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Effect of blend proportion on moisture management characteristics of bamboo/cotton knitted fabrics

C. Prakash , G. Ramakrishnan & C.V. Koushik
a b a b a

Department of Fashion Technology , Sona College of Technology , Salem , India

Department of Fashion Technology , Kumaraguru College of Technology , Coimbatore , India Published online: 13 Jun 2013.

To cite this article: C. Prakash , G. Ramakrishnan & C.V. Koushik (2013): Effect of blend proportion on moisture management characteristics of bamboo/cotton knitted fabrics, Journal of The Textile Institute, DOI:10.1080/00405000.2013.800378 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2013.800378

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The Journal of The Textile Institute, 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2013.800378

Effect of blend proportion on moisture management characteristics of bamboo/cotton knitted fabrics

C. Prakasha*, G. Ramakrishnanb and C.V. Koushika
a

Department of Fashion Technology, Sona College of Technology, Salem, India; bDepartment of Fashion Technology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, India (Received 10 January 2013; nal version received 25 April 2013) This study reports an investigation of the effect of the blend-ratio of bamboo and cotton bres on the moisture management properties of single jersey knitted fabrics composed of them. The moisture management properties of the fabrics were measured in SDL-ATLAS moisture management tester. The liquid transport properties of textiles, such as wetting time, maximum moisture absorption rate, maximum wetted radii, spreading speeds, cumulative one-way transport capacity and overall moisture management capacity (OMMC), have been considered and correlated to the blend ratio of bamboo/cotton yarn single jersey knitted fabrics. It was observed that as the bamboo content increased, the wetting time decreased, maximum wetted radius decreased, rate of absorption increased, spreading speed decreased and OMMC decreased. Keywords: bamboo; cotton; moisture management; blend ratio; knitted fabrics; thickness; porosity

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Introduction Moisture management property is an important aspect of any fabric meant for apparels, which determines the comfort level of that fabric. The wearer s perception of moisture comfort sensations in clothing is signicantly affected by the extent of liquid moisture transmittance in the clothing. When drops of water fall on the surface of any textile material, the water spreads into the fabric radially in multiple directions. Its precise movement depends upon the chemical and physical nature of the textile material. Thus, the ability of a fabric to control movement of moisture associated with it is called moisture management of the textile material (Hu, Hes, Li, Yeung, & Yao, 2006). In the case of strenuous physical activity or in tropical climates, the heat loss by evaporation is accompanied by sweating and the skin becomes covered with a lm of water. For wearer comfort, this sweat should be transported away from the skin surface in the form of liquid or vapour, so the fabric touching the skin feels dry. The transport of both moisture vapour and liquid away from the body is called moisture management (Haghi, 2004). Moisture management can be dened as the controlled movement of water vapour and liquid water (perspiration) from the surface of the skin to the atmosphere through the fabric (Yoo & Barker, 2004). Moisture management of fabric from the skin and dis*Corresponding author. Email: dearcprakash@gmail.com
Copyright 2013 The Textile Institute

perses it over a large surface area away from the skin where it evaporates, thereby reducing the chill factor and improving comfort. Moisture management is a coaspect of a textiles properties that always needs to be regarded in tandem with comfort. The liquid moisture management performance of fabrics results from complex properties including their absorbent capacity, absorption rate and evaporation (Sampath & Senthilkumar, 2009). Bamboo bres possess many excellent properties when used as textile materials such as high tenacity, excellent thermal conductivity, resistance to bacteria and high water and perspiration adsorption (Saravanan & Prakash, 2007). Regenerated bamboo bre, called ecological bre (Okubo, Fuji, & Yamamoto, 2004), has many good properties such as resistance to ultraviolet radiation, bacterial and odour (Zhang, 2005), and is used in the production of functional textile products. Bamboo fabric absorbs and evaporates sweat very easily; it, therefore, gives comfortable feel. It can be spun into 100% bamboo yarn and also blended with natural and man-made bres like cotton, polyester, silk, etc. Zhang and Yu (2005) observed that the structure of natural bamboo bre is similar to that of other natural bres. Wang and Gao (2006) reported that regenerated bamboo bre has low strength and high moisture regain compared with natural bamboo bre. The

