Fabric Construction for Wash-and-Wear Cottons

Abstract

Fabrics varying widely in fiber parameters and in yarn and fabric construction were treated with wash-and-wear resin formulations. Wash-and-wear ratings after tumble drying, crease recovery values, and breaking and tear strengths were determined. It was found that the wash-and-wear ratings of cotton fabrics after tumble drying were not systematically affected by the fabric construction, except that light, open-weave fabrics performed poorly. The crease recovery of resin-treated cotton fabrics was also relatively insensitive to construction. Both of these properties could, of course, be im proved by increasing the resin concentration. As a consequence of the relative insensitivity of wash-and-wear appearance ratings and crease recovery to construction variables, the principal emphasis in the design of functional wash-and-wear fabrics should be placed on gaining maximum strength. The breaking strength, at any one resin concentration, was found to be essentially linearly related to the weight of the fibers in the stressed yarn system, with the fiber strength ( Pressley, 5 mm between jaws) the only important secondary effect. The tear strength, too, was related in a gross manner to the fiber weight in the torn yarn system; it was, however, also improved by increasing the openness of the fabrics, by reducing the number of yarns per inch, by use of more open weaves, or by assembly of the fibers into fewer, coarser yarns rather than more numerous, finer yarns. The reduction of tear strength for a given improvement in wash-and-wear rating due to increased resin concentration seemed to be greater in fabrics woven from finer than those woven from coarser yarns and, in some cases, in open weaves as compared to plain weave fabrics. Quite generally, effects of fabric construction on crease recovery and strength observed in the untreated fabrics were reduced to various degrees by resin treatment.