Rabbit fibre (hair)

Fibre from the rabbit (Oryctolagus caniculas). (See also angora fibre (hair).)

Race board

That part of a sley in front of the reed and below the warp, over which the shuttle or rapier passes.

Rack

A warp-knitting measure consisting of 480 courses. Tricot fabric quality is judged by the number of inches per rack.

Rack (lace machines)

An arbitrary number of motions of the machine, used as a basis for the calculation of machine speed, productivity, and face quality.
Note: A Leavers rack is 1920 motions; furnishings rack, 720 full motions; bobbinet rack, 240 holes (12 or 20 motions per hole); warp rack, 480 motions.

Rack (warp knitting)

A unit of 480 courses or complete knitting cycles.

Rack (weft knitting)

The lateral movement of the needle-bed on a flat knitting machine or the angular displacement of the dial relative to the cylinder on a circular machine.

Rack and pinion motion (narrow fabric)

A positive system for controlling the movement of the shuttles of a narrow fabric weaving driven machine in which a pinion or cog meshes with teeth mounted on the shuttle(s) and is intermittently by a length of toothed rack.

Racked Stitch

A knitting stitch that produces a herringbone effect with a ribbed back. It is employed in sweaters for decorative purposes or to form the edge of garments. The racked stitch is a variation of the half-cardigan stitch; it is created when one set of needles is displaced in relation to the other set.

Racked stitch (weft knitting)

A rib structure in which a sideways-deflected loop lies across a loop formed in the same course on the opposite needle bed.

Racking

A term referring to the side-to-side movement of the needles of the needle bed of a knitting machine. Racking results in inclined stitches and reduced elasticity.

Racking (weft knitting)

The lateral movement of a needle bed or point bar across a predetermined distance on a flat knitting machine. (See also shog (weft knitting).)

Radial Tire

In a radial tire tire fabric traverses the body of the tire at 90° to the tread direction. Atop the tire fabric are laid alternating narrow layers of fabric at low angles of 10 to 30 to the tread direction; the belt that is formed around the tire body restricts the movement of the body. 3

Radio-Frequency Drying

Use of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation for drying textiles. The application of RF to wet goods results in the selective heating of the water which has a partial polarity because the molecule must do work to align in the RF field causing heat generation within the water droplets. Non-polar materials i.e. fabrics are unaffected. RF drying in very uniform and energy efficient when airflow patterns through the dryer are properly designed and controlled.

Raffia

A fibre obtained from the leaves of the raffia palm Raphia ruffia.

Raglan sleeve

A sleeve with the armhole line extending from the front and back of the scye to the neckpoint so that the shoulder section is joined to the sleeve crown, eliminating the conventional shoulder and sleeve head seams.(sub category sleeve (clothing))