Yarn Numbering System: Types and Conversion

What Yarn Count?
Yarn count is a number, which express the fineness or coarseness of yarn. It is determined by its mass per unit length.

The weight of the original fiber and the length of yarn produced from the raw materials indicate the thickness of the yarn which is determined by the extent of the drawing process.

The yarn count may be measured in a number of ways: the traditional fixed-length Count, Tex and Denier.

1lb of fiber is drawn out to produce a set length of yarn = Ne1

Should the one pound of yarn be drawn out further (e.g. twice as long) this will be known as Ne 2 (a finer yarn than Ne 1).

Note:

Count Ne 1 – 20 = is a coarse yarn
Ne 21 – 60 = is a medium yarns.
Ne 60 and over = is a fine yarns.

Yarn Numbering System:
There are two types of yarn numbering system.

1. Direct system
2. Indirect system

1. Direct system:
It is used for the measurement of linear density that is the weight per unit length of yarn. In this yarn numbering system yarn length is kept constant and weight is variable. Here count is calculated by measuring weight of fixed/definite length. Tex, Denier and pounds/spyndle are the name of direct system yarn count.

Linear density = (Mass/Length)

Tex:
Weight in grams per kilometer fiber or yarn is called Tex.

Tex is related to the weight in grams to 1 km (1000m) in length. For example, 10 Tex would weigh 10 grams per 1 km. Manufacturers of man-made filament and spinning yarns may use Decitex (dtex) which relates to the weight of yarn in grams per 10,000m length.

Example,

• If 1 km length of filament/yarn weight is 10 gm, then filament/yarn count is 10 Tex.
• If 1 km length of filament/yarn weight is 25 gm, then filament/yarn count is 25 Tex.

Denier:
Weight in grams per 9 kilometer fiber or yarn is called denier.

Denier is used for man-made yarns and relates 9,000 m of yarn to the weight in grams. It is based upon the natural fiber of silk – one strand of silk measuring 9,000 m weighs 1 g. (A 10 denier yarn is much finer than a 40 denier yarn)

Example,

• If 9 km length of filament weight is 10 gm, then filament count is 10 Denier.
• If 9 km length of filament weight is 25 gm, then filament count is 25 Denier.

Relation between Tex and Denier: 

1 Denier = 9 Tex

Example,

• If a filament count is 10 Tex, then this filament count is 90 Denier.
• If a filament count is 20 Tex, then this filament count is 180 Denier.

Pound/Spyndle:
Weight in pounds per 14400 yards of jute yarn is called pound/spindle.

Example,

• If 14400 yards length of jute yarn weight is 7 pounds, then yarn count is 7 pound/spindle.
• If 14400 yards length of jute yarn weight is 9 pounds, then yarn count is 9 pound/spindle.

2. Indirect system:
It is used for the measurement of length per unit weight of the yarn. In this system, weight is kept constant while length is variable.

In the indirect system, yarn thickness and yarn number are inversely proportional. This means that as the yarn count increases the yarn weight decreases and hence yarn becomes finer.

The indirect system is also known as English system of counting. Here count is calculated by measuring length of a fixed/definite weight. English (Ne), Metric (Nm), woolen and worsted are the name of indirect system yarn count.

English (Ne) count:
No of 840 yards per pounds is called English (Ne) count.

Example,

• If (20×840) yards length of yarn weight is one pound than its English (Ne) count is 20.
• If (45×840) yards length of yarn weight is one pound than its English (Ne) count is 45.

Metric (Nm) count:
No of kilometer per kg is called Metric (Nm) count.

Example,

• If 20 kilometer length of yarn weight is one kg then its Metric (Nm) count is 20.
• If 35 kilometer length of yarn weight is one kg then its Metric (Nm) count is 35.

Woolen count:
No of 256 yards per pounds is called woolen count.

Example,

• If (30×256) yards length of yarn weight is one pound then its woolen count is 30.
• If (45×256) yards length of yarn weight is one pound then its woolen count is 45.

Worsted (NeK) count:
No of 560 yards per pounds is called worsted count.

Example,

• If (20×560) yards length of yarn weight is one pound then its worsted count is 20.
• If (30×560) yards length of yarn weight is one pound then its worsted count is 30.

Linen (NeL) count:
No of 300 yards per pounds is called linen count.

Example,

• If (25×300) yards length of yarn weight is one pound then its linen count is 25.
• If (45×300) yards length of yarn weight is one pound then its linen count is 45.

Yarn Numbering System Conversion:
English (Ne) x Tex = 590.5
English (Ne) x Denier = 5315
English (Ne) = Metric (Nm) x 0.59
Metric (Nm) = English (Ne) x 1.7

At a glance we can see conversion of yarn count in below table:

Numbering of Ply yarn:

CV% means Co-efficient of variation of data. CV% count means variation of yarn count.

C.S.P. (Count Strength Product) = English count (Ne) x Lea strength in lbs.

Lea:
80 layer of yarn in which each year circumference is 1.5 yards. So, there are 80×1.5 = 120 yards in one lea.

Jahanara Rony

Editor of Fashion2Apparel. She is a fashion designer and ex-lecturer in Fashion Designing. She wants to spread fashion knowledge throughout the world.

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