The most common defects in Surat synthetic fabrics are bar marks, missing picks, print misregistration, stains, uneven dyeing, water marks, selvedge faults and width variation. Most originate either on the loom or in the process house, and most can be caught by inspecting rolls before loading rather than after arrival.
Knowing what each defect looks like and where it comes from lets you write an inspection standard that a supplier can follow, and lets you tell a weaving problem from a finishing problem when a claim arises.
Defects from weaving
- Bar marks: bands across the width caused by a change of weft yarn lot or tension, often only visible after dyeing, which is why greige inspection alone misses them.
- Missing picks and ends: thin lines where a weft or warp yarn is absent, common on older water jet and power looms and worse on fine georgette.
- Floats, slubs and knots: yarn faults that print over badly and show as spots on satin and crepe.
- Selvedge faults: loose, tight, curled or cut selvedges that cause width loss and creasing during printing and finishing.
Defects from processing
- Print misregistration: colours not aligned on multi-colour rotary or flatbed prints, visible as a halo or gap at the outline of the motif.
- Uneven dyeing: shade differences from centre to selvedge, or from the start to the end of a roll, usually from poor pretreatment or machine loading.
- Stains: oil, rust and dye spots picked up on machines, trolleys or wet floors.
- Water marks: patches left where finished fabric was wetted and dried unevenly, common when goods are stored in the monsoon.
- Crease marks: permanent lines set during jet dyeing or heat setting on polyester.
- Width variation: finished width that wanders beyond tolerance along the roll, caused by inconsistent stentering.
How to inspect
Use the four-point system, which most Surat process houses already know, with penalty points per hundred linear metres or square metres agreed in the order. Inspect on a lit inspection machine, not on a table, and sample a percentage of rolls, typically ten to twenty percent for a known supplier and more for a new one.
Record every roll by number with its length, width and points, and keep the report with the shipment documents. Measure width at several places along the roll, and check the first and last few metres of each roll closely, since this is where shade and width faults concentrate.
What we do about defects
We inspect rolls at the process house before loading, record them by number, and send sealed samples to a NABL-accredited lab where fastness or construction is in doubt. Where a unit has a repeating fault we visit the loom shed or finishing line to find the cause, and you receive a weekly update with photographs. A free 20-minute sourcing review is an easy way to agree an inspection standard before your next order.