Tow

In the textile industry, a tow is a coarse, broken fibre, removed during processing flax, hemp, or jute. Flax tows are often used as upholstery stuffing, and tows in general are frequently cut up to produce staple fibre. The very light color of flax tow is the source of the word "towhead", meaning a person with tousled light blonde hair.

In the composites industry, a tow is an untwisted bundle of continuous filaments, and it refers to man-made fibres, particularly carbon fibres (also called graphite). Tows are designated by the number of fibers they contain. For example, a 12K tow contains about 12,000 fibres.