Singeing Machine

A singeing machine is a piece of textile finishing equipment that passes woven or knitted fabric rapidly over an open gas flame or a heated metal plate to burn off the small protruding fiber ends left on the fabric's surface, producing a smoother, cleaner finish before further processing such as dyeing. Gas singeing machines came into industrial use during the nineteenth century as part of the broader mechanization of textile finishing that followed the mechanization of spinning and weaving; the source consulted for this entry names no single inventor or exact origin date for the general technology, so none is recorded here. Singeing remains a standard finishing step for cotton and other woven fabrics where a smooth surface is wanted.