Stenter

A Stenter (sometimes called a Tenter) is a specialist oven used in the textile industry for drying and heat treating fabric after wet processing.

It consists of heated chambers, adjustable to the width of the fabric being treated. Fabric is fed into the heated chamber supported at either selvedge by a series of stenter pins or clamps which support the fabric as it is moved through the drying chambers. (Note: Stenter pins are the modern equivalent of tenterhooks)

The input and output speed of the fabric is closely controlled, as is the output width, determining the moisture content of the fabric after drying, and the dimensional stability.[1][2]

Etymology and History
Main article: Tenter hooks

Stenter is driven from Tenter, Tenter comes from the Latin tendere, to stretch, via a French intermediate. The main purpose of the machine is to stretch and dry. The frames were called tenters and the tentering hooks were the metal hooks used for holding the fabric to the frame. Tenters were used to process woolen fabric. , In the cleaning process after squeezing excess water the woolen cloth was crumpled and needed to be straightened and dried under tension, or it would shrink. The wet cloth was stretched on a large wooden frame, a "tenter", and left to dry. The lengths of wet cloth were stretched on the tenter using hooks (nails driven through the wood) all around the perimeter of the frame to which the cloth's edges were fixed. This ensured that as it dried the cloth would retain its shape and size. When Higher Mill was built the tentering was done in the open air, the tenter frames were erected on the hillside to the east of the mill. Towards the end of World War I, the process was brought inside and dried by steam heating. Slowly it turned into a modern-day stenter machine.[3]

Holding hook types
  1. Pins
  2. Clips

Uses

Stenter is a very useful machine in a textile process house, The machine plays a vital role in finishing.The machine may be equipped with padding manlge which is useful in squeezing excessive moisture and applying various finishes [4] such as wrinkle-free, water repellent, waterproof, anti-static , and flame retardant, etc. Coating and dyeing applications are also possible on a setnter machine with suitable padders and coating attachments.

There are various optional attachments such as tendamatic, weft straightener, bowing and skew cameras, over-feeding, edge gumming and trimming, residual moisture control, etc. which helps in increasing its functionality and usage. Stenter is primarily used for the following.

  • Drying and adjustment of the width.
  • Application of softeners and various chemical finishes. Most of the textile finishes are applied to stenter machine. Regular softening to specialize finishes are applied on wet to wet or Dry to wet finishing mode. Dry to wet finishing route is preferred where more amount of chemical is required.
  • GSM (Grams per square meter) by adjusting overfeed, and manipulating the courses and wales or Picks and ends in knitted and woven fabrics respectively.
  • Shrinkage control by overfeeding /increasing input and controlling output speeds.[5]
  • Heatsetting both pre-heatset and post-heat-setting of the fabrics. Heat setting helps in stabilizing the synthetic fabrics such as Polyester, Nylon, and Spandex containing fabrics.
  • Bowing and skew control especially in stripe fabrics[6]
  • Color applications also.

See also

References
  1. A K Roy Choudhury (9 January 2006). Textile Preparation and Dyeing. Science Publishers. pp. 484–487. ISBN 9781578084043.
  2. |K. S. Laurie (1960). "Stenter Drying and Heat Treatment of Fabrics". Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings. 51 (2): P101–P102. doi:10.1080/19447016008664389.}}
  3. "BBC - A History of the World - Object : Tenter Hooks". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  4. Textile Preparation and Dyeing. p. 484. ISBN 9781578084043.
  5. Chemical Technology in the Pre-Treatment Processes of Textiles. p. 264.
  6. "Methods of Test for Bow and Skewness in Woven Fabric". Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings. 47 (1): P28–P31. 1956-01-01. doi:10.1080/19447015608665184. ISSN 1944-7019.
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