Woven Wire Mesh Definitions

Bolting Cloth: Made from light wire diameter woven into a plain square mesh pattern. The light wire diameter provides a high percentage of open area. Bolting cloth is principally used in sifting and screen printing; however, its relatively high percentage of open area makes it desirable in many other applications.

Calendering: A process that rolls wire cloth to make its surface smoother by flattening the intersections of the wires. It involves passing the wire cloth through rollers to reduce thickness or create a smooth finish. This process is also known as rolling.

Crimp: Undulations in warp and fill wires which hold each other in place.

Double Crimp WIre: Both warp and shute wires are crimped at the point of intersection to keep the wires in position. The double crimp wire cloth wires are not crimped before weaving. The corrugation or depression that is crimped into both the warp and shute wires is a result of the having a plain weave pattern calls for each shute wire to pass over and under successive rows of warp wires and vice versa, like interlacing fingers.
Fill Wire: aka SHUTE WIRE, wire running across the width of the cloth.
Filter Cloth: A type of cloth used for filtering or straining liquids. It is made of tightly woven fabric, often in a Dutch weave style. This cloth is commonly used in centrifugal and vacuum filtering processes. It lies flat without any wrinkles.

Hardware Cloth: Plain weave square mesh cloth of relatively light wire galvanized after weaving (usually between 2 to 8 openings per lineal inch).

Inter Crimp Wire Cloth:
Woven wire cloth with an extra crimp in both warp and fill wire. Both the warp and shute wires are crimped with extra crimps or corrugations between the points of intersection. This technique is usually required when weaving large openings with fine wires.

Galvazing Wire Cloth: An inexpensive method of zinc coating to prevent corrosion and rust of steel wire mesh. Galvanized steel wire, also known as galvanized iron wire, finds most uses in binding of construction materials or weaving of galvanized wire mesh products.
Market Grade: Applies to wire cloth specifications most commonly used for general work. Market grade cloth is made of one size wire for each size closed mesh. The specifications covers everything from a 1/2″ opening down to 20 microns.

Mesh Count: Number of openings per lineal inch, measured from center of wire to center of the wire.

Micron: 1/1000 millimeter, 0.00003937 inch. The unit of measure for particle retention of filter media.

Micronic Filter Cloth: Wire cloth of fine wires usually giving a particle retention of 50 microns or less. The micronic filter cloth is used for the separation of solids and clear liquid filtration as in the cleaning of fuels or hydraulic liquids, or in water treatment.

Off Count: A mesh that has a greater number of wires per inch in one direction, usually the warp direction, sometimes referred to as a rectangular mesh.
Oil Tempered Wire: High carbon steel wire that is heat resistant to produce good strength and abrasion resistance.
Opening: Dimension between parallel adjacent wires.
Rectangular Mesh: Wire cloth with different warp and fill wire mesh counts which results in rectangular openings. The most common have a higher warp mesh than filler mesh. Advantages are increased open area and reduced cost.
Selvage: The finished edges of wire cloth running the length of the roll which are produced by the weaving operation.
Shute: Wires running across the width of the cloth as woven.

Space Cloth: Wire cloth specified by the opening size rather than by the mesh count.

Square Mesh: Mesh with equal spacing of warp and shute to give square openings.
Warp Wire: Foundation wires running parallel to the length of the cloth.
Weaves: Pattern in which wires are interwoven.
Welded Wire Cloth: Warp and fill wires lay flat, no crimp; and are welded at each intersection
Wire Diameter or Gauge: Diameter of wires used in weaving cloth.