The top-dyed worsted route runs in three relays — top-dyed recombing, spinning and weaving, then dyeing and finishing — because the tops are dyed before spinning and weaving, so nothing in the finishing chain that follows is a dyeing step. The route's key choices sit across the dyeing-and-finishing end: whether crabbing comes before or after scouring, how scouring and milling are combined, which decatizing method is chosen — these decide the finished cloth's clean face, crisp hand and dimensional stability. QL supplies the wool tops backwashing line in the top-dyed recombing workshop, yarn steaming in the weaving workshop, and the wet- and dry-finishing stations from crabbing through to decatizing in the dyeing and finishing workshop.
What worsted finishing is for: clean face, crisp hand, dimensional stability
Worsted finishing has to deliver three things: a clean face — the weave stays visible, not buried under nap. A crisp hand — the piece holds its shape once cut. Dimensional stability — it does not move once the garment is made and washed for the first time. None of the three comes from a single finishing machine; they come from a relay of steps down the wet- and dry-finishing chain, set out in the order below.
Crabbing before or after scouring: what each order solves
Where crabbing sits relative to scouring is this route's first fork. The mainstream order scours first — spinning oil, size and soil are washed out of the greige before crabbing, so none of it gets set into the face during the hot-liquor bath. Qualities with sharp patterns, higher elasticity requirements or a tendency to distort take the other order — crab first, relieving the weaving stress and fixing the shape before the fabric meets the wash, so the stages that follow do not distort it. Either way, crabbing itself still comes down to a batch-or-continuous choice, covered further down.
Scouring: rope or open-width, what is removed and how far to go
Scouring forks first by quality. Clear-finish types — gabardine, serge and the like — are the mainstream: scouring only, no milling, because the weave has to stay visible. Face-finish types — flannel and similar — take a light milling step on top of scouring, covered in the next section. Scouring form is the second fork: rope scouring (WPF-XN) cleans more thoroughly and suits most everyday fabrics that are not crease-sensitive, removing spinning oil, size and soil in rope form; mohair, silk and synthetic-fibre fabrics, which crease easily and do not take well to rope form, go to open-width washing (WPF-JXPX) instead — the whole piece sewn end to end into a loop and run in open width throughout, with none of rope scouring's crease marks, and even treatment right into crabbing with no untwisting or spreading needed.
Wool milling for face finishes and the scour–mill set-up: separate, combined, or mill then open-width wash
Milling works through wool's directional frictional effect: under wet mechanical action the scales on the fibre surface interlock, driving fibres toward the root and into one another, an irreversible tightening that gives face-finish qualities their fullness and cover. Configuring it comes down to three routes, chosen by the finish you want rather than run in sequence:
- Separate, mill then scour (steady batches): the WPF-1S wool milling machine, then the WPF-XN rope scouring machine to wash it clean.
- Combined, one machine (batches that routinely mix colours and weights and must run together): the WPF-4XS combined scouring and milling machine, its four channels each set independently so nothing cross-shades.
- Mill, then open-width wash (qualities that should not go back into rope form after milling): the WPF-1S, then untwist and open the fabric out and wash the soap liquor off on the WPF-JXPX in open width.
Crabbing: batch versus continuous, setting depth and end-to-end variation
Whichever side of scouring it sits on, crabbing itself is a batch-or-continuous choice. Batch crabbing (WPF-ZN) uses a single-bath, twin-cylinder reciprocating structure — the fabric exchanges position pass after pass within one liquor, giving the whole piece one identical heat history with no head-to-tail variation, the industry benchmark for setting depth. Continuous crabbing runs the crabbing section of the WPF-LXZH continuous crabbing and drying line — five submerged baths in series, each pressed flat by a roller pair and each chargeable with its own liquor, tension, pressure, heat and time controlled stage by stage — suited to continuous, higher-volume runs that should not be slowed by batch loading.
Why hydro-extraction and drying are separate steps, and when cylinder drying pays
Wet fabric coming off rope scouring or milling needs untwisting and open-width spreading first — some lines add mangling too — before it can move on; QL covers that stage with pre-owned refurbished equipment. Hydro-extraction and drying stay as two separate steps rather than one: mechanical squeezing removes most of the water cheaply first, leaving only the remainder for heat to drive off — the two work at different rates, so folding them into one step would be slower, not faster. Drying itself is then a choice between adding the WPF-LXZH continuous drying section (cylinder-type) or keeping the drying equipment already on the floor — neither has to replace the other. The continuous drying section is a contact-cylinder tower built to head off wool's usual risk on cylinders, a glazed face and a stiffer hand, with PTFE-coated cylinders, tier-by-tier temperature control and alternating double-face contact, suited to a line that wants to run straight off the crabbing section. Where the existing dryer already meets output and handle requirements, keeping it works just as well.
