Yarn to Handkerchiefs

Every hanky starts with a buying decision. Arihant either buys cotton yarn to weave within our production network, or buys greige fabric, grey cloth straight off the loom, from outside weavers.

Uneven yarn later shows up as thick and thin bars across the cloth, so problems are stopped here. Each lot is labelled and stored separately, so shade, count and quality can be traced through every later step.

Checks, stripes and colour borders get their colour here, before a single thread is woven. This step dyes yarn for our own weaving, and only the yarn for these designs.

Plain colours are not dyed here. On both routes, fabric dyeing takes place inside Processing, at step 8.3.2.

The warp is the set of lengthwise threads that runs the full length of the fabric. Warping lays them out side by side, at equal tension, onto a large roller called a beam.

The number of ends, the beam length and the width all come from the fabric's planned construction.

On the loom, each warp thread is rubbed and pulled thousands of times as the weft is beaten in. Bare cotton would fray and snap, so sizing coats it with a thin, temporary film called size.

The amount picked up, called add-on, is controlled closely. Too little leaves hairy yarn that breaks; too much makes it stiff, brittle and harder to wash out.

A loom is threaded with thousands of warp ends. Redoing that by hand for every new beam would take a long time, so the new warp is tied to the old one and the loom is set up again.

A heald is a wire that lifts or lowers a thread; the reed is a comb that spaces the threads and beats in the weft.

Weaving interlaces warp and weft into grey fabric. Our production network weaves on dobby, rapier and air-jet looms from makers such as Toyota and Picanol, in widths from 36 to 120 inches.

Handkerchief fabrics are mostly plain weave, one over and one under, which gives a light, even and absorbent cloth. Checks are woven on dobby looms, with weft colours changing in a set sequence. Each roll is tagged with its loom and lot.

Four cleaning jobs prepare the cloth for everything after it. Together they leave fabric that is smooth, absorbent and white.

Singeing speed is balanced: too slow scorches, too fast leaves fuzz. Over-bleaching weakens cotton, so whiteness and absorbency are tested. Poly-cotton and yarn-dyed fabrics are treated in much the same way.

Under a microscope, a raw cotton fibre looks like a flat, twisted ribbon. Mercerisation changes that shape, and with it the look and strength of the cloth.

This step is what gives mercerised hankies their soft sheen, and why their colours stay richer over many washes.

Two printing methods are used, chosen by fabric. Matching the method to the fibre is what makes the print last.

Prints are checked against the approved strike-off for misregistration, banding (lines from blocked nozzles) and bleeding. Colours are also checked against the approved design.

Plain-coloured hankies get their colour here, with the whole fabric dyed in one shade. This is where fabric is dyed on both routes, and our production network offers more than 50 colours.

White and yarn-dyed checked fabrics skip this step: whites get their colour from bleaching, and checks from yarn dyed at step 2.

A stenter dries wet fabric and sets its width in one pass. Straight threads and a correct width are what make a true, square hanky. The edges are held all the way, so the cloth dries at exactly the set width.

Overfeed, temperature and speed are set together to control length shrinkage and avoid over-drying the cotton.

Weaving and wet processing stretch cotton lengthwise. Left as it is, a hanky would shrink the first time it is washed. At Arihant, width pre-setting is the step that prevents this, done on one machine.

'Zero-zero' names the aim: near-zero residual shrinkage, meaning what fabric would still lose in a home wash, in both length and width. No chemicals are involved.

Calendering presses fabric between rollers to flatten and smooth its surface. Both kinds below are used at Arihant, and the choice is made for each product.

Handle is the trade word for how a fabric feels in the hand. A felt-calendered hanky feels fuller and softer; a cold-calendered one is smooth without extra shine.

Washing is not a single stop on the line. Fabric is washed several times through processing, wherever chemicals, unfixed dye or loose fibres need to come out.

Clear wash water shows that loose dye and chemicals have gone. pH measures how acidic or alkaline something is, on a scale where around 7 is neutral.

The last processing stage adds optional extras, then dries the cloth. The finished rolls go on to the second quality check.

The enzyme wash leaves a cleaner surface, a softer feel and less pilling, the small balls of fibre that form with wear. Labelling by lot means each roll can be traced.

Cutting decides the size of every hanky. Each square is cut slightly larger than the finished hanky, to include the hem allowance folded in at step 11.

Strips and squares are cut with straight-knife or band-knife cutters against measuring templates, so sizes stay within tolerance across a whole order. Size accuracy here depends on the straight, square fabric set at the stenter.

A cut edge frays; hemming stops that for good. The raw edge is turned over twice so no cut edge is exposed, then stitched down. The hem is what holds the hanky together through years of washing.

Hem width defines the style: narrow classic stitch, wide classic stitch or wide hemmed traditional. Line checkers watch for skipped stitches, open seams and uneven hems.

Sewing leaves small loose ends behind, at the corners and wherever a seam starts or stops. This step cleans them up by hand.

It is quick, careful hand work done piece by piece. A hanky that leaves this table has square corners, a secure hem and no loose tails, ready for shearing, the machine clean-up that follows.

Shearing is a machine clean-up of the surface of sewn handkerchiefs. It removes what hand trimming leaves behind. It reaches the whole surface in a single pass, not just the corners and seams.

Blade sharpness and setting are checked regularly. A dull blade leaves fuzz; a blade set too low can nick the fabric. Hem stitches must be left untouched.

Each hanky is pressed with steam. Heat and moisture relax the cotton fibres, so creases come out and hems lie flat. This is the step that turns a clean hanky into a crisp, ready-to-use one.

Pressing also squares the hanky, which makes the next step, folding, accurate. Temperature is chosen by fabric before pressing begins, and every piece passes under the iron, so a whole packet looks the same.

Folding gives every hanky the same shape and size, so each one fits its box or pack exactly.

Folding is the last moment a person handles each hanky on its own, so it doubles as a final look for faults before the hanky goes into its pack. Box, hanging and gift packs each have their own fold size.

Each range has its own pack, and each pack carries the details a buyer and the law expect. Packs are chosen to suit shelf display, hanging display or gifting. The pack, in turn, sets how the hanky is folded at step 15.

Labels carry product details, the line 'Manufactured by Arihant Mills, Ichalkaranji' and care symbols, icons for washing, drying and ironing. Packaged retail goods in India also carry Legal Metrology declarations such as quantity, MRP and maker details.

Goods leave our production network in three formats: box packs, bundle packs and bale packs. Here, boxed retail packs become trade units.

HDPE is high-density polyethylene, a strong woven plastic. The wrap protects goods from dust, moisture and knocks in transit and storage. Each bundle holds a single design, size and colour, so stock is easy to sort on arrival. Bale packs suit large bulk orders.

Every carton gets an internal barcode, so it can be scanned and tracked from the packing floor to the buyer. Barcodes here are internal, used to track cartons against orders.

The packing list is the document that records what is in each carton of a shipment. A missing, extra or wrongly filled carton shows up before the goods leave. It is checked by scanning, not by memory.

Dispatch starts with counting and weighing. Cartons and bales are loaded with heavy items at the bottom, so nothing shifts or crushes on the road. Every piece is accounted for.

Each carton and bale carries its internal barcode, so it is matched to the packing list as it is loaded.

Orders leave Ichalkaranji by road transport or courier, to traders, retailers, institutions and online customers. Tracking details are shared with the buyer, so they can follow the shipment until it arrives.