Fabric Type

Raschel Knit Fabric is a type of Warp knitted fabrics, which are made in a special knitting machine with yarns from warp beam. Unlike weft knits, they are knitted from multiple yarns, with yarns forming loops in adjacent wales. The fabric may be identified with a pick glass. The face side of the fabric has slightly inclined vertical knitting loops whereas the backside of the fabric has inclined horizontal floats. They do not ravel. Warp knit fabrics are constructed with yarn loops formed in a vertical or warp direction. All the yarns used for a width of a warp knit are placed parallel to each other in a manner similar to the placement of yarns in weaving. The fabrics that are made of great quality with the technique are generally made with Tricot and Raschel knit fabrics.

Raschel Knit Fabrics have an open-worked knit construction, where heavy, coarse yarns are held in place by finer yarns. Raschel Knit Fabric has good draping qualities and is frequently used as an unlined material for coats, lingerie and dresses.

Raschel knit fabrics have a lacelike, open construction, with a heavy, textured yarn held in place by a much finer yarn. Raschel Knit Fabrics can be made in a variety of types, ranging from fragile to coarse, and usually have limited stretch.

In 1855, Redgate combined the principles of a circular loom with those of warp knit. A German firm used this machine to produce "Raschel" shawls, named after the French actress Élisabeth Félice Rachel. In 1859 Wilhelm Barfuss improved the machine to create the Raschel machines. The Jacquard apparatus was adapted to it in the 1870s. The Raschel Knit Fabric machine could work at higher speeds than the Leavers machine and proved the most adaptable to the new synthetic fibres, such as nylon and polyester, in the 1950s. Most contemporary machine-made lace is made on Raschel Knit Fabric machines.

Raschel Knit Fabrics do not stretch significantly and are often bulky; consequently, they are often used as an unlined material for coats, jackets, straight skirts and dresses. Raschel Knit fabrics can be made out of conventional or novelty yarns which allows for interesting textures and designs to be created. The qualities of Raschel Knit Fabrics range from "dense and compact to open and lofty. They can be either stable or stretchy, and single-faced or reversible. The largest outlet for the Raschel warp knitting machine is for lace fabric and trimmings. Raschel knitting is also used in outdoors and military fabrics for products such as backpacks. It is used to provide a ventilated mesh next to the user's body (covering padding) or mesh pockets and pouches to facilitate visibility of the contents.

Raschel knitting is generally confined to making lace fabrics and trimmings, but a wide variety of weights and patterns can be made including lightweight lace or net fabrics all the way up to stretch fabrics to heavy carpet matting.

Raschel knit fabric is often used in outerwear. Raschel knitting machines produce a wide selection of fabrics ranging from mesh bags and net fabrics such as mosquito netting, chemical fiber garments and technical and medical net textiles to lace curtains and edgings, veils, narrow tapes and blankets. Raschel knitting is an industrial knitting process and is not done by hand.