Weaving Mill in Pakistan for Greige and Woven Fabrics

Woven Fabric Manufacturer and Supplier in Pakistan

Weaving is the step that turns yarn into cloth, and it fixes most of the properties a buyer will notice: weight, strength, density, drape and appearance. Soltex supplies woven fabric to garment manufacturers, home-textile companies, printers and dyers, bag and footwear makers and traders who need consistent cloth in commercial quantities. We work in cotton, polyester-cotton blends and polyester, in greige form for your own processing or finished through specialist processing partners.

Because we also supply cotton yarn and blended yarn, we can control the input that matters most in weaving. The count, evenness and strength of warp and weft yarns determine how well a fabric weaves and how it looks after dyeing, so yarn selection is part of every fabric order we take.

Greige Fabric Supplier: Fabric Straight from the Loom

Greige fabric, also called grey or loom-state fabric, is cloth as it comes off the loom. Warp yarns are coated with size during preparation to help them survive weaving, and that size, together with natural waxes and impurities in the cotton, stays in the fabric until it is processed. Greige fabric is bought by dyers, printers and finishers who carry out their own pre-treatment and finishing, and by exporters who supply processing mills abroad.

When buying greige, the important points are the construction, the width on the loom and after processing, the GSM, the yarn quality and the fault rate. Greige should be woven from yarn with low imperfections and consistent count, because thick places, thin places and contamination that are hard to see in grey fabric become obvious after bleaching or dyeing.

Finished fabric

For buyers who need ready-to-cut fabric, greige can be processed into finished fabric. Typical processing steps are desizing, scouring and bleaching, followed by dyeing or printing and then finishing. Finishes can include mercerising for lustre and dye uptake, softening, pre-shrinking (compressive shrinkage), peach finish and, for industrial fabrics, water-repellent or other functional treatments. Tell us the end use and the buyer's test requirements, such as shrinkage, colour fastness and tear strength, and we will plan the processing route to suit.

Woven Fabric Types We Supply

Plain weave: poplin and sheeting

In a plain weave each weft pick passes over one warp end and under the next, giving the tightest interlacing and a flat, balanced surface. Sheeting is a plain weave with similar warp and weft density, used for bed linen, printing base, linings and pocketing. Poplin is a plain weave with many more ends than picks, which creates a fine horizontal rib and a smooth, crisp hand. It is widely used for shirting, uniforms, dresses and quality bed sheets. Cambric, voile and lawn are lighter plain weaves in finer counts.

Twill fabric

Twill weaves create a diagonal line on the face of the fabric by offsetting each pick by one end. A 2/1 twill passes each weft over two warp ends and under one; a 3/1 twill over three and under one. Twill fabrics drape better than plain weaves of the same weight, hide soiling well and have good tear strength. They are used for trousers, chinos, jackets, uniforms and casual wear.

Drill fabric

Drill is a heavier, warp-faced twill, usually 2/1 or 3/1, woven with high end density and coarse to medium counts. It is strong, abrasion-resistant and holds its shape, which makes it the standard fabric for workwear, overalls, uniforms, bags and industrial covers. Drill is commonly supplied in cotton and in PC 65/35 for extra durability and easy care.

Matt and panama fabric

Matt, also called panama or basket weave, is a variation of plain weave in which two or more warp ends and two or more weft picks are woven together as one, producing a small chequered texture. It has a soft, open surface and good breathability, and is used for school and office uniforms, table linen, cushions and as a base for embroidery and cross-stitch.

Duck fabric

Duck is a heavy, tightly woven plain weave, often with plied yarns. It is close to canvas in use and is chosen for bags, footwear uppers, aprons, covers and industrial items. For the heaviest constructions, see our dedicated canvas and cotton fabric page.

Understanding Fabric Construction: Counts, EPI, PPI and Width

A woven fabric is defined by a short notation that every weaver in Pakistan uses. It is written as warp count x weft count / ends per inch x picks per inch, followed by the width. For example, 20x20/60x60 63" means a fabric woven with Ne 20 cotton yarn in both warp and weft, at 60 ends per inch (EPI) and 60 picks per inch (PPI), with a width of 63 inches. Plied yarns are written as 20/2, and blends are added in words, for example "PC 65/35 20x16/108x56 3/1 drill".

• EPI (ends per inch) is the number of warp yarns in one inch of fabric width. It is set by the reed and the warp plan.
• PPI (picks per inch) is the number of weft yarns in one inch of fabric length. It is set on the loom.
• GSM is the weight of one square metre of fabric in grams. It follows from the counts and densities, plus the crimp of the yarns.
• Width is usually quoted in inches. Greige width shrinks during processing, so the loom width is set to give the required finished width.

