J. Inst. Eng. India Ser.
E
DOI 10.1007/s40034-014-0029-x
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
The Effect of Fibre Blend on Comfort Characteristics of Elastic
Knitted Fabrics Used for Pressure Garments
M. Bera R. Chattopadhay D. Gupta
Received: 11 February 2014 / Accepted: 11 April 2014
The Institution of Engineers (India) 2014
Abstract Comfort characteristics of pressure garments
are very important issue as these garments are recom-
mended to wear for 23 h a day to recover from venous
problem, scar maturation, orthopedic problems, post sur-
gery, post pregnancy and many other problems. The
patients mostly stop using such kind of medical devices
because of itching, perspiration and other comfort relate
problems. Mostly nylon, polyester and cotton fibres are
used in the fabrics. Nylon, polyester are used for strength
whereas cotton is used for good comfort related properties.
It may be possible to get some certain type of strength and
comfort property together by using both types of fibre. Less
information is available in this aspect. In this paper, fabric
samples were prepared in knit construction by varying the
nylon and cotton blend percentage. Comfort properties in
terms of air permeability, thermal property, water vapor
permeability, surface friction behavior and wicking prop-
erties have been studied extensively. The results showed
that, the fibre blend percentage did not have any influence
on pressure generation. Air permeability and thermal
properties were also not affected. However, water vapor
permeability and wicking behavior vary significantly.
Increase in nylon percentage increases both the water vapor
permeability and wicking. It can be thus concluded that,
manufacturers can choose fibre blend percentage according
to the requirement.
M. Bera (&)  R. Chattopadhay  D. Gupta
Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
e-mail: mou.bera14@gmail.com
R. Chattopadhay
e-mail: rchat@textile.iitd.ernet.in; rabisankarc@gmail.com
D. Gupta
e-mail: deeptibgupta@gmail.com; deepti@textile.iitd.ernet.in
Keywords Comfort properties  Elastic knitted fabric 
Surface friction  Pressure garment  Medical clothing
Introduction
Pressure therapy applied through pressure garments is a
very long term process. Depending upon the condition of
the patient, the treatment may continue from 3 months to
3 years [13]. A patient typically wears the garment for
23 h a day [4, 5] and removes it only for washing. As these
garments are used next to skin, the comfort aspect becomes
a critical issue and has been studied by several researchers
[68]. Power net, single jersey and rib fabric constructions
have been widely used [6, 7, 9, 10] in pressure garments.
Being an open structure, power net structures are most
permeable [6, 8]. Rib structures, being very thick, show
poor air permeability (720 cm3/cm2/s) and high thermal
insulation property (60 9 10-3 m2K/W) [7]. The typical
air permeability and thermal resistance value for single
jersey fabric is reported to be 80 cm3/cm2/s and
22 9 10-3 m2K/W, respectively [6, 7]. However, there is
little information available on the effect of fibre content on
comfort properties in the area of pressure garments. The
literature survey revealed that mostly nylon fibre is used for
producing elastic fabrics (5085 % fibre content). Nylon
has excellent tenacity (4.65.8 g/denier), and elastic
recovery (standard filament has 100 % recovery upto 8 %
extension), it has 44.5 % moisture regain and is resistant
to microorganisms [11]. But as nylon fibre is hydrophobic,
the moisture absorption property of the fabric is poor.
Sometimes cotton fibre is used instead of nylon to improve
moisture absorption. It is possible to have both the prop-
erties by blending the fibres. Not much information is
available on this aspect.
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 M. Bera et al.

