Woven fabrics are made by vertically interlacing warp and weft yarns, resulting in a tight and stable structure. This gives them advantages such as abrasion resistance and resistance to deformation, but also leads to poor natural elasticity. For example, the transverse/longitudinal elongation of pure cotton or polyester woven fabrics is typically less than 5%, far lower than the 30%-50% of knitted fabrics. However, elasticity is not absolutely zero:
1. Yarn characteristics: Some natural fibers (such as wool) or crimped yarns can provide slight resilience, but they are difficult to fully return to their original shape after stretching.
2. Influence of fabric density: Low-density woven fabrics (such as gauze) can produce limited stretch due to the large gaps between yarns, but are easily deformed.
