What is the difference between greige, PFD, and RFD fabric?

Greige, PFD, and RFD describe different preparation stages of fabric. Greige fabric is loom-state cloth that has not been scoured, bleached, dyed, printed, or finished. It may still contain sizing agents, process oils, and other residues from weaving, so it is not normally ready for direct dyeing.

PFD means Prepared for Dyeing. The fabric has received the pretreatment needed for even color uptake, typically including desizing, scouring, and bleaching. A buyer may also specify targets for absorbency, whiteness, pH, dimensional stability, and residual chemicals according to the fiber and dyeing route.

RFD means Ready for Dyeing. In everyday textile trade, PFD and RFD are often used interchangeably. Some suppliers use PFD to describe the preparation process and RFD to describe the resulting dye-ready condition. Because usage varies, the purchase specification should state the required tests and preparation steps rather than relying on the abbreviation alone.

The practical difference is the next process. Greige still needs scouring and, where required, bleaching before dyeing, printing, or finishing. PFD has already been pretreated and is usually bleached, so it can proceed to piece dyeing, garment dyeing, or printing. RFD confirms that the material is ready to enter the agreed dyeing process.

Choose greige when your nominated processor will control all wet preparation and finishing, or when you want to buy base cloth separately from conversion. Choose PFD or RFD when the next supplier needs a clean, absorbent, dye-ready base. Before ordering, confirm fiber content, width, GSM, weave, pretreatment scope, whiteness, absorbency, pH, shrinkage, roll length, and whether the quotation includes the preparation stage.

For mill-stock polyester programs, Weaverine produces greige polyester fabric in 160–330 cm widths and 55–120 GSM. Stock specifications have no minimum order quantity; non-stock constructions typically start at 5,000 meters. If your downstream partner requires PFD or RFD, share its test criteria before quotation so the preparation route and responsibilities are clear.