0.3cm to 30cm, also known as braided tapes.
  • Small-width Fabrics: Standard width of about 40cm.
  • Narrow-width Fabrics: Width less than 90cm for specific usage scenarios.
  • Wide-width Fabrics: Width over 90cm, widely used for large-area cloth and decorative textiles.
  • Double-width Fabrics: Approximate width of 150cm, belonging to extra-wide textiles.
Cylindrical knitted fabrics produced by circular knitting machines can be cut open and classified according to the above width standards.

2. Classification by Fabric Thickness

Classified by fabric thickness Tw (unit: mm):
  • Lightweight fabrics: Tw ＜ 0.24mm
  • Medium-thick fabrics: Between lightweight and heavyweight standards
  • Heavyweight fabrics: Exceeding medium-thick fabric thickness
Combed Wool Fabrics: Tw ＜ 0.40mm, favored for fine workmanship and soft texture.
Carded Wool Fabrics: Tw ranging from 0.60mm to 1.10mm, popular for solid texture and high durability.
Other Fabrics: Thickness above 1.10mm up to 1.60mm or thicker. Silk fabrics generally have thickness below 0.14mm, well-received for superior texture and luster.

3. Classification by Areal Density

Classified by fabric weight per square meter (g/m²):
  • Combed wool fabrics: 130~350g/m²
    Lightweight: below 195g/m²
    Medium-thick: 195~315g/m²
    Heavyweight: above 315g/m²
  • Knitted fabrics:
    Low weight: below 100g/m²
    Medium weight: 100~250g/m²
    High weight: above 250g/m² (even over 300g/m²)

4. Classification by Dyeing & Finishing Processes

Different finishing methods change fabric appearance, hand feel and functions, including dyeing, printing, napping, waterproof and stain-resistant treatment.
  1. Divided into grey fabrics and yarn-dyed fabrics by pre-weaving yarn dyeing processes.
  2. Divided into bleached fabrics, dyed fabrics and printed fabrics by post-dyeing techniques.
  3. Classified by final finishing: vintage finishing, napping, mercerizing, wrinkle shaping and functional finishing.

Performance Characteristics of Various Fabrics

Fabric Durability

Durability refers to the capacity of fabrics to maintain original properties under external forces, including mechanical damages such as stretching, tearing, bursting, piercing, impact, fatigue and abrasion, as well as performance degradation, deformation and failure caused by heat, light, electricity and other natural factors.
With the rising pursuit of fashion and individuality, garments require not only basic warmth retention but also durable quality to highlight fashion value. For special textile materials such as personal protective clothing, geotextiles, building textiles, transportation fabrics, medical textiles and military textiles, durability is an essential core performance indicator.

Garment-making Properties of Fabrics

Fabric garment-making properties directly determine clothing comfort and service life, covering sewability, dimensional stability and tailorability.
Dimensional stability means fabrics keep stable size without obvious elongation or shrinkage during wearing, washing and storage, which is vital for clothing fitness and wear resistance. Common causes of dimensional changes include water shrinkage, slow elastic shrinkage, thermal shrinkage and creep elongation, among which water shrinkage is the most influential factor affecting fabric appearance and service performance. Full shrinkage performance assessment is necessary before garment cutting and sewing.
Wearing comfort is another core garment-making property, involving fabric touch, air permeability, warmth retention and overall wearing experience, which is the key to superior wearable garments.
Fabric comfort consists of thermal-moisture transfer performance and skin contact sensory experience, divided into sensory comfort and physiological comfort. Sensory comfort refers to visual perception of fabric structure and tactile feeling of pattern, color and softness, which varies from person to person and is affected by psychological factors. Physiological comfort focuses on thermal and moisture regulation performance, delivering coolness in hot weather and warmth in cold conditions, including air permeability, wind resistance, moisture permeability, heat insulation, water resistance and waterproof functions.

