Textile Glossary

Fabric defects

Definition

Fabric defects are localized deviations in woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, or other textile structures that arise from irregularities in the manufacturing process. Causes include, among others, unevenly thick yarns, yarn breaks, weaving faults, weft misalignment, or contamination in the raw material. Fabric defects impair the visual uniformity, the mechanical properties, and the serviceability of the textile, and frequently result in the downgrading of goods to lower quality classes.

Use in the textile industry

In textile industry quality assurance, fabric defects are detected during goods inspection by visual examination or automated camera systems and evaluated according to type, frequency, and severity. For apparel fabrics, technical textiles, and home textiles, different tolerance limits apply for the type and number of permissible defects depending on the intended end use. Fabric sections containing defects are selectively removed during garment manufacturing or, where possible, reworked in order to minimize waste.

Learn textile knowledge in context

You have just looked up a single technical term. In textil trainer, you learn how textile materials, processes, and contexts are connected.

The free learning platform teaches textile fundamentals step by step in interactive online courses. Each online course includes its own glossary with the most important terms of the respective topic. Across all courses, more than 600 textile terms with narrated explanations are available.

textil trainer is developed together with the Chair of Textile Technologies at Chemnitz University of Technology, chemmedia AG, and companies and educational institutions from the textile sector.

Register for free and access all online courses

Learn more about the project

Frequently asked question

The term fabric defect refers broadly to any localized deviation from the intended textile structure, regardless of its cause. A weave fault, by contrast, is a specific category of defect attributable to incorrect interlacing of warp or weft yarns during the weaving process, and thus represents a subcategory of the possible fabric defects.

View the entire glossary