The present study discusses the effect of percentage Fibre Content

blend of nylon: cotton fibres on comfort properties of
elastic knitted fabrics.
Materials and Methods
Material
A circular knitting machine Soosan (Model number
SS604U) having a cylinder diameter of 3.75 inch, needle
gauge of 17/inch and total number of needles equal to 200
was used for sample preparation. There were two types of
yarn-loop forming yarn and inlay yarn. Loop forming yarn
was inter-looping with each other. Inlay yarn was going
through the structure without inter-looping with any yarn.
Both nylon and cotton yarn were used for loop forming
yarn. The linear density of nylon and cotton yarn was
manipulated in such a manner so that the total linear
density remains within a narrow range. The combination of
nylon and cotton yarn is given in Table 1. 750 denier
covered spandex yarn was used in every sample as inlay
yarn.
Fabric Characterization
All fabric samples were fully relaxed before characteriza-
tion according to American Association of Textile Chem-
ists and Colorists Test Method 99-2004Dimensional
Changes of Woven or Knitted Wool Textiles: Relaxation,
Consolidation and Felting. The relaxation was done by
following method. Fabric samples were first soaked in
solution of 1 % wetting agent at 38 3 C for 4 h. The
fabric samples were then hung vertically with a clip for
overnight to dry. After drying, the samples were condi-
tioned in the room temperature for at least 4 h. These
relaxed fabric tube samples were then taken for further
tests. Fabric tube diameters were measured and circum-
ferences were calculated. The tubes were split up for fabric
characterization. Testing on PVC cylinders was carried out
using fabric tubes.
Percentage of each type of fibre in different fabric sample
was determined by dissolution method following ASTM
D629 standard test methods for quantitative analysis of
textiles. A fabric sample of 5 g was first dissolved in 90 %
formic acid at an MLR of 1:20 at room temperature to
dissolve the nylon fibre. The filtered portion contained
spandex and cotton fibre. So, from the difference between
oven dry weight of initial fabric sample and filtered portion
gave the weight of the nylon part. Thereafter, the residue
was treated with N,N-dimethylacetamide to dissolve the
spandex fibre. The weight of the cotton fibre was deter-
mined from the oven dry weight of the filtered portion.
Structural Properties
Loop length was measured by unraveling the yarn length
corresponding to 20 loops. The unraveled length of yarn
was measured. The same procedure was repeated for five
times for each sample. Average loop length was calculated
from total length of yarn and total number of loops.
Courses and wales per cm were counted with a pick glass
and stitch density and loop shape factor were calculated
from these data by Eqs. (1) and (2) respectively.
Stitch density loops=cm2 wales=cm  courses/cm
1
courses=cm
Loop shape factor = 2
wales/cm
Thickness of fabric was measured using ESSDIE (Man-
chester, UK) thickness tester according to ASTM D1777-
96 standard test method. A weight of 20 cN/cm2 was
applied on the sample to remove the air trapped in the
structure. Fabric weight in g/m2 (GSM) was determined
according to ASTM D3776 standard test method. Average
weight was calculated from the weight of at least five
samples.
Tensile Properties

Table 1 Linear density of loop forming yarns used in sample During donning and doffing, pressure garments undergo
preparation extension of upto 100 % in the course wise direction [7].
Sl Sample Nylon yarn Cotton yarn Total linear Therefore, the load elongation behavior of test samples was
no coding used, den used, den density, den studied upto 100 % extension. Since only the course wise
spandex yarns are responsible for exerting pressure,
1 A 0 221 221
therefore all tensile tests were carried out in the course wise
2 B 40 177 217
direction of the fabric. 150 9 50 mm2 samples were tested
3 C 70 132 202
on Instron 4202 tensile tester at gauge length of 75 mm and
4 D 100 88 188
upper jaw speed of 300 mm/min. At least five readings per
5 E 210 0 210
sample were taken.

