Emerging trend: Open width knit processing

The Indian athletic apparel market grew by a whopping CAGR of 19 per cent between 2009 and 2017, while the Indian footwear market, which includes sports footwear, grew at a CAGR of 24 per cent during the same period. India will again be no exception to the growth in this sector.

These growth prospects of athleisure products are encouraging Indian knit processors to consider expansions and diversifications to cater to the needs of this segment. Many investments are therefore being planned to tap the huge potential presented by this segment, especially as there is not much competition so far.

Garment properties like protection, insulation, moisture permeability, stretch, shape retention, optimum heat and moisture regulation, rapid drying, dimensional stability even when wet, durable, easy care, light weight, soft touch, etc are intrinsic to active wear garments. However, these properties are not readily achievable in 100 per cent cotton, circular knitted fabrics. Hence the need for synthetic circular or warp knitted fabric production and processing becomes inevitable for addressing the opportunities in the active wear segment.

The very first step in synthetic active wear processing or spandex processing is spun oil washing. Goller is a major international player in this segment and as major supplier to high end synthetic fabric manufacturers worldwide.

Goller - a brief introduction

Goller was founded in Germany and manufactured its first open width textile processing range in 1948. Goller became a member of the CHTC Fong's Group in 2006. The integration of Goller into the CHTC Fong's Group helped it to develop and spread at a tremendous rate its highly engineered textile wet finishing ranges for the textile industry. Today, Goller is a global market leader in the manufacturing of open width textile processing ranges. Goller's wet processing ranges including those for spun oil washing are widely used to produce high quality woven and knitted fabric in worldwide textile dyeing factories.

Objectives of spun oil washing

Spun oil washing is a treatment of synthetic woven or knitted (circular/warp knit) fabrics with de-oiling chemicals to remove lubricating oils from the fabric structure. These lubricants are needed in spinning and remain on the fabric through the knitting process. The purpose of open width spun oil washing is to pre-shrink the fabric, reduce and even out the oil distribution on the fabric, and to thus ensure uniform dyeing and finishing results in subsequent finishing steps.

If a grey fabric with oils on it is heat set, there is an accumulation of these oils in the stenter. This creates chances of fire in the exhaust pipelines and in the heat exchangers. Oil dripping further creates quality problems in subsequent processing. But after spun oil washing, if the cleaned fabric is pre-heat set, the stenter remains oil-free and safe, eliminating risks of fire and improving fabric quality.

The benefits of Goller spun oil washing ranges:

• Avoids fire hazard in stenter while pre-setting

• Even dyeing results

• Pre-shrinkage of fabric

• Suitable for wide range of fabrics from light to heavy GSM

• Environment-friendly process

Technical and utility data of Goller spun oil washing range:

• Fabric type: warp knit/circular knit

• Fabric quality: polyester/nylon with Lycra

• Machine speed: up to 40 m/min

• Chemicals: soda ash, washing agent, acetic acid (optional)

• Water consumption: approx. 4 - 8 litres/kg

• Steam consumption: approx. 0.3 - 0.7 kg/kg

Success story

Goller has successfully installed more than hundred high productivity spun oil washing ranges worldwide for processing undergarments, swimwear and activewear, which also includes a modular unit that has been installed in front of a Monfongs stenter at a knit process house in Kolkata.

Investment in continuous open width processing requires a lot of planning. Goller with a wide range of different modules and a team of skilled engineers can custom-build ranges to meet specified needs of customers in the field of continuous open width processing. A long history, worldwide experience, continuous innovations have made Goller a popular choice with the industry for continuous open width processing for both woven and knit goods.