Effect of fibre, plating and loop length variation on fabric tactile comfort

Modified cellulose (tencel, modal and bamboo) lycra plated single jersey knitted fabrics have been developed with two different loop lengths (2.7mm and 3.4mm) and with different lycra plating (without, half and full plating) along with the cotton fabrics of same variables. The developed fabrics are tested for their tactile comfort properties. The tactile comfort properties of the fabrics depend on the areal density. The results show that the fabrics without lycra and with higher loop length show good grades for smoothness and softness values. The fabrics with higher elastane content exhibit the lowest grade for warmthness. The indices bending average rigidity and bending work of the bending module are low for the tencel single jersey fabrics without lycra and 3.4mm loop length. Compression indices are also low for the fabric which computes a higher grade of softness for the above fabric, which is attributed to the lower areal density of the fabric. It is observed that the indices of surface friction and roughness are also low for the tencel fabric having 3.4mm loop length and without lycra, thus giving the fabric a higher grade of smoothness. The 2.7mm loop length full plated bamboo fabric exhibits the highest Qmax value, indicating the cooler feeling. The value of Qmax descends towards the tencel fabrics. It is recommended from the warmness grades that the insertion of lycra plating in the fabric reduces the warmness by increasing the contact area. Fabric hand values computed from the above grades indicate that all the developed fabrics fall under the category of low to high grades, depending on the loop length and lycra insertion.