Important parameters:
1. Burner temperature: 1250-13000C
2. Burners flame speed: 15-35 m/s
3. Flame intensity: 5-20 bars
4. Fabric speed: 200-250 m/min
5. Width of flame: equal to the width of the fabric.
6. The distance of the fabric from the flame: usually 6-8 millimeters.
Advantages:
1. Maintaining uniform temperature results in uniform singeing.
2. It is possible to singed both sides of the fabric at the same time.
3. Temperature or flame speed can be easily controlled.
4. It is possible to do more fabric singeing in less time.
Disadvantages:
1. If the burner is dirty, black spots may appear on the fabric.
2. Not convenient for synthetic fabric.
3. If the speed is not maintained well, there is a possibility of burning or over-singeing of
the fabric.
Gas Singeing is More Popular than Plate and Cylinder Singeing
1. The projecting/floating fibers burn better in gas singeing than in plate or cylinder
singeing.
2. Uniform singeing can be done by gas singeing m/c, which is not possible in plate or
cylinder singeing m/c.
3. The smoothness and brightness of the fabric is higher in gas singeing than in plate or
cylinder singeing.
4. The speed of gas flame can be changed according to the types of fabric.
5. Production is more in gas singeing than plate or cylinder method.
6. In gas singeing m/c, singeing is done on both sides of the fabric, on the other hand only
one side is done in plate and cylinder method.
7. Uniform temperature can be maintained in gas singeing.
8. Gas singeing process does not generate excess lusters in the fabric.
Due to the above advantages, gas singeing is more popular than plate or cylinder singeing
methods.
Precautions Should Be Taken during the Singeing Process
1. The fabric must be dry before singeing because wet fabric is more likely to get scorched
when singeing.
2. Make sure that the fabric does not contain any kind of acid releasing salts, because when
the fabric is heated, acid can be released.
3. Burners should be kept clean regularly; otherwise black spots may appear on the fabric.
4. The speed of the machine should be controlled so that the cloth does not burn.
5. As a result of singeing, the fabric may become a little stiff, because size (starch) material
is present in the warp yarn of the woven fabric. So, singeing should not be done for a
long time.
6. In case of temperature sensitive fabric, the temperature should be controlled properly
otherwise the thermal properties of the sensitive fabric may be lost. Fiber can be easily
burnt, which can damage the fabric. This process causes small balls to form on the fabric
surface as the fibers melt in the case of heat sensitive fabrics. So, when weaving this type
of fabric, you have to work keeping in mind the thermal properties of the fabric.
Bio-Polishing:
We usually understand singeing by burning woven fabric but now singeing is also done on knit
fabric and it is done in a complete chemical process. Cellulase enzymes are used in this chemical
process to remove floating fibers from the knit fabrics. This process is also called biopolishing or
enzyme wash as it is done with the help of bio-chemicals. The basic difference between them is
that sing
Some Conditions and Recipes of Bio-Polishing:
1. Cellulose enzyme: 1-3%
2. Wetting Agent: 0.5-1.0 gm/L
3. Acetic acid: 0.5 gm/L
4. pH of Batch: 4.5-5.5
5. Temperature: 40-500C
6. Time: 45-55 min.
7. M: L: 1:10
eing is a mechanical & thermal process but bio-polishing is a wet process.
Mechanism:
Cellulose enzymes are located in acidic (pH = 4.5-5.5) medium and at certain temperature break
down the cellulose of the fiber floating from the surface of the fabric into water soluble glucose.
This is how the hairiness of the fabric is removed. However, processing time is a big issue in
case of enzyme washes or biopolishing, because if enzyme washes are done for a long time, the
floating fiber may run out and damage the yarn. So, by continuous follow-up and checking the
samples, the washes should be kept running till the floating fiber is removed.
Advantages:
1. The process can be completed at low cost.
2. Improves the quality of the fabric.
3. Convenient for cotton fabric because even the micro fibrils of cotton can be removed.
4. The surface of the fabric is clean.
5. It takes less time so the production is more.
Disadvantages:
1. Eliminates less hairiness than singeing.
2. Only cotton fabric can be processed.
Conclusion:
Singeing is an important step in the pretreatment process. It is a process of removing projecting
/ floating fibers. This singeing process is mainly done to smooth the fabric and increase its
brightness & luster. Singing is done only in the case of woven fabric. But in the case of knitted
fabrics, this process is called biopolishing, where enzymes are used to remove these
floating/projecting fibers.