C. Prakash et al.

morphological structure, IR, bre orientation and breaking strength of bamboo bre were investigated by Lipp-Symonowicz, Sztajnowski, and Wojciechowska (2011), who deduced that on account of the various micro-gaps and micro-holes in its cross-section, the bre has better moisture absorption. Hohberg (2005) stated that moisture management in polyester material could be enhanced appreciably by means of polysiloxane, which could render hydrophobic bres into hydrophilic ones. Prakash, Ramakrishnan, and Koushik (2011a) observed that the quality characteristics of blended yarns of bamboo bres with other bres depend upon the bamboo content in the blend. The blending of different types of bres is a widely practised means of not only enhancing the performance but also the aesthetic qualities of textile fabric. These advantages also permit an increased variety of products to be made, yielding a stronger marketing advantage. Bamboo bre is usually blended with cotton as 50/50 combinations (Prakash & Ramakrishnan, 2012). Grineviciute, Kazakeviciute, Gutauskas, Rimkute, and Abraitiene (2007) showed that the hand properties of bamboo fabric are better than those cotton fabrics. Gun, Unal, and Unal (2008) reported that fabrics made from 50/50 bamboo/cotton yarns had a similar appearance as compared with those made from 50/50 viscose/ cotton and 50/50 modal/cotton. They concluded that the weight, thickness and air permeability was independent of the bre type. Kawahito (2008) indicated that cotton fabrics had a higher tenacity, greater thickness under a heavier load, faster water absorption and better drying properties than bamboo fabrics. Prakash, Ramakrishnan, and Koushik (2012, 2013) studied the thermal comfort properties of bamboo knitted in relation to blend ratio, loop length and yarn linear density. It was found in general that the thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, air permeability and relative water-vapour permeability values of the fabrics depend on bamboo bre content in the fabric and the linear density of the constituent yarns. Wardiningsih and Troynikov (2012) studied the moisture transport responses to plain jersey fabrics produced from bamboo yarns. The relationships between cover factor and moisture management properties were determined. It was observed that as the cover factor of the fabric increased, the wetting time increased, maximum wetted radius (MWR) decreased, rate of absorption decreased, spreading speed decreased and the overall moisture management capacity (OMMC) decreased. Moisture management in a textile fabric normally focuses on the measurement of dynamic liquid transfer from the inner fabric surface (next-to-skin) to the outer surface, and the water transfer between the two surfaces, as well as recording the textile liquid transfer

process dynamically and quantitatively (Hu, Li, Yeung, Wong, & Xu, 2005; Li, Xu, & Yeung, 2002; Yao, Li, Hu, Kwok, & Yeung, 2006). The present study aims to investigate the liquid moisture management properties of bamboo/cotton knitted fabrics in relation to different blend ratios. Materials and methods Materials The experimental part of the present study of investigating the inuence of the bamboo content in bamboo/cotton blends at different stages in spinning bre to yarn was carried out at the TIFAC-CORE Textile Research Centre and Centre of Excellence for Textiles, Kumaraguru College of Technology (KCT), Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. Sankar-6 cotton, used in the production of the yarn and fabric samples, was obtained from a spinning mill; the mean bre properties were found to be: bre length 27.27 mm, bre length uniformity ratio 49.58%, bre neness 1.70 dtex, moisture regain 7.5%, specic gravity 1.52 g/cm3, bre maturity 82.53% and trash content 0.19%. The bamboo bre chosen for the study had the quality characteristics: bre length 36 mm, bre neness 1.52 dtex, moisture regain 11.42%, specic gravity 1.32 g/cm3 and elongation 21.2%. Besides preparing 100% bamboo and 100% cotton yarns, blended yarn of blend proportions 70:30, 50:50 and 30:70 bamboo: cotton were also prepared for the study. It was ensured that all of the yarns produced had the same mean linear density of Nec 20. Production of knitted fabric The above yarns were used to produce single jersey fabrics on a Meyer and Cie knitting machine of the following details: single jersey machine, model MV4, gauge 24 GG, diameter 23, speed 30 rpm, feeders 74 and number of needles 1728; the ambient knitting-room atmosphere had a humidity of 65% and a temperature of 30 2C. All of the fabric samples were produced to have the same loop-length value of 3.3 mm. The knitting process itself was achieved with constant machine settings; the samples were then kept in standard atmosphere for 24 h to allow for relaxation and conditioning. The samples were scoured at 40C for 30 min using synthetic detergent, followed by rinsing for a like period. After the scouring, the samples were dried. Fabric evaluation Fabric thickness was measured on an SDL digital thickness gauge according to ISO 5084 standard. An average of ve readings was taken for each sample. Five specimens of 100 mm 100 mm size from the fabric samples were conditioned and tested in a stan-

