Effects of Various Home Laundering Practices on the Dimensional Stability, Wrinkling, and Other Properties of Plain Woven Cotton Fabrics

Abstract

For a systematic study of the effect of laundering on plain woven cotton fabrics, specimens of poplin and sheeting fabrics (with and without a DMDHEU wrinkle resistant finish) are laundered under regimes designed to evaluate the effect of five common home laundering variables: use of detergent, rinse cycle softener, or tumble sheet softener. different drying methods, and different tumble drying times. The experimental method ology and the effect of using detergent were reported in Part I of this series. To reduce the cost and time involved in this and future investigations, the reproducibility of results from repeated but otherwise identical wash loads was evaluated and reported in Part I. Length and width shrinkage, skewness, wrinkling, mass of whole specimen, area density, and warp and weft yarn diameters were determined in Part I using standard test methods. Suitable statistical techniques and analysis are used throughout the study. The effects of fabric structure and an anti-wrinkle finish on the dependent variables are also studied.