Distortion in Knit Fabrics and Its Relation to Shrinkage in Laundering

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Abstract
The dimensional changes in laundering of 15 fabrics knit from cotton, viscose, acetate- viscose, and nylon yarns were investigated in relation to changes in fabric structure. The fab rics included plain and rib knit of 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, and 44 courses per inch, and interlock knit of 24, 28, and 32 courses per inch. The geometry of both finished and gray fabrics before and after laundering was compared to the geometry of the same fabrics which had received a manual re laxation treatment. Measurements of wale and course spacings showed that laundering brought about considerable rearrangement in the structure of the fabrics which had not been relaxed. The data for wale versus course spacings followed parabolic curves for the laundered fabrics and for all relaxed fabrics. The relation of the course spacings before and after laundering and of the wale spacings before and after laundering was linear for the fabrics given the relaxation treatment. Dimensional change in length, width, and area of the relaxed fabrics was usually not greater than 10%, and often less than 5%. Changes in area varied markedly with the knitting stiffness of the finished fabrics, but after relaxation treatment, the changes were small and were not influenced by the knitting stiffness.