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dard atmosphere. Each of the specimens was weighed by a measuring balance. The mass per unit area was calculated as the mean mass per unit area of the ve specimens. Porosity values of the fabrics were calculated as explained by Majumdar, Mukhopadhyay, and Yadav (2010). The physical properties of the fabrics, such as thickness (mm), weight per unit area (g/m2) porosity (%), etc. are given in Table 1. The moisture management properties of the conditioned fabric samples were determined according to AATCC 195-2009 on an SDL Atlas moisture management tester (MMT). The apparatus is based on the physical principle that the surface contact electrical resistance of a fabric changes with the content of a water-based liquid solution near the surface. The resistance value depends on two factors: the electrical conductivity of the liquid and the water content in the local areas of the fabric. As the electrical conductivity of the liquid is xed, the electrical resistance measured on the surface of the fabric is determined by the water content. All specimens (8.0 8.0 0.1 cm2) were washed and ironed to remove excessive water and wrinkles. They were then conditioned for at least 24 h prior to testing. Sweating was stimulated with 0.21 0.01 g of synthetic sweat, which was introduced onto the top surface of the fabric during the rst 20 s of the test (120 s); the liquid would

now begin to get transmitted in three directions, i.e. spreading radially outwards on the upper surface of the fabric, wicking through the fabric from the upper to the lower surface and spreading radially outwards on the lower surface of the fabric (Bedek, Salan, Martinkovska, Devaux, & Dupont, 2011). MMT contained upper and lower concentric moisture sensors that enclosed the test-specimen (Yao et al., 2006). Based on the signals measured, a set of indices is calculated, the descriptions of which are summarized in Table 2 (Hu et al., 2005). The indices are graded according to AATCC Test Method 195-2009 and converted from a number value to a grade on a ve-grade scale. An average of ve readings was taken for each sample. Results and discussion Fabric physical properties It may be gleaned from the data in Table 1 that fabric thickness and fabric weight show a decreasing trend with increase in bamboo bre content in the fabric, for all the fabrics investigated. These observations are substantiated by the ndings of other researchers (Gun et al., 2008; Prakash & Ramakrishnan, 2013; Prakash, Ramakrishnan, & Koushik, 2011b), who found that for yarns with the same linear density, the yarn diame-

Table 1. Physical properties of bamboo/cotton blended yarn knitted fabrics. S. no. 1 2 3 4 5 Blend 100% Cotton 70:30 Cotton:bamboo 50:50 Cotton:bamboo 30:70 Cotton:bamboo 100% bamboo Thickness (mm) 0.755 0.685 0.639 0.598 0.540 Porosity (%) 90.3 88.3 87.2 85.5 81.3 Mass per square metre (g/m2) 111.0 105.0 94.7 88.0 81.0

Table 2. Grading of moisture management tester indices. Grade Index Wetting time top surface (WTt) Wetting time bottom surface (WTb) Absorption rate top surface (ARt) Absorption rate bottom surface (ARb) Maximum wetted radius top surface (MWRt) Maximum wetted radius bottom surface (MWRb) Spreading speed top surface (SSt) Spreading speed bottom surface (SSb) Accumulative one-way transport index (R) Overall moisture management capacity (OMMC) Unit sec %/ sec mm mm/ s % 1 P120 no wetting 010 very slow 07 no wetting 01 very slow <50 poor 00.2 poor 2 20119 slow 1030 slow 712 small 12 slow 50 to 100 fair 0.20.4 fair 3 519 medium 3050 medium 1217 medium 23 medium 100200 good 0.40.6 good 4 35 fast 50100 fast 1722 large 34 fast 200400 very good 0.60.8 very good 5 <3 very fast >100 very fast >22 very large >4 very fast >400 excellent >0.8 excellent

