Abstract:

Objective Blended yarns and fabrics can leverage the performance advantages of different fibers, representing a critical direction for the development of high-quality textile materials. To investigate the impact of combing processing on the comfort properties of polyester/cotton blended yarns and fabrics, a novel spinning process route was proposed, where cotton and polyester fibers were combed separately and then blended them during the drawing process to produce polyester-cotton blended yarns that were then used for making fabrics. Through testing and analysis of the comfort properties of such fabrics, the influence of the combing process route on the performance of blended fabrics was explored.

Methods Two different spinning processes were employed to produce polyester/cotton (65/35) blended yarns. For the first process which represent the conventional blended yarn making, the combed cotton fibers were blended with carded polyester slivers during the drawing operation followed by spinning. Following the second process known as the innovative process in this work, the cotton and polyester fibers were combed separately and then blended together during the drawing operation before moving to spinning. The two types of yarns were woven and finished using identical process parameters to produce fabric samples. A comparative analysis of the thermal-wet comfort properties of the two fabrics was conducted to investigate the impact of the combing process route on the comfort properties of the fabrics.

Results Systematic testing and comparison of the performance differences between the two fabrics across multiple comfort indicators revealed that the innovative process offers significant advantages in improving fabric comfort properties. In terms of thermal-wet comfort, compared to the fabric from conventional blended yarn, the fabric made from the innovative blended yarn exhibited a 9.7% increase in average air permeability and a 24% reduction in CV value of air permeability, and a 12.6% increase in moisture permeability and a 55.5% reduction in the CV value of moisture permeability. In terms of tactile comfort, compared to the conventional blended fabric, the innovative blended fabric showed a 6.8% reduction in cool feeling value and a 51.8% reduction in its CV value, a 32.9% decrease in average softness (warp and weft) and a 10% reduction in the softness CV value, a 5.4% reduction in roughness and a 16.8% reduction in its CV value, and a 12.5% reduction in the average length of surface hairiness (warp and weft) and a 56.9% reduction in its CV value. This study confirms that the innovative combing route can comprehensively enhance the comfort properties of the blended fabric.

Conclusion The fabric produced by using blended yarns made through the innovative coming route exhibits significantly improved air permeability and moisture permeability, along with greatly enhanced uniformity in these properties. The fabric softness and softness CV values are markedly reduced, and its smoothness and flatness are significantly improved. Although the cool feeling value slightly decreases, the uniformity of the cool feeling value is significantly enhanced, indicating more uniform and stable temperature sensation when the fabric contacts the skin. It demonstrates the technical advantages brought by the new approach in polyester-cotton blending, which alters the morphological structure of fibers in the yarn and improves yarn uniformity. Notably, the significant reduction in the coefficient of variation for various properties not only reflects the stability of product quality achieved by the innovative process but also highlights its reliability and reproducibility in industrial production, providing essential technical support for the development of high-end functional textiles.

Key words: spinning process route, polyester/cotton blended fabric, combing process, thermal-wet comfort, tactile comfort, hairiness