Dry finishing: brushing, shearing, pre-shrinking and decatizing in order, and the handle decision
Dry finishing starts with moisture: fabric off the dryer usually sits below its normal regain, so it is reconditioned first on the WPF-PP rotating disc moistening unit, since raising, shearing, pressing and decatizing all need that moisture to work. The next fork is by quality: face-finish types that have been milled go to raising, to lift the pile, and clear-finish types go to shearing, to level the surface, both currently covered by QL with pre-owned refurbished equipment. Either way the piece then goes to brushing on the WPF-SM Vertical Brushing Machine, which combs the fibres back into one direction and clears loose debris, then on to calendering, also pre-owned refurbished equipment, for a temporary lustre.
Pre-shrinking is a choice of two, and it decides where weft straightening sits:
- Pin-chain: the WPF-LTYS pin-chain steaming-shrinking machine locks the width for the whole cycle, so straightening runs first, on the WPF-ZW pin-wheel weft straightener, at infeed — the route for wovens.
- Belt-type: the WPF-WDYS belt-type steaming-shrinking machine relaxes the fabric freely, so straightening runs after — closer to how knits recover.
Decatizing closes the dry-finishing chain. Shade variation and head-to-tail variation mostly trace back to steam reaching the width unevenly, with condensate dripping inside the steam-rise chamber adding local hot spots. The choice is one of four, set by throughput and setting depth:
- Continuous, covers fringed qualities: the WPF-LXZN continuous decatizing machine builds the heating bank into the steam-rise chamber itself, staging the temperature up to prevent that condensation, paired with QL's proprietary Decatizing Uniformity Technology so steam reaches the full width in sync. Fringed scarves, shawls and other categories needing uninterrupted fabric travel cannot go through batch decatizing equipment at all — the WPF-LXZN is the only route.
- Batch, for a deeper set: the WPF-JXZN-MAX discontinuous decatizing machine runs a Ø2000 oversized cylinder with the QL Micro-Pressure Uniform Steaming Technology.
- Continuous-pressure, deeper set without stopping: the WPF-LXZN-P continuous-pressure decatizing machine raises the vessel to 0–3 bar at continuous throughput, reaching light-kier-grade setting depth.
- Kier decatizing: QL supplies pre-owned refurbished equipment.
The last fork is by handle: standard qualities go straight to final inspection and rolling, and qualities wanting a loftier, softer hand add an air-flow softening step, which QL also supplies as pre-owned refurbished equipment.
QL machines on this route
- Wool tops backwashing line WPF-MTFX (with the WPF-NJ tops splicer): washes dyeing residue off the tops, doses auxiliaries and dries, in the top-dyed recombing workshop
- Yarn steaming autoclave WPF-ZS: sets twist on the spun yarn in the weaving workshop
- Crabbing: batch on WPF-ZN, continuous on the WPF-LXZH crabbing section — a permanent set for the piece
- Combined scouring and milling machine WPF-4XS: scours and mills mixed-batch fabric on one machine
- Rope scouring machine WPF-XN: rope-form removal of spinning oil, size and soil
- Open-width washing machine WPF-JXPX: open-width wash without creasing, for distortion-prone qualities
- Wool milling machine WPF-1S: light milling for face-finish qualities
- Untwisting and open-width spreading (some lines add mangling): pre-owned refurbished equipment
- WPF-LXZH continuous drying section: cylinder-type drying with tiered temperature control against glazing
- Rotating disc moistening unit WPF-PP: reconditions fabric coming off the dryer
- Raising / shearing: chosen by face-finish or clear-finish quality, pre-owned refurbished equipment
- Vertical Brushing Machine WPF-SM: combs the nap into one direction, removes debris
- Calendering: pre-owned refurbished equipment
- Weft straightener WPF-ZW (pin-wheel type): straightens ahead of pin-chain pre-shrinking
- Pin-chain steaming-shrinking machine WPF-LTYS: width-locked throughout, suits wovens
- Belt-type steaming-shrinking machine WPF-WDYS: free-width relaxation, suits knits
- Decatizing: batch on WPF-JXZN-MAX, continuous on WPF-LXZN, continuous-pressure on WPF-LXZN-P; for kier-grade depth, QL supplies pre-owned refurbished equipment
- Handle improvement (air-flow softening): pre-owned refurbished equipment
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.