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ter decreases as the proportion of bamboo bre increases. This has been attributed to the fact that bamboo blended yarns have lower bending rigidity; the knitted loops in the structure can be compressed easily thereby reducing the fabrics thickness. In our study, we have used both cotton and bamboo bres which differ in neness to prepare fabrics with different blend ratios. The differing neness of bamboo and cotton bres ultimately varies the mass per square metre of the fabrics. Moisture management properties Effect of bamboo content on wetting time The wetting time values in seconds of the top and bottom surfaces of the fabrics are given in Figure 1. WTt and WTb are, respectively, the time periods in which the top and bottom surfaces of the fabric begin to wet after the commencement of the test (Yao et al., 2006). It can be seen that the wetting time for both face and reverse sides of the fabrics changes with the blend-ratio. The results indicate that the wetting time of the bottom surface is in general higher than that the top surface for all the fabrics. This may be expected, as it is well known that wetting time is related directly to absorbency of the bamboo blended fabrics. It is observed that both 100% bamboo and 70:30 bamboo: cotton fabrics have the fastest wetting time for both

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top and bottom fabrics surfaces. It is also clear from Table 3 that fabric wetting time grade increases from 4 to 5 (i.e. fast to very fast) with increase in bamboo bre per cent above 50%. Thus, the higher the bamboo content in the fabric the lower is the wetting time. Also, as bamboo content increases, fabric thickness decreases. Nilgun zdil, Spren, zelik, and Pruchov (2009) stated that thinner fabrics show faster wetting than thicker ones, when equal amounts of water are applied. Majumdar et al. (2010) studied the thickness and mass per square metre of fabrics made from bamboo bre blended yarns and found that these characteristics are generally lower in the bamboo blended yarns than for cotton fabrics made from yarns of the same linear density. Moreover, as the bamboo blended yarns have lower bending rigidity, the knitted loops in the fabric can be compressed more easily and result in lower fabric thickness (Prakash et al., 2012), a nding that also contributes to the lower wetting time of the bamboo knitted fabrics. Effect of bamboo content on absorption rate The absorption rates of the top and bottom surfaces of the bamboo blended fabrics are given in Figure 2. As may be seen, the absorption rates are dependent on the blend ratios and increase with bamboo content in the blend. The absorption rate is the average moisture absorption ability (%/sec) of the top and bottom surfaces of the fabric in the pulp time (20 s). As noted earlier (Table 1), fabric thickness decreases with increase in bamboo content. The thinner the fabric, the greater is the absorption rate. According to Figure 4, the absorption rates of the bottom surfaces of the fabrics are generally higher than those of the top surfaces. This indicates that most of the liquid moisture gets distributed on the bottom surface of the fabric. Effect of bamboo content on water spreading speed The water spreading speed test results for the fabrics are given in Figure 3. Wardiningsih and Troynikov

Figure 1. Wetting time values (sec) of the top and bottom surfaces of the knitted fabrics.

Table 3. Moisture management test results of bamboo/cotton knitted fabrics as grades. Blend ratio 100% Cotton 70% Cotton: 30% Bamboo 50% Cotton: 50% Bamboo 30% Cotton: 70% Bamboo 100% Bamboo WTt (sec) 4 4 4 5 5 WTb (sec) 4 4 4 5 5 ARt (%/sec) 3 3 3 3 3 ARb (%/sec) 3 3 3 3 3 MWRt (mm) 4 4 3 3 3 MWRb (mm) 4 4 4 3 3 SSt (mm/s) 5 4 4 3 3 SSb (mm/s) 4 4 4 3 3 R (%) 3 3 2 2 2 OMMC 3 3 3 2 2

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Max. Absorption rate (%/sec)

Max. Wetted Radius (mm)

100 % Cotton

70 % Cotton : 30 % Bamboo

50 % Cotton : 50 % Bamboo

30 % Cotton : 70 % Bamboo

100 % Bamboo

100 % Cotton
ARt (%/sec) - Absorption Rate Top Surface ARb (%/sec) - Absorption Rate Bottom Surface

70 % Cotton : 30 % Bamboo 47.132 48.283

50 % Cotton : 50 % Bamboo 47.791 48.608

30 % Cotton : 70 % Bamboo 48.253 48.894

100 % Bamboo

MWRt (mm) - Maximum Wetted Radius Top Surface MWRb (mm) - Maximum Wetted Radius Bottom Surface

20

19

17

16

15

46.122 47.783

49.869 49.23

22

20

18

16

15

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Figure 2. Absorption rates (%/sec) of top and bottom surfaces of the blended knitted fabrics.

