For hygiene reasons, garments need to be washed. Garments should therefore have the durability against washing. The effects of washing on the properties and performance of fabrics were investigated by a number of previous workers. Hurren et al. reported that laundering results both in mechanical degradation, due mainly to abrasion in the wet fabric, and chemical degradation caused by the cleaning agents under the laundering conditions. The effect of laundering on the wear life in terms of breaking strength and appearance characteristics of durable press and cotton broadcloth treated liquid ammonia was investigated by Raheel and Lien, who found that durable press finished fabrics retained a higher proportion of their initial tensile strength compared with non-resin treated broadcloth in repeated launderings. However, so far there has been little investigation on the effect of repeated launderings on the comfort related physical and low stress mechanical properties of knitted fabrics with wrinkle-free treatment. In this research, the change of surface water absorption rate, q-max and KESF low stress mechanical properties of polo-shirt fabrics with two types of wrinkle-free treatment as a result of repeated launderings were investigated and compared with that of fabrics without wrinkle-free treatment. Based on this investigation, it was found that wrinkle-free treatment not only can control shrinkage and improve wrinkle resistance, but also can defer or reduce the advert effect of washing on many low stress mechanical properties. In general, fabrics with wrinkle-free finish are more stable in terms of low-stress mechanical properties. In general, the wrinkle-free treated fabrics have better resilience than the non-treated fabric. However, the wrinkle-free treated fabrics are not as good as the non-treated fabric in terms of surface water absorption rate. This can be explained by the up-take of nitrogen in the crosslinking and the application of hydrophobic softener dur
By: J. Fan, L. Lau, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom,
Submit Date: 6/7/2010 18:00