Fluflon yarn setting machine

Fluflon yarn setting machine, made around 1955. Used to add twist and bulk to synthetic fibres like nylon.

The Fluflon yarn setting machine was an important forerunner of modern technology know as false-twist texturing, which is used to add bulk, texture and stretch to yarn made from synthetic fibres.

Yarn of different textures, thicknesses or elasticity produces different types of fabric when woven, so false-twist texturing is an important process in the textiles industry, being one of a variety of techniques that allows for the creation of a huge variety of different types of fabrics.

The Fluflon process was invented in the USA by Warren Seem and Nicholas Stoddart, who formed the American company Permatwist. The process involved heating a yarn, twisting it at high speed, cooling it and then untwisting the yarn, 'setting' it with a new texture.

This Fluflon machine was manufactured in Britain under license from Permatwist. It was used by experts at the University of Manchester Institute of Technology to gather evidence for a patent litigation case over the licensing of the Fluflon technology by a Macclesfield textiles firm, William Frost and Sons of Park Green Mill.