A wide range of raw materials can be used for knitting fabrics, including cotton, wool, silk, linen, synthetic fibers, and their blends or interwoven yarns. Knitted fabrics are soft and, in addition to good wrinkle resistance and breathability, also possess significant stretch and elasticity, making them suitable for underwear, shapewear, and sportswear. By modifying the structure and improving dimensional stability, knitted fabrics can also be used for outerwear, mattresses, and other garments.
Knitted fabrics can be first woven into greige cloth, then cut and sewn to create various knitted items; alternatively, they can be directly knitted into fully or partially shaped products, such as socks and gloves. Besides being used for clothing, household items, and decoration such as underwear, outerwear, socks, gloves, hats, sheets, bedspreads, curtains, mosquito nets, carpets, and lace, knitted fabrics are also widely used in industrial, agricultural, and medical fields. Examples of applications for knitted fabrics include dust collection filter cloth, high-pressure pipes for oil and gas transportation, lining cloths for the rubber and plastics industries, oil booms for oil ports, safety nets for construction, packaging bags for agricultural products, low-pressure hoses for irrigation and fertilization, nets for crop cultivation, nets for protecting embankments and slopes, fishing nets, artificial blood vessels, artificial heart valves, bandages, and knee braces. The disadvantages of knitted fabrics are that they are prone to snagging and their dimensions are more difficult to control.
