Cotton-polyester fabrics wicking behaviour

Fabric woven with warp cotton and weft polyester exhibits higher wicking height in warp direction for plain, twill and satin weaves, infer Valsang RK and Patil LG.

Textile fabrics play an important role in the daily life of every human mankind. They are used as clothing material for human being as well as some life saving applications. Their applications for many end users are governed by their liquid transport properties (wicking property). The phenomenon of liquid transport during sorption from one weave to another weave and one type of warp and weft interaction to another interaction is often overlooked even though it is believed to be an important part of the absorption process in the fabric. Therefore the main goal of this research is to understand the effect of fabric structure and interaction effect on the overall liquid transport behaviour of fabrics(1).

The study of capillary force in textile media is of greatest importance. It allows better understanding of the liquid fibre interface in order to characterise the liquid flow of textile material. The characterisation of liquid flow of textile fabrics are useful to decide the flow of spin finish, dyeing behaviour, transport of water through the textile, comfort of under-clothing, and absorbency of towels(3).

In fibrous structure such as yarn and roving liquid can wick into the inter fibre spaces due to capillary pressure but the liquid transport rate for same structure is variable. The reason is mainly due to the non-uniformity of yarn cross-section and different cross-section of the pores. The diameter of capillary formed by yarn is not uniform throughout the length of yarn. Various parameters such as yarn structure, fibre shape, number of fibres in cross-section, type of yarn, fabric structure and liquid properties such as surface tension, viscosity, density influence the wicking(3). The study of weave structure and interaction effect is useful to decide the liquid transport property of fabrics.

Experimental work

Materials

Throughout this study, 12 woven fabric samples were produced with different interaction of warp and weft with different weave structures. The details of the fabric samples were listed in Table 1. The modified polyester weft yarns were purchased from market with count of 160 denier. The combed cotton warp yarns were purchased from market with count of 30 Ne. The warp and weft density per inch for all the samples were the same. Warp and weft materials were changed in every sample. All woven fabric samples were produced on rapier weaving machine with the following particulars:

• Warp yarn count: 30 Ne.
• Weft yarn count: 160 denier.
• Warp density: 125 ends/inch.
• Weft density: 60 picks/inch.
• Fabric width: 160 cm.
• Number of harness frames: 6.
• Weave structure: 1/1 plain, 2/1 twill, and 6-satin weaves.
• Machine speed: 400 ppm.

Method

The fabric samples were analysed after washing. The fabric details measured were: warp and weft densities, warp and weft count, fabric weight per unit area and fabric thickness. Warp and weft densities were measured using the counting glass according to ASTM D3775-03 standard. Yarn linear density and fabric weight per unit area were determined according to ASTM D1059 standard using electronic weighing scales. The thickness of the fabrics was measured according to ASTM D1777-96 standard with thickness gauge at a pressure of 100 g. Standard atmospheric conditions have been maintained for all experiments. The fabric parameters have also been mentioned in Table 2.

The air permeability tests were conducted by air permeability tester according to ASTM slandered D73796. The con