People use pinking shears on the edges of raw fabric as a way to finish the seam and prevent fraying like a straight cut would get.
But I can’t get my head around how/why exactly the zig zag edge makes it less likely to fray. If anything I’d think the little triangle points would be easier to fray.
In: Engineering
>If anything I’d think the little triangle points would be easier to fray.
Sort of. It’s slightly easier for micro-frays to start, but they can’t spread.
The edge of a piece of fabric looks sort of like ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±. If something snags that upper ––––––––––––––––––– thread, there’s hardly any weaving to hold it in place, so it can pull *all* the way out; then the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ thread shown is exposed, and something can snag *it* in turn, and pull it out.
(ELI5’s rule about explanations having to be text in the comment is dumb.)
When the edge is pinked, only the very tips of the zig-zag edge are vulnerable: the threads exposed along the edge of the cuts are still woven in over-under-over-under at least a few turns; there’s enough friction to hold them in place.
Do you know about how cutting on the bias virtually eliminates fraying? It’s cutting on the bias in opposite directions one after another so there are never straight cuts!
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