Decating

The Dekatieren (from the French. Décatir "delustrants, lackluster make") is a finishing process for fabrics and textiles from wool and wool blends. The cloth is treated with steam under pressure before being cut to size and shrinks. This prevents the finished products from entering later, and thus a later, undesired, dimensional change.

Manual decating

In the home, in tailor shops and with textile cleaners, fabric or clothing is sometimes steamed with a damp cloth and an iron or ironing machine . This operation is sometimes referred to as decating, although this process is actually equivalent to steaming in that no pressure is applied.

Industrial decating

The clothing industry and ultimately also consumers demand dimensional stability from textiles made from wool or wool blends. In industrial fabric production, decatizing machines are used to prevent later running-in, at least largely. In addition to fixing the goods in length and width, the shine created in previous operations is also reduced and a fine, silky appearance is achieved. The product is also smoothed, a fuller feel is achieved and internal tension is reduced, the material falls smoothly and is less crease-resistant .

Boiler decature

The fabric is rolled up on a perforated roller with a separating cloth (e.g. made of molton ) between the individual layers of fabric . This separating cloth is called a decatier follower. As the types of decatier followers, decatier follower satin, decatier follower molton, and napped satin which is a hybrid of both types are known. The roll is pushed into the decatizing kettle , the kettle is closed and water vapor is introduced. The steam either flows through the openings in the perforated roller from the inside to the outside through the fabric, or vice versa. The desired result is regulated by different pressures , temperatures and / or the amount of water vapor. After cooling, the roll is driven out of the boiler and the fabric is unrolled. The boiler decature is primarily used to stabilize the dimensions, but it can also influence the appearance, handle and volume.

Continue decature

The fabric is continuously fed into the decatizing machine by means of a conveyor, where it runs over numerous rollers and is subjected to a steam treatment so that it can be folded or rolled after leaving the machine. While the fabric runs over the rollers in the machine, steam is injected under pressure and heat, thereby achieving the desired result. The continue decature mainly influences the look and feel of the products.

Finish decatur

The process is similar to that of the Continue Decatur and is carried out after the boiler decaturation in order to remove unwanted shine from the product. To a lesser extent, the grip and the resistance to shrinkage are improved.

The finishing of textiles by decating is one of the last steps in their production and is assigned to thermal finishing .