Leno and Gauze Weave Structures
topic
Leno weaves twist adjacent warp ends around each other by crossing them between successive weft picks using a doup attachment or special heddle system, locking each weft yarn in position between the twisted warp pair to create an open mesh fabric whose threads cannot shift laterally despite the low warp and weft sett, producing gauze and leno fabrics for sheer curtaining, mosquito netting, and medical gauze where mesh stability at very open setts is the key structural requirement.
Role
Enables the production of open mesh fabrics with positionally stable threads that plain weave at equivalent sett cannot provide, with the twisting of warp pairs around each weft being the structural mechanism preventing thread slippage in the open fabric that makes leno construction uniquely suitable for applications requiring defined open mesh geometry in the finished fabric, including the leno selvedges used on shuttleless looms to bind weft ends at fabric edges.