Ladders

by Geraden

Sheer hosiery is unique as far as clothing is concerned. No other clothing fabric, with the possible exception of the finest silk, is so delicate.

The filaments that make up the yarn are incredibly fine. A human hair is typically 40 thou(sandths of an inch), which is 100 microns (millionths of a metre, µm or µ). A 15 denier nylon yarn has a thickness of 1.7 thou (4.25µ). But hosiery is not made from single filament yarn any more. The filaments that comprise the yarn may be in the order of 0.5 den, though filaments of 0.2 den are not unknown. This is about one two-thousandth of an inch or less than 1.5µ.

So, although nylon is incredibly strong, the individual filaments are easily snapped. But even so, they do not snap immediately. If a filament is snagged, it will straighten out the stitches into which it has been knitted. A minor snag may do no more than leave a short darker horizontal line in the fabric. The wearer may say, "I have clicked my tights." Usually these 'clicks' are unsightly rather than dangerous. Sometimes they can be 'massaged' away, or at least made less visible.

A more serious snag result is a 'pull' where a longer series of stitches has been straightened, forming a dark horizontal line in the fabric. Often the force of the snag will have caused the filaments to be stretched away from the point of the snag, causing a small hole to appear. The snagged thread, whether broken or not, hangs outside the leg of the tights. The straightened filaments are under greater tension than those elsewhere and it is at this point that the yarn may snap. What happens then depends on how many filaments have been snagged. If not all the filaments have snagged, there will still be a weakness at the site of the pull, which may or not develop further.

But because of the greater tension around the point of the damage, sooner or later the whole yarn will snap. When this happens, the affected stitches resolve (unknit) themselves, and this in turn unlocks linked stitches in the adjacent rows, causing a 'domino effect'. A series of resolved stitches in one or more vertical lines ('wales') is called, in the US, a run. In Britain, we use the more descriptive term 'ladder' because the resolved stitches look like the rungs of a ladder. Some spectacular ladders can occur in seamless tights, where a run will go up one leg and down the other.

In past centuries, ladders in expensive silk stockings used to be patiently repaired by women who possessed great skill, steady hands and excellent eyesight. Now, given the fineness of the gauge of modern hosiery and the relative cheapness of automatic production processes compared with the cost of labour intensive repairs, mending ladders is not now a practicable proposition.

If tights develop a ladder these days they are heading for the bin, unless you want to keep them for wearing under trousers or in bed. Nevertheless there are damage limitation techniques which may temporarily arrest the spread of a ladder so that it does not become too apparent. Most people know about nail polish as repair medium (please use clear, not pink or any other colour!). Superglue can also be used, with care of course. These are strong binding agents, which is what is needed at the site of the damage, but they are always unsightly, as well as being rough to the feel. Alternatively there are aerosol sprays which are invisible when applied, but these are not so effective at the damage site. They work best to stop a ladder where the fabric is not under the additional tension that a pulled thread causes. The little lipstick-sized 5cc sprays are hideously expensive, but you can get a much larger aerosol can of artist's fixative for not much more than a can of "Run-stop" and this seems to be just as good.

Cutting off the pulled thread without taking other measures is almost always a mistake.

Run-resist tights are of course available. They are knitted with an extra 'tuck' or locking stitch that prevents pulled threads. A serious snag in this kind of hosiery will cause a hole or a tear, but not a ladder. The locking stitch makes every stitch a bit larger, so run resist tights have a rougher feel to them. The better manufacturers do not bother to make run-resist tights, which must say something.

The answer is of course to take care in selecting, putting on and wearing your tights, to minimise the chance of getting a ladder. For more information see here.

If you would like to comment on this entry, please click on the 'Comments' link below.

links: technorati