Easy-care Performance of Fabrics

Easy-care performance means fabrics are convenient for daily maintenance and can retain original appearance for a long time, featuring quick washing & drying, wrinkle-free wear, anti-shrinkage, machine washability, stain resistance and color fastness.

Other Functional Properties of Fabrics

Functional fabrics meet diversified usage demands with customized additional properties: antibacterial fabrics inhibit bacterial growth; flame-retardant fabrics provide fire safety protection; waterproof and oil-proof fabrics suit outdoor activities and kitchen scenarios. Other mainstream functions include UV resistance, anti-electromagnetic radiation, anti-static and moth-proof properties, mostly realized via special fiber materials or professional post-finishing treatments to enhance fabric protection performance.


Application of Functional Fabrics

Flame-retardant Fabrics

Flame-retardant protective clothing can prevent ignition or slow down and terminate combustion when contacting flame or high-temperature objects, effectively protecting wearers.
Flame-retardant workwear is categorized into four types: high-temperature resistant, polyester-cotton blended, pure cotton and aluminum film coated cotton flame-retardant clothing.
Three mainstream flame retardant modification technologies: copolymerization modification, blending modification and post-finishing modification. Flame retardant post-finishing is widely applied in industrial production, which attaches flame retardants to fabrics through physical or chemical methods to boost fire resistance, suitable for cotton fabrics, cellulose fibers, blended fabrics and most synthetic fibers.

UV-protective Fabrics

UV-protective fabrics can effectively block ultraviolet rays, widely used in outdoor apparel, sun protection products and special work uniforms. Its core principle is adding UV-resistant additives or functional fibers during production, combined with optimized weaving and finishing techniques to enhance sun protection capacity.
When ultraviolet rays irradiate fabrics, part is absorbed, part is reflected and part penetrates to harm human skin. Common UV protection measures include raising UV reflectivity and absorptivity of fibers, and reducing UV transmittance by adjusting raw materials, yarn count and fabric density.
Common UV finishing agents are divided into UV shielding agents and UV absorbers. Metal oxide powder shielding agents enhance UV reflection and scattering; organic UV absorbers convert high-energy ultraviolet energy into heat energy or low-energy electromagnetic waves to avoid skin radiation damage.

Antimicrobial Fabrics

Antimicrobial fabrics are processed with antibacterial finishing or blended with antibacterial fibers, capable of inhibiting or eliminating bacteria and fungi to safeguard human health.

Evaluation Standards & Test Methods

In accordance with national standard GB/T 20944 Evaluation of Antibacterial Properties of Textiles, agar diffusion method is the most commonly adopted detection method:
  • Inhibition zone = 0mm: No obvious antibacterial effect detected
  • Inhibition zone 1~2mm: Further tests such as absorption method and oscillation method are required
Judgment Criteria:
  • Absorption method: Antibacterial rate ＞99% is rated excellent; fabrics with antibacterial rate ≥90% are confirmed to have valid antibacterial performance.
  • Oscillation method: Antibacterial rate ≥70% against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and ≥60% against Candida albicans qualify fabrics as effective antimicrobial textiles.

Antibacterial Treatment Technologies

  1. Modified Fiber Method: Nano antibacterial agents are blended into spinning raw materials to produce permanent antibacterial yarns. Inorganic antibacterial ingredients such as silver ions and nano titanium dioxide are evenly distributed inside fibers, maintaining stable antibacterial effects after repeated washing.
  2. Post-finishing Method: Antibacterial agents are applied to finished fabrics via padding, dipping and coating, easy to operate and compatible with other functional finishing processes.
Antibacterial finishing agents are classified into organic, inorganic and natural types. Organic antibacterial agents feature fast bactericidal effect but poor heat resistance and short service life; inorganic antibacterial agents represented by nano zinc oxide and nano silver are widely applied for stable performance; natural antibacterial agents such as chitosan, cedar oil and mugwort oil are eco-friendly and bio-degradable, gaining increasing market popularity.

TECHNICAL SPECS