General
Information... Batting
In general, batting is made using various processes. The
process by which battings are manufactured and produced gives a
product its identity. There are (5) primary processes by which
battings are made:
Garnetted
or Plain:
Garnetted batting is processed through garnett or carding
equipment and layered with no other added processes. This plain
batting is not bound together in any manner and is very easy to
quilt. The major issue with this type of batting is potential
for migration and shifting. This type of batting will tend to
bunch and shift between the quilt lines if not quilted as close
as ¼” –1/2” spacing
Needle
punched:
This type of batting is carded or garnetted then layer to
form a web. The web is then passed through needling equipment
that mechanically entangles the web by using thousands of
needles that lock the fiber together. This type of product works
to give strength to a product while allowing for a soft hand and
thinner profile vs. a high loft type product. Needle punched
wool or polyester tend to migrate, but will not bunch or shift
like plain garnetted or carded products. Needle punched products
can be thermal bonded or resin bonded.
Thermal
bonded, Heat sealed, Glazine finish:
All of these types of batting are similar in that they typically
use some type of low melt binder fiber in the mix. Low melt
binder fiber is a polyester fiber that is designed to melt at a
lower temperature than a standard polyester fiber. Thermal
bonded products have low melt fiber blended with standard
polyester. The blended web is passed through an oven and the low
melt fibers “flow” and bonds to the surrounding polyester
fibers. Problems with Thermal bonded products are that the
surface fibers are not tied down which allows for migration. In
addition, thermal bonded products do not dry clean and break
down faster with washing than do resin bonded products.
In the case of glazine or heat sealed type products, a web is
passed through a mechanical process that applies heat to the
surface of the web. The surface of the web is “sealed” or
“glazed”. This sealing or tying of the fibers on the top and
bottom helps minimize the potential for bearding, bunching and
shifting allowing for the batt to open like a blanket and have
good stability.
Resin
bonded:
Resin bonded batting is made made from a wide variety of fibers
including polyester, cotton, wool etc.. A web is garnetted or
carded then passed through a process that applies a resin to
both sides. The web is dried and cured to form a bonded batting.
This bonded batting resists bearding better than any other type
of batting. There are many different types of fiber and resin
combinations to give a desired “look” and “hand”.
Combining processes, fibers and resins makes the resin bonded
process the most versatile and most effective way to produce
battings.
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