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Characteristics of Elastic Knitted Fabrics
Thermo Physiological Properties
Thermal properties (thermal resistance and thermal
absorptivity), water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and
air permeability were measured according the following
procedures.
Thermal resistance and absorbency of samples were
measured using the Alambeta testing instrument (Sensora,
Czech Republic) according to ISO 11092 standard method
for measurement of thermal and water vapour resistance
under steady state conditions. At least five samples were
tested and average value was reported. Thermal resistance
(R) in m2K/W is given by Eq. 3.
AtDT
R 3
Q
where Q is the amount of heat conducted (J), A refers to the
area through which the heat is conducted (m2), t denotes
the time of heat conducting (s) and DT represents the drop
of temperature (K). Thermal absorptivity (B) describes the
warm and cool feeling (heat flow level) experienced during
short contact of human skin. It is defined mathematically
by Eq. 4.
p fabric as this side is going to be the next to skin layer. The
B kqx 4 minimum tension of 200 g was applied to hold each fabric
where k represents thermal conductivity (W/mK), q
denotes fabric density (g/m3) and x is the specific heat of
the fabric (J/gK).
WVTR was determined by the cup test method follow-
ing ASTM E96 standard procedure for water vapour
transmission of materials. A glass beaker of 85 mm in
height and cross sectional area of 3,847.58 mm2 was used.
The beaker was filled with water to a height of 65 mm. The
fabric samples were mounted on beakers open face and
tightened by a strong rubber band. The distance between
water level and the fabric was maintained at 20 mm. After
mounting the fabric sample, initial weight of the whole
assembly was noted. The assembly was then kept at stan-
dard atmospheric condition of 27 2 C temperature and
65 2 % relative humidity for 24 h. Special care was
taken to ensure that fabric did not touch the water level.
After 24 h, the final weight of the assembly was recorded
again. The WVTR was calculated from the Eq. 5. An
average value of at least five observations was recorded.
Initial weight of the bea ker final weight of the bea ker
WVTR
Time  test area
Air permeability was tested according to BS5-636
standard using Textest AG FX 3300 (Switzerland). Air
pressure difference of 98 Pa was set between the two
surfaces of the fabric. The diameters of the measuring and
clamping head were 1 and 5 inches, respectively. Average
value of at least FIVE observations was calculated for
reporting.
In-Plane Wicking
In-plane wicking behavior of the fabrics has been deter-
mined by measuring the initial wicking rate (g/min) using a
gravimetric in-plane wicking tester [12]. The instrument
offers the water uptake value of the fabric sample with
time, which is kept horizontally on the base plate con-
nected with a constant water source through a siphon
system. A circular fabric sample of 5 cm diameter was
taken for the test purpose. The test time was 5 min.
Surface Friction
The KES-FB-4S Surface Tester was used in accordance
with the instruction manual to measure the coefficient of
friction (l), mean deviation of friction (MMD) and fabric
surface roughness (SMD in lm) at the back side of the
sample in position. Three samples of each fabric were
measured in three different wale wise positions on both
fabric face and fabric reverse side.
Measurement of Pressure on Rigid Cylindrical Surface
Pressure exerted by the fabric tubes over rigid cylindrical
body measured to analyze the effect of fibre blend on
pressure generation. For this purpose a PVC cylinder
(having 4.6 cm outer radius, 29 cm circumference, and
20 cm length and 2 mm thickness) was chosen. As the
difference in dimension of PVC cylinder and fabric tube
(which is called reduction factor) would change the inter-
facial pressure, circumference of fabric tubes was kept
constant at 21.75 cm by stitching at required position. Thus
the reduction factor in all the samples was always 25 %.
Fabric samples were mounted on the PVC cylinder and the
interface pressure was measured by Kikuhime airpack
pressure sensor (TT Medi Trade, Denmark).
g=h=m2 5
To measure pressure, the sensor was fixed on the PVC
cylinder with a tape and the sensor was adjusted so as to get
a zero reading on the digital display. The fabric tube was
123
 M. Bera et al.

