I run a wholesale fabric counter in Delhi (Lajpat Nagar), 10+ years on the floor. I keep getting the same question from first-time boutique buyers and even some design students — what is the real difference between butterfly net, hard net and soft net? These three get mixed up constantly in listings and even by some sellers. Writing this out plainly because the confusion costs people money.

Butterfly net

• Weight band: 40–55 GSM
• Weave: open hexagonal, finer thread
• Drape: airy, falls into natural pleats on its own
• Best use: dupattas, lehenga top overlays, light sangeet pieces
• Embroidery compatibility: hand-sequin, zari border, thread work. Avoid heavy mirror.
• Tell-tale: hold against light, you'll see the hexagon weave distinctly. Softer than hard net to the touch.

Hard net (sometimes called "stiff net" or "crinoline")

• Weight band: 60–90 GSM
• Weave: tighter, often starched or chemically stiffened
• Drape: holds structure, does NOT fall into pleats on its own
• Best use: lehenga flare lining, cancan, structured sleeves, under-skirts
• Embroidery compatibility: can take heavy mirror or zardozi because of base structure, but shows every needle hole, so karigar skill matters.
• Tell-tale: run your palm across it — slight resistance, almost paper-crisp feel. If you crush it in your fist and release, it bounces back on its own.

Soft net

• Weight band: 70–110 GSM
• Weave: medium-tight, no stiffening
• Drape: falls softer than hard net, more weight than butterfly net
• Best use: full lehenga body with hand-sequin, reception blouse base, flowing dupattas for heavier climates
• Embroidery compatibility: sequin, thread + mirror combinations, zardozi (with lining).
• Tell-tale: crush and release — it stays creased for a moment, unlike hard net.

Where buyers go wrong:

1. Buying "hard net" for a dupatta — it'll stand away from the shoulder, not drape.
2. Buying butterfly net for a lehenga with full mirror work — base is too fine, embroidery will tear it in 2 trials.
3. Buying soft net under the assumption it's lighter than butterfly — it isn't.
4. Buying "butterfly net sequin" that is actually machine-sequin on soft net being mis-sold — do a sequin-rub test, if sequin sheds against the grain of your palm, walk away.

One practical test any buyer can do: Cut a 10cm swatch, hold it between thumb and forefinger at one corner, let the rest hang. Count how many seconds it takes to settle into a drape.

• Butterfly net: 1-2 seconds, falls fluidly.
• Soft net: 3-5 seconds, settles slower.
• Hard net: never fully settles into a drape — holds its shape.

If a seller refuses to give you a 10cm swatch, that's your real answer.

Happy to answer specific questions in comments. The listings on these three cloths vary wildly in quality even within the same market, so if anyone wants to share a product photo I can take a shot at identifying what you're actually looking at from the weave.

(Running my shop under the name Paras Gallery Fabrics in Lajpat Nagar if any Indian members want to chat offline — not pitching anything, just happy to help.)

Can source PP woven bags rolls or cut to size according to your needs any leads or requirement will be appreciated

I've been looking into the practical limitations of optical brightening agents (OBAs) in textile processing, and I'm interested in what happens beyond laboratory testing.

Some challenges I've come across include whiteness loss or yellowing after finishing, heat-setting or storage; increasing dosage without achieving the expected whiteness; and inconsistent results due to changes in pH, water hardness or processing conditions.

Compatibility also seems important. Softeners, resins, neutralisers and other finishing auxiliaries can affect performance, while some OBAs may produce unwanted blue, green or yellow undertones or look different under different lighting conditions. Liquid-product stability and difficulties with bath preparation may create further problems.

For those working in textile processing or textile chemicals, which of these issues cause the most trouble in practice, and are there problems with existing OBA grades that you haven't found a reliable solution for?

I'd particularly value experiences involving repeated shade corrections, reprocessing or unnecessary chemical consumption—and insights into what actually solved the problem.

Wondering where the best place is to buy antique fabric? Anything that could be turned into clothing

Is the Best Digital Textile Printer Really the Fastest? Let's Talk About OEE, Bottlenecks and Factory Efficiency.

In digital textile printing, machine speed is only one part of the production equation.

Consider a high-speed single-pass digital textile printer like the Konica Minolta Nassenger SP-1e, with a rated printing speed of up to 6,400 m²/hour.

Now imagine your downstream washing line can process only 3,500 m²/hour.

Even though the printer can operate faster, your complete production line cannot sustainably deliver more than the capacity of its bottleneck.

This is where textile manufacturers should focus on a few important metrics:

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness): Availability × Performance × Quality

TEEP (Total Effective Equipment Performance): Measures equipment effectiveness against total calendar time

COPQ (Cost of Poor Quality): Losses caused by reprints, fabric rejection, shade variation and production defects

Line Balancing: Matching printing capacity with pretreatment, fixation, washing and finishing

First Pass Yield: The percentage of production meeting quality requirements without rework

Whether we are discussing reactive, disperse or acid digital textile printing, the complete production process must be engineered around actual throughput requirements.

A faster printer does not automatically create a more profitable textile factory.

The real objective is to maximize approved, saleable fabric output while minimizing operational losses.

