Studying the Effect of Polyester Fiber Blend Ratio and Pilling Cycle on Blended Knit Fabrics

Abstract

Pilling is a severe concern for blended fabrics. The aesthetic look and smoothness are the buyers’ prime requirements. The main focus of the study was to see the pilling behavior from various percentages of polyester fiber blend ratio as well as the different pilling cycles on blended fabrics. The cotton, polyester, and elastane prepared the study fabrics. These fabrics are (90% Cotton/5% Polyester/5% Elastane, 90% Cotton/6% Polyester/4% Elastane, 90% Cotton/7% Polyester/3% Elastane, 90% Cotton/8% Polyester/2% Elastane, and 90% Cotton/9% Polyester/1% Elastane, 85% Cotton/10% Polyester/5% Elastane, 85% Cotton/11% Polyester/4% Elastane, 85% Cotton/12% Polyester/3% Elastane, 85% Cotton/13% Polyester/2% Elastane, and 85% Cotton/ 14% Polyester/1% Elastane, 80% Cotton/15% Polyester/5% Elastane, 80% Cotton/16% Polyester/4% Elastane, 80% Cotton/17% Polyester/3% Elastane, 80% Cotton/18% Polyester/2% Elastane, and 80% Cotton/19% Polyester/1% Elastane). The selected polyester blend ratios were 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, 12%, 13%, 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%, 18% and 19% respectively. The study used the Martindale pilling tester with 2000, 5000, and 7000 cycles, respectively. The evaluation followed the ISO 12945-2:2000. The study findings are that the polyester fiber blend ratio did not influence the pilling grade on blended fabrics for pilling cycles 2000, and the pilling grade remained constant at 4 - 5. The pilling grade started to deteriorate in pilling cycle 5000 for the fabrics 85%C/10%P/5%E, 85%C/11%P/4%E, 85%C/12%P/3%E, 85%C/ 13%P/2%E, 85%C/14%P/1%E showed the pilling grade 4, and the fabrics made from 80%C/15%P/5%E, 80%C/16%P/4%E, 80%C/17%P/3%E, 80%C/ 18%P/2%E, 80%C/19%P/1%E showed the pilling grade 4, 3, 3, 3, and 3 respectively. For the pilling cycles 7000, the pilling grade further deteriorated for the fabrics 80%C/15%P/5%E, 80%C/16%P/4%E, 80%C/17%P/3%E, 80%C/ 18%P/2%E, 80%C/19%P/1%E showed the pilling grade 3, 3, 2, 2, and 2 respectively. The study finds the dominance of polyester fiber throughout the experiment. The author hopes this study’s outcome will help new researchers, advanced researchers, and the textile industry’s sustainable development research and development team.