Things You Need to Know About Warp Knitting

The textile industry, like most others, has found its way around the technological advancement of the 21st Century. However, the principles of William Lee, the inventor of the knitting machine, still stand strong since 1859. Evidently this has opened gates to significant accomplishments in the knitting process.

One such feat that revolutionized the process and paved the way for advanced knitting techniques is warp knitting. Its counterpart, weft knitting has been in use for centuries and still is. Nevertheless, warp knitting holds dominant advantages over weft knitting and is being widely employed.

The orientation in the stitching pattern to produce fabric from yarn is what differentiates the two types of knitting. In weft knitting, the yarn runs back and forth whereas warp knitting requires the yarn to run up and down in a vertical direction.

Types of Warp Knitting MachinesThe knitting process is definitely not a piece of cake; there is immense complexity involved in it. However, warp knitting machines make our task a hundred times easier. They are much faster and efficient than the traditional method of weaving. Warp knitting machines are usually more complicated than weft knitting machines.

There are two types of warp knitting machines:1. Tricot Warp Knitting Machine2. Raschel Warp Knitting Machine

Tricot warp knitting machines use compound needles, and the yarn is stitched in a looped-zigzag pattern in a vertical direction. The machine speed is pretty high and can cover up to 3500 courses per minute. It imparts lesser take-down tension on the fabric as it is oriented at a right angle with the needle. The structures produced with a Tricot Warp Knitting Machine are rather simple and constitute of fashion fabrics and mesh.

Raschel Warp Knitting Machines, on the other hand, use latch needles. Any type of yarn can be used with a Raschel Warp knitting Machine unlike the Tricot type, where a fine yarn is considered ideal. These machines are comparatively narrower and slower, covering up to 2000 courses per minute. These can be used to produce fabrics for outdoor usages like backpacks and tents.

Advantages of Warp KnittingIn a warp knitting machine, all the needles make loops at the same time in a way that the formation of circular patterns takes place simultaneously. This saves time significantly.

Warp knitted fabric is much stronger than the other types owing to their knot free technique at the joints. The interconnection pattern is one of the most stable structural patterns that can be found in natural structures.

Loop structures are strong yet can be distorted under tension which provides flexibility and elasticity to the fabric. This property of warp knitting makes it favourable for comfortable clothes.

The demand for synthetic clothes in the market is higher than ever. This has opened a new sphere for warp knitting domain. It’s a cost-effective and time-saving technique making it the most preferred form of cloth fabrication.

Warp knitting machines useful to produce fabric from yarn. Warp knitting is the least common form of knitting. These machines gives high output at low maintenance.