New wool

Fibre from the fleece of a sheep or lamb that has riot previously been spun into yarn or felted, nor previously been incorporated into a finished product.

New Zealand flax

A fibre obtained from the leaves of the New Zealand plant Phomium tenax. It is sometimes called New Zealand flax or hemp, although now grown in other countries.

New Zealand hemp

A fibre obtained from the leaves of the New Zealand plant Phomium tenax. It is sometimes called New Zealand flax or hemp, although now grown in other countries.

Nib (lace machines)

1. A flattened projection at the tip of the carriage spring that enters the lips of the bobbin and holds the latter in position.
2. A projection on the carriage at the base of the breast that forms the recess into which the catch bar drops to enable it to propel the carriage.

Nick

A small cut made on the edge of a garment part which is used as a guide during assembly . Notches may indicate the positions of darts, pleats, pockets, seams, style features, zips, gathers and balance marks.

Ninon

1. A fabric originally made from very fine highly twisted silk yarns with two or three ends weaving as one and with two or three threads lightly twisted together to form the weft so giving the effect of two or three picks in a shed, and known as double or triple ninons respectively.Typical construction: 130x44; 20dtex x R6Odtex/3.Single ninon appears to have been relatively uncommon.
2. A voile fabric of manufactured fibre yarns, typically intended for use as curtains.

Nip

The line or area of contact or proximity between two contiguous surfaces that move so as to compress and/or control the velocity of textile material passed between them.

Nip Creases

Creases occurring at regular intervals along a fabric selvage subsequent to a nipping operation such as calendering or padding. Such creases are caused by a loosely wound selvage or improper let-off tension which allows the fabric to fold over or gather at the selvage prior to entering the nip of the rolls.

Nip padding

.. It is often used in conjunction with other process terms to describe sequential operations in dyeing or finishing. e.g., pad-bake, pad-batch, pad-dry, and pad-steam. It is occasionally used also to describe processes carried out on a padding mangle as opposed to batch wise treatment, e.g., pad-develop.

Nip roller

One of a pair of rollers intended to run with their cylindrical surfaces in contact or separated only by yarn or other textile material.
Note: The two rollers are intended to have the same surface speed and one normally drives the other by frictional contact, either directly or through the textile material.

Noil

The shorter fibres separated from the longer fibres in combing during the preparatory process before spinning.

Noil

The fibres extracted during silk dressing or those that are too short for producing spun silk .These fibres are usually spun on the condenser system to produce what are known as silk soil yarns.

Nominal gauge length (testing)

The length of a specimen under specified pretension, measured from nip to nip of the jaws of the holding clamps in their starting position.

Non-fibrous matter (quantitative analysis of fibres)

Oils, fats, waxes, dressings, salts and other soluble materials, all or some of which may be present in a fibre mixture, which could interfere with dissolution of fibres in quantitative analysis. This must be removed by pre-treatment before analysis.

Non-woven (carpets)

A term used in the carpet industry to describe carpets that are not woven. (See also nonwoven fabric.)