quality · 6 min read

Common fabric defects and which ones you can live with

Every roll has defects. The commercial question is not whether they exist, but whether they fall inside the cuttable area and whether the count stays under your agreed threshold.

By Weft Bridge · Reviewed by our Guangzhou sourcing team · Updated 2026-11

The ones that cost real money

Defect	What it looks like	Cause	Cuttable?
Hole / broken pick	A gap in the weave or a missing yarn	Machine stop, knot failure	Often, if small and isolated
Shade band	A stripe across the width, different depth	Dyeing or stopping the machine	No — runs full width
Side-to-side shading	One selvedge darker than the other	Uneven dye pickup	Sometimes, at a cost
Skew / bow	Weft runs diagonally or curves	Finishing tension	No for stripes and checks
Contamination	Foreign fibres visible after dyeing	Waste mixed into the yarn	No
Width variation	Roll narrower at points	Tension or finishing	Depends on panel size

Cuttable versus fatal

A hole in a plain fabric can usually be cut around if the piece is large enough. The same hole in a printed panel or a small garment piece can make the whole roll unusable for that order.

Shade bands, skew and contamination are different: they run across or through the fabric, so there is no way to cut around them. These are the defects worth rejecting a lot over.

How to agree the standard

Use the 4-point system and write the threshold into the PO.
Define which defects are zero-tolerance — usually holes over a set size and contamination.
Ask for photos of every major defect with the roll number.
Inspect before shipment; after arrival your leverage is gone.

FAQ

Are slubs defects?

In linen and slub jersey they are a design feature. Agree a photo reference and a tolerance, otherwise every delivery becomes an argument.

What is a normal defect rate?

A common first-quality threshold is 20 points per 100 square yards under the 4-point system. The number is a commercial agreement, not a standard.

Can I claim after the fabric is cut?

Rarely. Once cut, the mill cannot verify the defect came from them. Inspect before cutting.