Wire Cloth Basics

A: Space Cloth identifies the open area between the parallel wires. B: Mesh Count identified as the number of openings per linear inch.

Wire cloth (woven wire cloth, stainless steel wire cloth, wire cloth screen, wire cloth strainer, industrial wire cloth, metal cloth, wire cloth) is metal wire of vaious alloys that is woven or welded forming a cloth like material. Wire cloth can be formed in a variety of opening sizes and wire diameters. The open area is call mesh count or mesh per linear inch and is the critical information needed when ordering wire cloth.

Types of Wire Cloth

• Woven Wire Cloth - The most common and is used for general sorting, screening and filtering applications.

• Welded Wire Cloth - Considered to have a smoother surface and can have larger open area and/or larger wire diameter. Intersecting wires are welded together at each junction. The welds provide more strength and rigidity to maintain a uniform cloth.

Both types of Wire Cloth can be cut, formed and fabricated into various shapes to meet particular requirements or reach specific levels of filtration.

Measuring Wire Cloth
Mesh count can be shown as either a whole number, fraction, or as two numbers unless the material is a specialty cloth called space cloth - each item is described below:

• Whole Number or Fraction
  Mesh Count is identified as the distance from center to center of the parallel wires horizontally and vertically .
  
• Space Cloth
  This material is measured by the actual open space between parallel wires, known as clear opening, space size, or open area.
  
• Two Numbers (Example: 2 x 2 )
  Mesh Count is identified by the number of actual openings per linear inch horizontally and vertically.