Physical Properties of a Wild-silk/Cotton Blend Yarn, and Shrinkage Properties of its Plain Knitted Product

Abstract

The physical properties (count, twist, strength and yarn evenness) of a 30%/70% wildsilk/cotton blend and shrinkage properties of the resultant plain knitted fabric were investigated. The results show that the yarn had an average count of 62.4 tex, high number of thick places (178.5 per km) but low number of thin places (2/km) and neps (13.5/km), and had an unevenness of 10.5U%. It was also observed that the yarn displayed strength of
7.3 Newtons and an elongation of 9-14% which resulted in good knitting performance with no end breakages recorded indicating that the yarn physical properties, strength and elongation, were well suited for knitting.

The shrinkage properties of the developed fabric indicated sensitivity to wet treatment as it shrunk (26.8%) when dried whilst there was no significant change noted after dry relaxation.

It was concluded that the yarn blend could be used to produce knitted products only after it has been pre-treated for shrinkage in order to avoid dimensional changes during use.