then carefully mounted on the cylinder. Distortion, if any,
in the fabric was adjusted so that fabric stretch was uni-
formly distributed across the cylinder circumference. The
fabric tube was then allowed to settle and relax in position
for a few seconds before pressure was recorded from the
sensor. Average of at least five readings was recorded.
Results and Discussion
Fabric Characteristics
Fibre Content
The amount of nylon, cotton and spandex content was
given in Table 2. It can be found that, sample A is made of
cotton (53.3 %) and spandex (46.7 %), whereas, sample E
is made of nylon (59.2 %) and (40.8 %). Cotton and nylon
percentage is varying from 0 to 53.3 % and 0 to 59.2 %.
Spandex content in all the samples is almost similar
varying from 40 to 46.7 %.
Structural Properties
Thermal resistance and thermal absorptivity values are
given in Fig. 1. It can be seen that, thermal resistance of all
the samples remains almost similar (4240 9 10-3 m2K/W).
It is related to the amount of air entrapped in the fabric
structure. Since in this study, all samples have similar stitch
density (=126) as well as fabric thickness (1.1 mm)
(Table 2), hence the thermal resistance is also found to be
similar.
Unlike the similar values obtained for thermal resistance
in all the samples, a significant increase in thermal
absorptivity (B) is observed with increasing proportion of
cotton in the samples (Fig. 1). As the concentration of
cotton increases from 0 to 53.3 %, the thermal absorptivity
of samples increases from 100 to 142 9 10-3 Ws1/2/m2K.
From the manual of the instrument, it is already known
that, higher the value of B, cooler is the feeling. Thermal
absorptivity depends on the structure of the fabric, moisture
regain of the constituent fibres, area of contact and thermal
conductivity of the fabric. Moisture regains of cotton and
nylon fibres are 8.5 and 4 %, respectively. In the present
study, as the cotton content is increasing the moisture
regain is also increasing accordingly. This leads to increase
in thermal absorptivity value.

Loop length was found almost same, varying from 0.5 to

0.51 cm, in all the samples (Table 2). Wales per cm (89)
and course per cm (14) was also same. This implies that,
stitch density and loop shape factor varying within small
range. So the loop shape and number of pores in unit area
of fabric is similar.
Thickness of the fabric is almost 1.1 mm in all the
fabrics. Fabric weight is in the range of 253286 g/m2. As
the constructional and physical characteristics of the sam-
ples are similar, effect of fibre content on thermophysio-
logical characteristics can be compared.

Thermophysiological Property

Thermal properties (thermal resistance and thermal

absorptivity), WVTR and air permeability of fabric sam-
ples are discussed below. Fig. 1 Thermal property of the fabrics with respect to cotton content

Table 2 Physical and constructional characteristics of fabric tube samples

Sample Fibre content, % Loop WPcm CPcm Stitch density, Loop shape Fabric weight, Thickness,
code length, cm Stitch/cm2 factor g/m2 mm
Cotton Nylon Spandex

A 53.3 0 46.7 0.51 9 14 126 1.5 254 1.10

B 39.2 20.8 40.0 0.50 9 14 126 1.5 286 1.12
C 31.7 27.1 41.2 0.51 8 14 112 1.7 283 1.10
D 20.2 34.8 45.0 0.50 9 14 126 1.5 253 1.09
E 0 59.2 40.8 0.50 9 14 126 1.5 283 1.10

123
Characteristics of Elastic Knitted Fabrics

Fig. 3 Air permeability with respect to cotton fibre content

Fig. 2 Water vapour transmission rate with respect to cotton content

WVTR of fabrics with respect to cotton content is In Plane Wicking

shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen that, WVTR is 47.5 g/h/m2
in fabric E (cotton content = 0 %) which increases to
62.4 g/h/m2 in fabric A (cotton content = 53.3 %). Water
vapour transmits through a textile layer by two processes
(i) diffusion and (ii) sorptiondesorption [13]. Diffusivity
of the material increases with the increase in moisture
regain of the fabric [14]. Moisture regain of the fabric
increases with the increase in cotton content. Sorption
desorption depend on the amount of pore and pore size of
the material. As the stitch density of the samples is same,
the number of pores and pore size remain the same in all
the samples. So, as cotton content increases the diffusivity
of the fabric increases which leads to increase in WVTR.
Air permeability of fabric samples is shown in Fig. 3. It
can be seen that, the air permeability is varying from 32 to
34 %. Very marginal difference in air permeability is found
when fibre content is increased in the samples. Air perme-
ability is largely dependent on the number of pores, their
shapes and size in the fabric samples. In the present study,
stitch density of the samples is almost same (126 stitches/cm2).
So the number of pores in unit area is also same. Moreover,
the thickness of the fabric is also similar. So the pore shape
and size are also identical. Thus, fibre blend proportion does
not have any influence on air permeability.
In plane wicking of various samples, at different time
periods is reported in Table 3. Water uptake was decreased
as the cotton fibre content in the fabric sample increased
(Fig. 4). Water uptake after 100 s was 5 g in sample
without cotton (fabric E) which reduced to 0.65 g when
cotton proportion rose to 53 % (fabric A).
The relationship between cotton proportion and water
uptake follows an exponential relationship as shown in
Fig. 4. As cotton fibre is hygroscopic (moisture regain
= 8.5 %), samples rich in cotton absorb and hold more
water, therefore it cannot travel through the structure,
which results in poor wicking. In the case of nylon rich
fabrics, the fibre itself absorbs less water (moisture regain
4 %), so water can travel through the fabric structure and
as a result the samples show higher wicking.
Surface Friction
Values obtained for surface characteristics of the back side of
test samples are compiled in Fig. 5. It can be seen that there
was no change in the coefficient of friction (l), mean devi-
ation of friction (MMD) and surface roughness (SMD) with
change in fibre proportions. It implies that, surface property