Figure 4. MWR for the top and bottom surfaces of the knitted fabrics.

100 % Cotton SSt (mm/sec) - Spreading Speed Top surface SSb (mm/sec) - Spreading Speed Bottom Surface

70 % Cotton : 30 % Bamboo 3.887 3.675

50 % Cotton : 50 % Bamboo 3.221 3.032

30 % Cotton : 70 % Bamboo 2.855 2.744

100 % Bamboo

4.122 3.884

2.333 2.211

Figure 3. Water spreading speed of the top and bottom surfaces of the blended knitted fabrics.

Effect of bamboo content on maximum wetted radius In the study, the MWR of the fabrics wetted with the same amount of liquid is also investigated. The results for all the fabrics are given in Figure 4. It may be seen that the MWR is lower for the fabrics with higher bamboo content. Because of the hydrophilic character of both cotton and bamboo bre, some of the liquid absorbed by the bres would penetrate into the bre structure, which results in lower moisture spreading along the fabric. In the test equipment used in this study, the test specimen is so mounted as to have its top surface represent the inner surface of a clothing fabric that would normally be in touch with the skin. Therefore, a lower value of MWR for the top surface of the fabric means a less clammy touch, a less chilly sensation and thus, overall better comfort close to the skin. Since the bamboo fabrics have the lowest MWR values for the top surface of the fabrics, it reects good moisture transport property and a dry feeling as a result. Effect of bamboo content on fabrics accumulative one-way transport index and overall moisture management capacity The OMMC is dependent upon the absorption rate, one-way liquid transport index and liquid spreading speed. Figures 5 and 6 show the values of accumulative one-way transport index (AOTI) and OMMC and the values are compared with the grading scale in Table 3 (00.2: very poor, 0.20.4: poor, 0.40.6: good, 0.60.8: very good, >0.8: excellent) (Yao et al., 2006). From the results, it can be stated that bamboo fabrics have low OMMC value. This may be due to minimum thickness of the 100% bamboo fabric as compared to

(2012) studied that spreading speed of the bamboo fabrics reduced due to the low porosity. Majumdar et al. (2010) noted that as the proportion of bamboo bre increases, the porosity of the fabric reduces. A comparison of the spreading speed values clearly reveals that the spreading speed decreases as the bamboo content increases. It was noted earlier that with thinner fabrics the wetting time decreases, consequently spreading speed for the wetting of the thicker fabric are higher compared to the thinner fabric. This is probably also caused by the low porosity of bamboo fabrics.

Spreading speed (mm/sec)

6
Accumulative One-Way Transport Index (R)

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concluded that as the blend ratio increases, the wetting time and MWR decrease. This means that with increase in blend ratio, less time is required to wet a knitted fabric. The OMMC can serve as an indicator of the moisture behaviour of the fabrics. All the fabrics in general are in the good category in terms of moisture management capacity but when the bamboo content exceeds 50%, the fabrics can be graded only as fair .
100 % Cotton 70 % Cotton : 30 % Bamboo 101.122 50 % Cotton : 50 % Bamboo 45.111 30 % Cotton : 70 % Bamboo 100 % Bamboo

References
-46.061

R (%) - Accumulative OneWay Transport Index

168.122

-5.34

Figure 5. AOTI (%) of the blended knitted fabrics.

Figure 6. OMMC of the blended knitted fabrics.

the bamboo blended yarn fabrics. All the fabrics are in the good category in terms of moisture management capacity; however, when the bamboo content increases above 50%, the fabrics fall under the fair category. Most of the fabrics have a shorter wetting time for the top surface than for the bottom surface and all of the fabrics demonstrate higher absorption at the top surface than at the bottom surface. The fabrics have a negative AOTI, indicating that water content on the top surface is higher than at the bottom surface. Conclusion Blending has an important role in moisture-related comfort properties of clothing. This study mainly focuses on the effect of blend ratio on the moisture management properties of the bamboo/cotton blended knitted fabrics. The results show that as the bamboo content increases, the maximum absorption rate increases whereas the wetting time, MWR, spreading speed and overall moisture management of the fabrics decrease. The blend ratio and fabric thickness inuence the moisture management properties signicantly. It is

