Comfort aspects of finished polyester-cotton and polyester-viscose ring and MJS yarn fabrics

Abstract

The influence of different experimental conditions on the thermal comfort behavior of polyester-viscose and polyester-cotton ring and MJS yarn fabrics has been studied. The results show that the yarn structure and the fibre cross-sectional shape have a large influence on improving the thermal comfort of woven fabrics. The fabrics made from MJS yarns perform better than those of the ring yarn fabrics in respect of absorbency, air and water vapour permeabilities and thermal insulation. Incorporation of non-circular polyester fibre in the mix further improves these characteristics. The chemical finishing treatment also induces noticeable changes in the thermal comfort characteristics of fabric, though the magnitudes of changes are different for different ring and MJS yarn fabrics, depending upon processing parameters used. The finished fabrics provide enhanced thermal insulation, more absorbency and lesser air and water vapour transport than the corresponding grey fabrics regardless of the yarn type. Moreover, polyester-viscose fabrics are more promising than the polyester-cotton fabrics for comfort applications expect thermal insulation.