Soiling Properties of Wool Fabrics

Abstract

Laboratory soiling and cleaning trials on nine different fibers in woven fabrics of comparable construction revealed that wool has better overall soiling properties than manmade fibers. Finer wools become soiled more easily than coarser wools; finer yarns soil less than coarser yarns; and resistance to soiling is also slightly improved by higher yarn twist. Soil release and soil redeposition of wool fabrics are only slightly - influenced by fiher fineness, yarn twist, and yarn count. With increasing cover factor, the knitted fabric soils less, because of the tighter construction, but soil release is inhibited slightly. The effect of fiber, yarn, and fabric construction on the scattering coefficient and its influence on "visible" soiling is discussed. By suitable choice of yarn and fabric construction, the soiling properties of wool garments can be noticeably improved.