Bedek, G., Salan, F., Martinkovska, Z., Devaux, E., & Dupont, D. (2011). Evaluation of thermal and moisture management properties on knitted fabrics and comparison with a physiologic al model in warm conditions. Applied Ergonomics, 42, 792800. Grineviit, D., Kazakeviit, G., Gutauskas, M., Rimkut, R., & Abraitien, A. (2007, September). Inuence of bamboo bre on fabric hand. Paper presented at the 7th Baltic Polymer Symposium, Druskininkai, Lithuania. Gun, A. D., Unal, C., & Unal, B. T. (2008). Dimensional and physical properties of plain knitted fabrics made from 50/50 bamboo/cotton blended yarns. Fibres and Polymers, 9, 588592. Haghi, A. K. (2004). Moisture permeation of clothing, a factor governing thermal equilibrium and comfort. Journal of Thermal Analysis Calorimetry, 76, 10351055. Hohberg, T. (2005). New approach to managing moisture in textiles. Melliand International, 4, 118120. Hu, J., Hes, L., Li, Y., Yeung, K. W., & Yao, B. (2006). Fabric touch tester: Integrated evaluation of thermal mechanical sensory properties of polymeric materials. Polymer Testing, 25, 10811090. Hu, J., Li, Y., Yeung, K., Wong, A. S. W., & Xu, W. (2005). Moisture management tester: A method to characterize fabric liquid moisture management properties. Textile Research Journal, 75, 5762. Kawahito, M. (2008). A comparative study of bamboo shijara fabric and cotton shijara fabric. Sen-I-Gakkaishi, 64, 108112. Li, Y., Xu, W., & Yeung, K. W. (2002). Moisture management of textiles, US Patent No. 6.499.338B2. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Lipp-Symonowicz, B., Sztajnowski, S., & Wojciechowska, D. (2011). New commercial bres called Bamboo Fibres their structure and properties. Fibres Textile Eastern Europe, 19, 823. Majumdar, A., Mukhopadhyay, S., & Yadav, R. (2010). Thermal properties of knitted fabrics made from cotton and regenerated bamboo cellulosic bres. International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 40, 20422048. Okubo, K., Fuji, T., & Yamamoto, Y. (2004). Development of bamboo-based polymer composites and their mechanical properties. Composite Part A-Applied Science, 35, 377383. zdil, N., Spren, G., zelik, G., & Pruchov, J. (2009). A study on the moisture transport properties of the cotton knitted fabrics in single jersey structure. Tekstil ve Konfeksiyon, 19, 218223. Prakash, C. & Ramakrishnan, G. (2012). Inuence of blend ratio on thermal properties of bamboo/cotton blended woven fabrics. Silpakorn University Science & Technology Journal, 6, 4753.

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OMMC - Over all Moisture Management Capacity

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Prakash, C. & Ramakrishnan, G. (2013). Effect of blend proportion on thermal behaviour of bamboo knitted fabrics. Journal of The Textile Institute. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00405000.2013.765090 Prakash, C., Ramakrishnan, G., & Koushik, C. V. (2011a). Effect of blend ratio on the quality characteristics of bamboo/cotton blended ring spun yarn. Fibres Textile Eastern Europe, 19, 3840. Prakash, C., Ramakrishnan, G., & Koushik, C. V. (2011b). The effect of loop length and yarn linear density on the thermal properties of bamboo knitted fabric. AUTEX Research Journal, 11, 102105. Prakash, C., Ramakrishnan, G., & Koushik, C. V. (2012). A study of the thermal properties of single jersey fabrics of cotton, bamboo and cotton/bamboo blendedyarn vis-a-vis bamboo bre presence and yarn count. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 110, 11731177. Prakash, C., Ramakrishnan, G., & Koushik, C. V. (2013). A study of the thermal properties of bamboo knitted fabrics. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 111, 101105. Sampath, M. B. & Senthilkumar, M. (2009). Effect of moisture management nish on comfort characteristics of microdenier polyester knitted fabrics. Journal of Industrial Textiles, 39, 163173.

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