Welding – An Alternative to Sewing?

Sewing in Garment Industry

Sewing is the most commonly used method for joining fabrics orgarment parts in the garment industry. Sewing is one of the importantprocesses in apparel making.

The basic process of sewing involves fastening of fabrics, leather, furs orsimilar other flexible materials with the help of needle and threads.

There have been many attempts in the past for finding out the mostsuitable replacement for sewing. But none of them match the flexibility,appearance and performance achieved through sewing.

Welding In this technique, heat and pressure is applied to the seamsof the fabric to fuse them together, thus making a sealedformation.

Fabric welding is done with the help of a variety of heatsealing machines.

Thermoplastic coatings such as polypropylene (PP),polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polyethylene (PE) are used forheat sealing.

ProcessThe basic steps in welding include:

1. Heat application on fabric

2. Melting of thermoplastic materials

3. Applying pressure on melted area

4. Creation of bonding

5. Cooling

6. Joining of the fabric

The process of welding differs in how the heat is applied. When ajoint is made, a clamping force causes a heating effect at theinterface of the 2 materials which gives rise to a welded bond.

Rotary WeldingHot air, hot wedge and ultrasonic welding are generally categorised asrotary welding.

In this process, the fabric moves continuously with the help of drivewheels through the machine while it is welded. The heat is sent througha source like hot gas or heated metal wedge after which heat is applied.This seals the fabric permanently.

Although Rotary welding needs skilled-labour and well-trained operators,it is a fast process and can weld up to 6 metres of fabric in a minute.

Ultra-Sonic weldingIn this process, Ultrasonic waves (frequencies) are administered tothe fabric from the horn of the welding machine. This frequencygenerates heat within the fibres at the point of the joint site,causing the polymers to join and form a bond.

Welding with the ultrasonic method is probably the most diverse ofits applications. It can be used for manufacture of protectiveclothing, outdoor garments, lingerie, filters etc.

On the contrary, not all the fabrics can be welded by ultrasonicwelding. Welding is limited to a specific thickness of fabric as it mayharm the outside surface of the fabric before bonding with it.Specially in case of shear fabrics, this might be the phenomenon.

Laser WeldingThe principle of laser welding is simple: a laser beam heats up the metal or thermoplastic so intensely that it melts in places and the materials become fused.

Laser welding is the best method in order to create seams of high quality and better reproducibility. It is ideal for woven fabrics made of polyester or polyamide.

The most important part of laser welding is that it does not damage the exterior of the fabric which creates a seamless effect. Laser-welded seams are extremely flat, elastic, and skin-friendly.

Since laser welding does not require adhesives of any kind, it is also especially environmentally friendly due to the recycling process.

Advantages of Welding

The welding process proves beneficial to the garment industry in many ways not only because of its durability but also the quality.

• Welding is beneficial in the manufacturing mainly because it gives sealed edges and seams. Also since there are no stitch holes and no penetration into the fabric, it also makes the product aesthetically appealing. This provides welding an extra edge over sewing.

• It also provides a consistent and permanent seal to the garment unlike sewing. The thread in the sewn garments can suffer tension problems and could break whereas the welding process welds the fabric evenly making an air-tight bond.

Advantages of Welding

• Welding can be used to create durable, abrasion resistant and water-tight garments for various purposes. It can be also used to tackle problems like thickness variation of the fabric and joining tight or small corners.

• No external heating material or element is needed in this process. This makes it a cost-effective method as compared to other joining methods (moulding, adhesives, fusing etc.).

• Since there is no requirement of needle or thread used in the process, a large amount of material and waste it reduced. There is no threat of thread deterioration time or needle breakage.

Welding as an alternative to Sewing• No matter how productive, cost saving and time saving the process of welding might be,

it cannot replace sewing for all kind of applications. Some fabrics cannot be processed due to the presence of certain colorants or additives.

• Despite with numerous advantages over sewing, welding doesn’t prove to be much economical for an organization. The initial financial layout for the machinery and the time and expertise to train staff can be both time consuming and expensive.

• Also, high level of accuracy is needed from the operator in the process of welding because once the process is completed it is difficult to alter or repair the garment. More usage of welding method in the garment industry will also affect the thread industry as most of the garment manufacturing is done using threads and needles.

• Although welding is a costlier production method compared to sewing, the cost may come down in future with the new advancements in technology.

ConclusionWelding as a method for garment bonding may prove to be of great benefit in the garment industry in future. Smart technology and wearable technology need a lot of work in terms of awareness building and information provision.

The global apparel industry mostly works on sewing when it comes to manufacturing a garment. There is always a lot of struggle involved in terms of adapting such complex and intricate methods and taking them to the next level.

There is a huge potential conflict between the new techniques of fabrics joining and conventional methods being used already. Sewing is the most commonly used technique and is also a high labour intensive process which renders production cost-prohibitive in many parts of the world. On the other hand, welding restricts to the seaming of particularly synthetic fibres.

For an elaborate insight on the topic, visit www.stitchdiary.com