Abstract: The invention provides a drying apparatus for a preliminary drying operation for tubular fabrics which includes a pair of drivable squeeze rollers forming a water expression nip, a freely rotatable supply roller resting against one of the squeeze rollers to form a fabric transportation nip, a transverse stretching device and air bubble forming means arranged below the water expression nip, a tube for receiving fabric from the fabric transportation nip at an upper end and a draining surface extending under the transverse stretching device and the lower end of the tube for receiving bundled fabric from the tube for passing to the transverse stretching device, and a means for supplying water to the tube for assisting downward fabric movement through the tube. The apparatus is compact, simple and can be effectively combined with other machinery for a final drying operation.