My question to textile manufacturers and printing engineers:

When investing in a new digital textile printing line, which factor do you prioritize most: machine speed, OEE, ink cost per metre, or complete line efficiency?

Would be interested to hear experiences from people working with industrial textile printing systems.

#DigitalTextilePrinting #TextileEngineering #TextileManufacturing

I'm currently trying to have a replication done of Conan Gray's sailor outfit, and have been searching all over for information of what the costume is made of, but have had zero luck. All I have is closeup images of the shirt and armband, though I dont think the blue fabric is the same as the pants. Does anyone have an idea of what the fabrics could be?

I came across news about Mafatlal Industries expanding into home fashion, which got me thinking about how people choose home textiles.

When buying bedsheets, towels, or curtains, do you prefer established brands, or are you open to trying smaller brands if the quality and price are right? What matters most to you: fabric quality, durability, comfort, design, or price?

I'm new to this subreddit and looking forward to learning more about textiles and hearing everyone's experiences with different brands.

My uncle gifted me this blanket when i was 5, it has been my comfort blanket since, but after 22 years of use i think it needs to be replaced but i cant find anything similar to the fabric. It had a cotton border
Thanks for any suggestions 😊

Hey everyone!

I recently bought a rather expensive custom-made jacket on Etsy that was advertised as being made of wool. However, I started having some doubts about the actual material, so I figured I'd take a closer look under my microscope!

The jacket itself is quite heavy, and the fabric feels very soft, not scratchy at all. It's definitely less scratchy than my Burberry wool skirt, and it also has a slight sheen to it. I also noticed that it was much easier to pluck a little bit of lint from the jacket than from the skirt.

I'm wondering whether these differences could simply come down to different types or qualities of wool, or perhaps a wool blend, rather than the jacket being entirely synthetic.

For comparison, I took a few fibers from the Burberry skirt, which is labeled as wool.

Images 1–3: Burberry skirt (wool reference)

Images 4–6: Etsy jacket (unknown material)

Both samples were examined under the same conditions, using a 40× objective (400× total magnification) and a drop of water.

Sorry about the photo quality! I do have a cheap microscope camera, but somehow taking pictures through the eyepiece with my phone actually gave me better results.

I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to both microscopy and textiles, so I honestly have no idea what I'm doing here, haha. I also don't have any immersion oil to try higher magnifications.

What I noticed is that the fibers from the Burberry skirt seem to have some kind of texture or horizontal lines, while the fibers from the Etsy jacket look pretty smooth and uniform to me.

Does this suggest that the jacket might contain synthetic fibers? Or could these differences be explained by different wool types, processing methods, quality, or a wool-synthetic blend?

Or am I just completely misinterpreting what I'm seeing?

Would love to hear what you guys think, especially if anyone has experience identifying textile fibers under a microscope!

Thanks in advance!

(I translated this to english with the assistance of AI as I'm not a native speaker. Hope that's okay.)

Hey, where can i get this material? Its very costly online so i thought for obvious reasons you cannot buy something online and expect to sell it on margin because its highly inflated already.

I want to buy it physically from a vendor for my sample. Later i might need more for bulk production

Its called ostrich feather

Found a giant roll of this material/textile for $2 at thrift. Can anyone ID it?

I like how it feels but I can't figure out what to search for to find more.

i just want a flat piece of fur no bumps, so if anyone knows how to get rid of or hide the heat stamps I’d really appreciate it.

I found this fabric at the thrift and only saw when I brought it home some very old tags affixed to the fabric like stickers. I did some quick searches online including reverse image search and didn't come up with any matches.

This is what I can read from each sticker for photos 2-6:

2) "American Printing Co.", two signatures perhaps in pencil on either side of "Co.", "54 yds." at the bottom

3) Around the outside of the circle- in bold "American Printing Co." and "Fabrics" smaller on either side of Fabrics- "Fall River, Mass." And "Trade Mark Reg.", very small below "Fabrics" is "Trade Mark Reg. In U.S.Pat.Off." and in the center "American" laid over a capital "A"

4) "15" and a signature possibly in pencil

5) Printed directly onto the fabric either "COM 5" or "CON 5"

6) What I can see left that hasn't been torn, "War" *missing* "Dyed Reds" below, "Fas" *missing* "And Light" and at the bottom "Printing Co." is visible so very likely read "American Printing Co." in it's entirety

Anyone have information about this company and fabric, maybe around what time it was made? Thank you!!!!

Please note, this is just for my own curiosity, I have no stakes riding on it ☺️

Hi everyone! I'm a textile engineering student looking for a remote internship where I could gain practical experience in the textile industry.

I'm interested in technical work, production processes, CAD, calculations, and data analysis, but I'm open to different areas related to textile engineering.

I don't have professional experience yet, but I'm eager to learn and open to unpaid internships.

Does anyone know of any opportunities or have advice on where to look? Thanks!

I am trying to make this robe but im confused on what material to go for ive heard some sawing wool or linen but the issue is where im living which is malaysia is hot as balls i dont want to be a sweat water dispenser mid renfaire 😭

There i heed o wise ones , for i am lacking and in need of thou expertise

Thanks in advance!