Table 3 In plane wicking of samples

Sample code Water uptake in plane wicking, g
20 s 40 s 60 s 80 s 100 s

A 0.35 0.59 0.65 0.70 0.75

B 0.98 1.64 1.80 1.82 2.00
C 2.00 2.50 30 3.20 4.00
D 2.90 3.30 4.10 4.20 4.40
E 3.50 4.70 4.50 4.80 5.00

123

Fig. 4 Effect of cotton proportion on in plane wicking (at 100 s time)
Fig. 5 Effect of cotton proportion on frictional properties of the
fabric
is not affected by the change in fibre content. l ranges from
0.23 to 0.25. MMD varies in between 0.015 and 0.18. SMD is
quite high at the back of the fabric (79). This is because; the
inlay spandex yarns are running along the course wise
direction in the back side of the fabric. So the surface
roughness increases as the testing head moves in the wale
direction. Otherwise l and MMD values are comparable
with the reported values of other researcher [6].
Effect of Fibre Content on Pressure Exertion on Rigid
Cylindrical Tube
The pressure exertion behavior of fabric tubes on rigid
cylindrical tubes is plotted in Fig. 6. It can be seen that,
pressure remains almost 2021 mmHg for all the fabric
tubes. The fibre blend proportion does not have any influence
on pressure exertion. This can be explained as follows.
123
M. Bera et al.
Fig. 6 Effect of cotton proportion on pressure exertion behaviour at
25 % reduction factor
Fig. 7 Tensile behaviour of fabric samples up to 100 % extension
level
According to Laplaces Law, pressure P(Pa) exerted on
a body can be defined by Eq. 6.
4:713  T
P 6
C
where T is the tension generated in the fabric in N/m and C
is the circumference of the cylinder in centimeters. In the
present study, C is same for the entire test and is equal to
29 cm. Now at 25 % reduction factor, the fabric stretch
(SF) can be derived from Eq. 7 [15]. For the present study
the amount of fabric stretch (SF) is
100 RF 100  25
SF % 33:34 7
100  RF 75
At 33.34 % fabric stretch or fabric extension, the tension
developed in all the fabric samples is almost same (90 N/m)
as shown in Fig. 7. So in Eq. 4, T and C are same for all the
entire samples. As a result the pressure exertion is similar.
Characteristics of Elastic Knitted Fabrics
Conclusions
The effect of nylon and cotton blend percentage on comfort
behavior of pressure garments was analyzed in this study. It
was found that, the content of nylon and cotton did not
have any influence on pressure exerted.
Air permeability was not affected by blend variation
when all the fabric constructional parameters were similar.
Thermal resistance did not change, but thermal absorptivity
increased with the increase in cotton percentage. WVTR
increased but in-plane wicking became poorer with the
increase in cotton content in the blend. Surface frictional
properties of the fabric did not change with the change in
blend composition.
It can be concluded that, incorporation of hydrophilic
fibre does not make any change in any other comfort
property except water vapour permeability and wicking.
Increase in cotton content increases the moisture or water
uptake capacity. So depending on the end use requirement
one can choose the appropriate fibre composition.
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