Last Updated on July 21, 2026
Introduction
Fabric manufacturer always gives their best effort to produce their goods, but some defects may exist on their products despite their level best attempts. During inspection, defects are usually judged by their frequency, location, and effect on appearance or cutting. A defect report should also note the roll number and repeat frequency so the cutting team can decide whether the fault is isolated or repeated. End of the fabric manufacturing process some significant errors may appear to the fabric supplier or garments producers. Usually, different sort of fabric defects like pinholes, back fabric seam impression, broken color pattern, color out, color smears, drop stitching, birds eye, bias and bowing, fold mark, dye coating spot, dent mark, dye streak in printing, hole, jerk-in, knots, mixed yarn, crease mark, mottled, needle line, open reed, press off etc. may found onto the fabric layer during fabric inspection. In order to avoid fabric rejection, mills have to produce fabrics with high quality continuously by enhancing monitoring and modernizing production process simultaneously.
Woven Fabric Quality Checking Process
Generally, after received bulk fabric item from suppliers, material control department send this fabric item to the Quality department for their checking. Quality control manager should provide sufficient training to their inspectors to identify fabric defects and their root causes. They have to supply actual examples or photographs of both significant and minor flaws. Moreover, they have to provide a list of defects and explanations and simplify the language and the judgments used in making visual fabric evaluations. A clear defect sheet works best when everyone uses the same defect names, because loose wording often creates disagreement between the quality room and the production floor. If a defect repeats in the same area, it usually signals a machine or yarn problem rather than a single surface flaw. During woven fabric quality checking, they classified those defects like below:
List of Woven Fabric Defects and Explanations
1. Thin place
Where the area of weft yarn is smaller in diameter than normal to the fabric. Often caused by the filling yarn breaking and the loom continuing to run until the operator notices the problem. (Severity: Major or minor) It appears as lighter horizontal bands.
2. Thick place
Where the location of weft yarn greater in diameter than normal to the fabric. (Severity: Major or minor) It creates raised bands across width.
3. Broken end
Yarn broken in a warp direction in woven fabric. It shows as a thin vertical gap.
4. Hole
Any has broken yarns to form a hole. (Severity: Minor but in severe case major) Holes usually lead to roll rejection.
5. Reed mark
A defect resulting from a twisted reed wire, characterized by a fine-lined thin place in the warp directions. (Severity: Major) Regular reed cleaning helps prevent it.
6. Reed stark
A warp-wise streak caused by a broken reed in weaving. (Severity: Major) Replace damaged reeds immediately.
7. Tight end
A warp yarn in an abnormal restriction than the adjacent standard yarns It causes uneven fabric tension.
8. Shade bar
A change in shade within a short duration across the width of the fabric. It appears as color bands across width.
9. Burl mark
A slub or yarn knot being viewed in a piece of fabric. This is often removed by a “burling tool.” (Severity: Major) Remove knots before final finishing.
10. Slub
A little abnormal thick place in yarn. Usually caused by an extra piece of the yarn that is woven into the fabric. It can also be caused by fly waste being spun in yarn in the spinning process. (Severity: Major or minor) Check yarn evenness before weaving.
11. Dropped pick
Missing weft yarn. Yarn is broken in a weft direction in woven fabric. Caused by the filling insertion mechanism on a shuttle-less loom not holding the filling yarn, creating the filling to be woven without tension. (Severity: Major) It creates a missing line across width.
12. Stop mark
Inconsistent of yarn tension while a loom is stopped, the yarn elongates under tension, when loom starts again, the slack is woven into the fabric. (Severity: Major or minor) Minimize loom stops during running.
13. Soiled Filling/End
A weft yarn soiled by dirt or grease. Dirty, oil looking spots on the warp or filling yarns or on package dyed yarn. (Severity: Major) Keep machines free from oil.
14. Smash
Caused by a number of ruptured warp or filling yarns or on package dyed yarn. (Severity: Major) It involves multiple broken yarns.
15. Mixed filling
Caused by bobbin of lightweight yarn or different fiber blend used in filling. Will appear as a distinct shade change. (Severity: Major) Verify yarn before loading bobbins.
16. Mixed ends (Yarn)
Yarn of a different fiber blend used on the warp frame, resulting in a streak in the fabric. (Severity: Major) It causes streaks after dyeing.
17. Knots
Two or more ends of yarn tied together. Caused by tying spools of yarn together. (Severity: Minor but in severe case major) Use proper yarn splicing instead.
18. Jerk-in
An extra weft yarn jerked by the shuttle into the fabric along with a correct pick of weft yarn. The defect will appear at the selvage. (Severity: Major or minor depending on how close the patterns are cut to the selvage) It usually appears near the selvage.
19. Harness / Loom bar
Caused by the harness straps breaking on a conventional loom. There will be a particular pattern change in the weave. A change in the shade across the full width of fabric. (Severity: Major) Inspect harness straps regularly.
20. FLY
Waster fibers of different color are woven into the fabric as contamination. Usually caused by the spinning process, small fibers spun into the yarn of another stock. Often caused by lack of precaution to prevent contamination. (Severity: Minor but in severe case major) Control spinning area cleanliness.
21. End out
A missing warp yarn. Caused by yarn breaking and loom continuing to run. The defect will appear as a thin line. (Severity: Major) It creates a continuous thin line.
22. Dye/coating spot
Caused by dyeing or coating layer onto the fabric. (Severity: Major) Check dyeing process carefully.
23. Drawback
Caused by excessive loom tension gradually applied by some abnormal restriction. When the restriction is removed, the excess slack is woven into the fabric. Ends are usually broken. (Severity: Major) Review loom tension settings.
Conclusion
Good woven fabric inspection depends on spotting defects early, naming them consistently, and separating affected rolls before cutting. That keeps rejection lower and production smoother.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. What are the most common woven fabric defects?
Ans: Common woven fabric defects include broken end, dropped pick, slub, hole, shade bar, mixed yarn, crease mark, and open reed. The exact defect pattern usually depends on yarn quality, loom condition, and finishing control.
Q2. What causes woven fabric defects in textile mills?
Ans: Most woven fabric defects come from yarn breaks, loom stoppage, tension problems, reed damage, contamination, or finishing errors. Careful machine maintenance and regular operator checks can reduce many of these faults.
Q3. What is the difference between warp defects and weft defects?
Ans: Warp defects run lengthwise along the fabric, while weft defects run across the width. This difference helps inspectors trace whether the problem came from warp yarn tension, weft insertion, or loom stoppage.
Q4. How can woven fabric defects be prevented?
Ans: Woven fabric defects can be reduced by using good quality yarn, keeping loom settings stable, cleaning machine parts regularly, and training operators to catch faults early. Final roll inspection before cutting also helps stop defective fabric from moving into production.
