Knitted fabrics are made of stitches and they are divided into two groups; weft knitted and warps knitted fabrics. In weft knitted fabrics stitches made by each thread are formed substantially across the width of the fabric. In warp knitted fabrics the stitches made from each warp thread are formed substantially along the length of the fabric. The simplest weft knitted fabric is plain jersey, where all stitches are pulled to the same side of the fabric. It is possible to produce many variations based on this plain jersey, e.g. Jacquard fabric that shows a multicolored design motif on the effect side and floats (connects two loops of the same course that are not in adjacent wales) on the reverse side.

Plain jersey stretches equally in the two axial directions, but floats reduce stretch significantly in cross direction. It is also possible to produce e.g. terry fabrics or pile fabrics based on plain jersey. Another usual group of weft knits are rib knits, which have greater stretch crosswise than lengthwise. If you compare warp knitted fabrics to the weft knits, you can notice that warp knits are not so elastic than weft knits (if elastic yarns are not used). You can also influence to the surface structure for example by using tuck loops or by transferring stitches. By knitting it is not possible to produce so tight fabrics than by weaving. The density of knitted fabric depends on the gauge (needle density) of the knitting machine.

Nonwoven fabrics differ from knitted or woven fabrics, because they are not based on yarns. They are based on webs of individual fibres, which can be bonded to each other by several means. The texture ranges from soft to harsh. Fiber composition influences performance far more for nonwoven fabrics than for fabrics containing yarns. High strength combined with softness is one of the most difficult property combinations to achieve in nonwoven fabrics because the geometrical factors that permit high strength also lead to increased stiffness.

Finishing is an extremely complex subject because of the large number of changes that occur in fabric properties during a finishing sequence. The effects of many finishing operations are interactive; the total effect of a sequence of operations is not the sum of the individual operations. There is an interaction between fabric construction and finishing such that the effect of finishing on fabric properties will depend on both the finishing route and the construction of the loom-state fabric. By using various finishing treatments different kind of end products can be produced from the same unfinished woven or knitted fabric. Heat treatments may cause fibres to crimp increasing the bulk of the fabric. Light brushing gives peach-skin type fabric woven from microfibers. By calendaring you get flatter surface and also many chemical treatments (softening compounds, resins) can affect to the fabric hand. The diversity of fabric types and finishes that is available for any end-use continues to increase, making the selection of the most appropriate fabric an increasingly difficult task.