As a working estimate for cotton greige fabric, GSM is approximately (EPI / warp Ne + PPI / weft Ne) x 23.25, plus an allowance of a few percent for crimp. For 20x20/60x60 this gives about 140 g/m² before crimp, which is why such sheeting is usually quoted in the 140 to 155 GSM range. The estimate helps when comparing quotations, but the actual GSM is always confirmed by weighing a cut sample.

The figures above are approximate greige values calculated from the constructions and are given for guidance only. Actual weight depends on yarn type, crimp, size pick-up and processing, and is confirmed on samples for each order.

Shuttleless Weaving: Air-Jet and Rapier Looms

Modern commercial weaving in Pakistan is carried out mainly on shuttleless looms, which insert the weft from a fixed package instead of a moving shuttle. This gives higher speed, better fabric quality and cleaner selvedges than older shuttle looms.

Air-jet looms

Air-jet looms carry the weft across the shed with jets of compressed air. They run at high speed and are well suited to long runs of plain, poplin, sheeting and twill fabrics in medium and fine counts. They need consistent, strong, low-hairiness weft yarn, which is another reason yarn quality matters.

Rapier looms

Rapier looms use flexible or rigid rapier arms to pass the weft through the shed. They handle a wider range of yarns, including heavy, plied, fancy and blended yarns, and can easily switch between several weft colours or types. Rapier weaving is preferred for heavy drill, duck, yarn-dyed checks and stripes, and smaller or more varied production runs.

Available loom widths determine the maximum fabric width we can supply. Common greige widths include 48", 58/60", 63", 67" and 72", and wider widths for sheeting can be arranged for specific orders. Confirm the finished width you need and we will advise the corresponding loom width.

Sample Matching and Fabric Development

Many buyers come to us with a fabric they already use and want to source elsewhere. We analyse the sample by counting ends and picks, testing the yarn counts from unravelled threads, identifying the weave, checking the fibre content and weighing the fabric. From this we propose a construction, confirm whether it is a standard quality or a new one, and where necessary weave a sample length for approval.

For new products, we work back from the end use. A workwear buyer needs tear and tensile strength and wash durability; a printer needs a clean, absorbent, flat surface; a bag maker needs stiffness and abrasion resistance. Matching the counts, density and weave to those needs avoids paying for weight or fineness that the product does not require. Polyester and poly-cotton options for durable or easy-care fabrics are described on our polyester yarn and fabric page.

Quality Control and 4-Point Fabric Inspection

Woven fabric is inspected roll by roll on inspection frames under good lighting. We use the widely adopted 4-point system, in which each visible defect is given penalty points according to its length:

• Defects up to 3 inches: 1 point
• Over 3 and up to 6 inches: 2 points
• Over 6 and up to 9 inches: 3 points
• Over 9 inches, and any hole or opening: 4 points

No more than 4 points are given for any one linear yard. Total points are converted to points per 100 square yards using the inspected length and width, which allows rolls of different widths to be compared fairly. The acceptance limit is agreed with each buyer before production, because it depends on the fabric type and end use.

In addition to visual inspection, we check width, GSM, ends and picks per inch and roll length against the order sheet, and where required arrange laboratory tests such as tensile and tear strength, dimensional stability and colour fastness. Typical woven defects we look for include broken ends, double picks, missing picks, thick and thin places, reed marks, starting marks, oil stains and selvedge faults.

Applications of Our Woven Fabrics

• Garments: poplin and cambric for shirts and dresses; twill and drill for trousers, jackets and workwear.
• Uniforms and corporate wear: PC drill, twill and matt in stable, colour-fast shades.
• Home textiles: sheeting and poplin for bed linen, matt for table linen and cushions.
• Printing and dyeing: greige sheeting and poplin as base cloth for processing mills.
• Bags, footwear and accessories: drill and duck for durable, structured products.
• Industrial and technical uses: heavy drill and duck for covers, filters and laminating, and football fabric for sports ball panels.

Packing and Delivery of Woven Fabric

Fabric is supplied in rolls wound on tubes or in folded bales, wrapped in polythene and an outer cover, and labelled with the construction, width, length, roll number and lot. Greige for processing mills is often packed in large rolls or bales, while finished fabric for garment cutting is supplied in standard roll lengths. Export shipments are prepared with packing lists showing each roll's length and weight.

How to Order Woven Fabric

For a fast and accurate quotation, send the construction (or a physical sample), the fibre and blend, the weave, the required width and GSM, greige or finished, the colour or print if finished, the quantity in metres or yards, the packing, the delivery location and the inspection standard. If the fabric must pass a buyer's test protocol, include it with your enquiry so we can plan yarn and processing to meet it. Third-party test reports can be arranged on request where applicable.

Ordering Woven Fabric: Frequently Asked Questions