A quality's standard weight comes from the formula — that's in the how to work out taka weight guide. This guide is the next step: why a real taka drifts from the standard on the loom, and how a daily habit catches it in the same shift. Light takas get returned or attract a kasar claim; heavy takas mean you're giving yarn away. Either way, you lose.
Why weight changes — six common causes
1. Pick setting
Weft weight follows the picks directly. 48 picks instead of 50 means 4% less weft and a fabric about 2% lighter.
2. Weft yarn denier
A lot labelled 150 denier can actually be 146 or 154. If the supplier or lot changed and the weight moved, look at the yarn first. Sometimes a bobbin of another denier gets loaded by mistake — one loom's weight suddenly drops a lot.
3. Tension and crimp
Higher or lower warp tension changes crimp — how much warp goes into 100 m of cloth and how wide the cloth comes off. If one loom on the same beam has its tension set differently, its takas will keep coming out different.
4. Wet takas (waterjet)
A taka off a waterjet loom is wet. Weigh it at once and the water's weight is added — sometimes a few percent. Polyester itself holds very little moisture, so the weight comes back once it dries. Weigh every taka in the same state — always after drying, or always after a fixed time.
5. Scale and tare
A scale not at zero, or with a weak battery, makes every taka wrong. If the core / pipe, polythene or rope (tare) isn't subtracted, every taka looks "heavy".
6. Start and end of the beam
Tension changes as a beam nears its end, and the last taka is short. On a short taka, an error of a metre or two in measuring shows up as a big percentage. Look at a beam's first and last takas separately.
Setting a standard and a tolerance
Difference % = (kg / 100 m − standard) ÷ standard × 100
OK: difference within tolerance (e.g. ±3%)
- Work out the standard from the formula first (Fabric Weight & GSM calculator), then check the average of the first 10–20 good, dry takas. If the two differ a lot, your crimp or denier assumption is off — correct the standard.
- Set the tolerance to suit your work and your party. Many units treat within ±3% as fine, 3–5% as a watch, and above 5% as "check the loom now".
Example
Standard 11.47 kg / 100 m, tolerance ±3% (11.13 to 11.81). Today's four takas:
| Loom | Metres | Kg | Kg / 100 m | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 117 | 13.10 | 11.20 | −2.4% · OK |
| 14 | 117 | 12.55 | 10.73 | −6.5% · light |
| 15 | 117 | 14.20 | 12.14 | +5.8% · heavy |
| 16 | 105 | 12.10 | 11.52 | +0.4% · OK |
- Loom 14: check the pick counter. 47 picks instead of 50: weft 5.46 × 47 ÷ 50 = 5.13 kg, cloth 11.14 kg — only −2.9%. For the rest of the gap, check the weft lot / denier.
- Loom 15: was the taka still wet? Weigh again after drying. Still heavy means more picks or thicker weft.
- If loom 15 really is heavy: 14.20 − 13.42 = 0.78 kg extra yarn per taka. At, say, ₹120 / kg that's about ₹94 per taka — over ₹5,600 on 60 takas a month.
The daily check — a 10-minute job
- Start of shift: zero the scale and check it with a known weight (e.g. a 10 kg weight).
- Every taka: write both metres and kg — kg alone tells you nothing.
- End of shift: look at the takas outside tolerance, loom by loom. One taka out = check the measuring; 2–3 from the same loom = check the loom.
- Yarn lot changed: note the date, so a weight change can be tied to the lot.
- Once a week: look at each loom's average kg / 100 m — a loom drifting slowly gets caught here.
Common mistakes
- Looking at total kg only. You can't compare the kg of a 105 m and a 117 m taka — always use kg / 100 m.
- Mixing wet and dry weighing. Weigh the same way, or half your takas will look "heavy".
- Keeping an old standard. Change the picks or yarn without updating the master and every taka looks wrong.
- Too loose a tolerance. At ±8% you'll never see a 5% loss.
How Loomiro helps
Enter "Std weight / 100 m (kg)" once in the quality master. In Taka Entry, as soon as you key in the loom, metres and weight, that taka's kg / 100 m shows right there, and if it's more than 5% off the standard you get an amber mark and a warning — on a phone at the loom too. The Taka Register shows each taka's kg / 100 m, with loom, beam and quality filters, so you can see which loom or beam the light or heavy takas come from. If your own tolerance is 3%, review the 3–5% takas in the register.