Wool and blend knitted fabric follows a different finishing logic from woven wool cloth: greige comes off the circular machine in tubular form, stays stretch-sensitive throughout, and needs its elasticity kept intact at almost every station. Two choices set the pace and handle of this route — how scouring and milling are configured, and which method carries crabbing, drying and decatizing. QL's wool-finishing machines cover the combined scouring-and-milling, crabbing, decatizing and pre-shrinking stations on this route.
What makes wool and blend knits different in wet finishing: stretch-sensitive, elasticity to keep
Knitted greige is built from interlocking loops that stretch in both directions, and once it is set under tension, width and shrinkage drift once the fabric relaxes back — the key difference from woven wool cloth. Fabric off the circular knitting machine is still tubular, and has to be untwisted and slit open before dyeing and finishing — a step specific to knits that woven routes skip. Because of this stretch sensitivity, the scouring, crabbing, decatizing and pre-shrinking stations on this route generally favour open-width or unclamped fabric travel, keeping tension off the fabric wherever possible.
Scour–mill set-up: separate or combined
Whether scouring and milling run as separate machines or one combined machine comes down to how mixed each batch is in colour and weight, not which set-up is inherently better.
- Separate: mill then scour — the WPF-1S Wool Milling Machine does the wet-heat and mechanical work first, the WPF-XN Rope Scouring Machine cleans the fabric after in rope form, each machine running at its own pace, suited to batches that stay uniform and run in steady volume.
- Combined: the WPF-4XS Four-Channel Wool Scouring and Milling Machine does both steps on one platform, with each channel independently set, so batches mixing different colours and weights run at the same time without queuing for a shared recipe.
A batch that routinely mixes colours and weights points to the combined machine; a uniform, steady-volume batch works just as well on separate machines.
Dyeing by fabric state: yarn-dyed or white knitted fabric
Whether the knitted greige still needs dyeing depends on whether it already carries colour.
- Yarn-dyed greige (mainstream): the yarn was dyed before knitting, so the fabric is already finished-colour and skips dyeing, going straight through untwisting, slitting and mangling — turning the tubular greige into open width and releasing knitting tension, a step specific to knits; pre-owned refurbished equipment is available from QL.
- White greige: still needs colour or whiteness added through piece dyeing or bleaching, with untwisting and slitting slotted in after dyeing rather than replacing it.
Most orders run the yarn-dyed route; the white-greige route moves the physical finishing steps to after dyeing.
Crab-setting and low-tension drying
Crab-setting and the drying that follows both have to respect the same stretch-sensitive limit.
Crabbing is a choice of two methods:
- Batch crabbing: the WPF-ZN Crabbing Machine sets the whole piece in one hot-liquor bath; wrapper tension is held constant by torque control throughout, so tension never acts on the fabric directly, and knitted wool is processed as readily as woven.
- Continuous crabbing: the crabbing section of the WPF-LXZH Continuous Crabbing and Drying Line, setting the fabric bath by bath across five baths in series, suited to continuous-volume runs.
Drying after hydro-extraction is also a choice of two:
- Conventional drying equipment.
- Roller cylinder: the drying section of the WPF-LXZH Continuous Crabbing and Drying Line — tiered temperature zones, PTFE-coated cylinders and alternating double-face contact — avoids the shine and stiffness ordinary cylinder drying tends to leave on wool.
A workshop with adequate conventional drying equipment already in place can keep using it.
Decatizing, pre-shrinking and handle
Decatizing sits at the end of the dry-finishing chain, converting the temporary lustre, handle and flatness left by earlier steps into a set that survives garment making.
Before decatizing, the fabric is reconditioned on the WPF-PP Rotating Disc Moistening Unit, raised and sheared, combed into one direction by the WPF-SM Vertical Brushing Machine, then run through the WPF-WDYS Belt-Type Steaming-Shrinking Machine — open-width travel that suits knits better than a width-clamped pin-chain machine. Raising and shearing are both covered by pre-owned refurbished equipment from QL.
Decatizing itself is a choice of four:
- Discontinuous: the WPF-JXZN-MAX Discontinuous Decatizing Machine, with its Ø2000 mm oversized cylinder, gives ample fabric travel for a deeper set.
- Continuous: the WPF-LXZN Continuous Decatizing Machine runs fabric through without interruption, with ultra-low-tension delivery well suited to knitted fabric.
- Continuous pressure: the WPF-LXZN-P Continuous Pressure Decatizing Machine pressurises the vessel to 0–3 bar, reaching close to kier-grade setting depth in a single pass, with woven-and-knitted tension control covering elastane-bearing stretch knits.
- Autoclave (kier): sets deepest of the four but runs batch-only; pre-owned refurbished equipment is available from QL.
Where an order calls for a fuller, cloud-like handle, an air-flow softening step can be added before final inspection, also available from QL as pre-owned refurbished equipment; a standard flat handle goes straight to final inspection and rolling.
QL machines on this route
- Combined scouring and milling: WPF-4XS Four-Channel Wool Scouring and Milling Machine — scouring and milling in one machine, four independently set channels
- Milling: WPF-1S Wool Milling Machine — wet heat and mechanical action complete milling (separate-machine route)
- Rope scouring: WPF-XN Rope Scouring Machine — rope-form circulation cleans the greige (separate-machine route)
- Untwisting, slitting and mangling: pre-owned refurbished equipment from QL
- Batch crabbing: WPF-ZN Crabbing Machine — one hot-liquor bath sets the whole piece; knitted wool runs at zero elongation
- Continuous crabbing / continuous drying: WPF-LXZH Continuous Crabbing and Drying Line — bath-by-bath immersion setting, then tiered cylinder drying
- Moistening and conditioning: WPF-PP Rotating Disc Moistening Unit — reconditions moisture regain ahead of dry finishing
- Raising: pre-owned refurbished equipment from QL
- Shearing: pre-owned refurbished equipment from QL
- Brushing: WPF-SM Vertical Brushing Machine — brush rollers comb the nap into one direction (steam box optional)
- Belt-type steaming-shrinking: WPF-WDYS Belt-Type Steaming-Shrinking Machine — open-width free shrinkage, suited to knitted greige
- Discontinuous decatizing: WPF-JXZN-MAX Discontinuous Decatizing Machine — Ø2000 mm cylinder, batch setting
- Continuous decatizing: WPF-LXZN Continuous Decatizing Machine — continuous travel, ultra-low-tension delivery for knits
- Continuous pressure decatizing: WPF-LXZN-P Continuous Pressure Decatizing Machine — 0–3 bar pressurised steam, woven-and-knitted tension control
- Autoclave decatizing: pre-owned refurbished equipment from QL
- Handle improvement (air-flow softening): pre-owned refurbished equipment from QL
Bring your fabric types, batch sizes and current machine list to QL and we talk process before configuration: WhatsApp +1 380 900 2442, or +86 189 2110 8080.