Effect of blend proportion on thermal comfort characteristics of bamboo cotton weft knitted fabrics

Abstract

After reviewing past work into the comfort properties of knitted fabrics, an account is given on air permeability, thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, water vapour permeability and moisture management properties of weft knitted fabrics. The shortcomings of the knowledge are shown to be that, although a large number of papers have been published on comfort related properties, there have been no systematic studies on single, double and plated yarn knitted fabrics. It is well known that textile fibres are blended to obtain desirable combinations of properties (Gupta and Shiekh 1975), and that intimate blending, which is an almost random mixing of different staple fibres, is the most common practice. Nature and mankind have bestowed us with different kind of fibres with extraordinary properties that can be utilized for the benefit of society. The blending of fibres is usually done using different fibres with variations in their properties, with a view to achieving or improving certain characteristics of the yarn form or its processing performance. Fabric produced from blended yarn might have better characteristics than those obtainable from fabrics produced from a single fibre. The blending of cotton with other fibres is done to impart drape, comfort, durability, dyeability and other properties to fabric products. Any successful attempt to blend new fibres with cotton would be a breakthrough in the field of textiles. newline