General Information... Batting

In general, batting is made using various processes. The process by which battings are manufactured and produced gives a product its identity. There are (5) primary processes by which battings are made:

Garnetted or Plain: Garnetted batting is processed through garnett or carding equipment and layered with no other added processes. This plain batting is not bound together in any manner and is very easy to quilt. The major issue with this type of batting is potential for migration and shifting. This type of batting will tend to bunch and shift between the quilt lines if not quilted as close as ¼” –1/2” spacing

Needle punched: This type of batting is carded or garnetted then layer to form a web. The web is then passed through needling equipment that mechanically entangles the web by using thousands of needles that lock the fiber together. This type of product works to give strength to a product while allowing for a soft hand and thinner profile vs. a high loft type product. Needle punched wool or polyester tend to migrate, but will not bunch or shift like plain garnetted or carded products. Needle punched products can be thermal bonded or resin bonded.

Thermal bonded, Heat sealed, Glazine finish: All of these types of batting are similar in that they typically use some type of low melt binder fiber in the mix. Low melt binder fiber is a polyester fiber that is designed to melt at a lower temperature than a standard polyester fiber. Thermal bonded products have low melt fiber blended with standard polyester. The blended web is passed through an oven and the low melt fibers “flow” and bonds to the surrounding polyester fibers. Problems with Thermal bonded products are that the surface fibers are not tied down which allows for migration. In addition, thermal bonded products do not dry clean and break down faster with washing than do resin bonded products.

In the case of glazine or heat sealed type products, a web is passed through a mechanical process that applies heat to the surface of the web. The surface of the web is “sealed” or “glazed”. This sealing or tying of the fibers on the top and bottom helps minimize the potential for bearding, bunching and shifting allowing for the batt to open like a blanket and have good stability.

Resin bonded: Resin bonded batting is made made from a wide variety of fibers including polyester, cotton, wool etc.. A web is garnetted or carded then passed through a process that applies a resin to both sides. The web is dried and cured to form a bonded batting. This bonded batting resists bearding better than any other type of batting. There are many different types of fiber and resin combinations to give a desired “look” and “hand”. Combining processes, fibers and resins makes the resin bonded process the most versatile and most effective way to produce battings.