The difference
Karded and combed yarn follow the same process through the blow room, carding, drawing, roving, ring spinning, and winding, with one exception: combed yarn goes through a combing machine between carding and drawing. That machine removes the short fibres, called noil, and leaves a sliver made primarily of longer, more parallel fibres.
How that shows up in the yarn
Karded yarn retains a mix of short and long fibres. It has slightly higher hairiness, which gives the fabric a softer feel, and a more textured surface. It is also lower cost because there is no noil waste and the process is shorter.
Combed yarn has short fibres removed, which gives it a smoother and more lustrous surface, lower hairiness, higher strength at equivalent count, and better evenness with fewer imperfections. The noil waste (12-20% of the fibre) adds to raw material cost.
Which to use
Karded yarn suits everyday knitted garments (T-shirts, jerseys, casual knitwear), towels and terry goods where absorbency and softness matter, and any fabric in the mainstream segment where the combed premium is not justified by the end product.
Combed yarn suits premium or export fabrics where surface smoothness is critical, applications that need higher strength at fine counts, shirting fabrics with strict evenness requirements, and wherever buyer or brand specifications call for it.
A practical test: if you washed and wore a T-shirt made from our karded yarn, would you notice it wasn't combed? For most everyday garments, the answer is no. For a fine, printed shirting fabric, the evenness and lower imperfection count of combed yarn starts to matter.
Our position
We produce karded yarn. If your product calls for combed, we would rather say so clearly than supply a yarn that isn't right for it.