#textile finishing

• Starch — To treat a fabric, a piece of clothing, or a textile material with an aqueous solution of starch, with the structural purpose of giving it stiffness, a smooth appearance, gloss, and an increased resistance to wrinkling and soiling during use. This technical or domestic process also facilitates the ironing of materials and protects the textile fibers by creating a microscopic protective film on their surface.
• Starching — The act of starching and its result; a technological process of finishing textile materials by impregnating them with a starch paste or suspension, followed by drying and calendering. This structural operation improves the physical-mechanical properties of the fabrics, increasing their apparent density, resistance to frictional wear, and their ability to repel dust particles suspended in the air.
• Sizing agent — A chemical substance or macromolecular colloidal preparation (based on starch, gelatin, synthetic resins, or cellulose derivatives) used in the industrial or household finishing of fabrics; it also defines the protective film resulting from applying this substance, serving to provide textile materials with structural stiffness, luster, smoothness, and resistance to dirt or wrinkling.
• Textile finishing — The totality of chemical or mechanical technological operations executed in the final stage of textile production to provide fabrics with the desired commercial appearance, enhanced durability, and superior tactile qualities. This structural process includes sizing, calendering, shearing, or applying waterproofing treatments.
• Fabric sizing — The act of starching and its result; a technical, industrial, or household process through which a fabric or a clothing item is treated with a sizing agent or starch. This structural finishing operation provides textile fibers with a controlled stiffness, a distinct aesthetic luster, and enhanced protection against wrinkling, while facilitating the subsequent ironing process.
• Female starcher — A skilled female worker in a textile or garment factory who executes the operations of starching, sizing, and finishing fabrics or clothing components. As an adjective, it represents the feminine plural form of the word 'apretor', defining industrial substances, machinery, or installations designed for stiffening, impregnating, or final processing of yarns and materials.
• Fabric sizing — A final technological finishing operation for textile materials, consisting of applying a thin layer of sizing agent or starch; it also defines the chemical colloidal mixture used for this purpose or the resulting protective film on the fabric surface. This structural process serves to provide the cloth with controlled stiffness, a pleasant hand, luster, waterproofness, or wrinkle resistance according to commercial standards.