This gives the fibers a certain slipperiness that facilitates the remainder of the yarn-making process and helps reduce static electricity during carding. Carding - this is the most involved process in yarn making. The rule in the mill is that if you card correctly you can spin. If not, then you have problems. The carder is actually a series of machines, linked together in-line, that turn the picked fibers into pencil roving.
Several things happen along the way.
The fibers are further opened, dirt and short fibers fall off the carder, the fibers are further blended, and the fibers are roughly oriented in a parallel fashion with the machinery. Additionally, the amount of fibers entering the carder is strictly controlled and the distribution of the fibers is evenly placed across the width of the card, thus ensuring an even, uniform yarn. The first piece of equipment is the feedbox. This machine allows us to place a large quantity of fibers in a feed hopper and through the use of a feed apron, weigh pan and feed table, to feed a predetermined amount of fiber into the card line. It is at this end of the process that we determine the weight and yardage of the pencil roving at the other end of the machine, and to a great extent, the yardage of the spun yarn.