The demand of cotton is increasing but its low production rate cannot fulfill the world requirements. The increase in cotton demand has augmented the production of regenerated cellulosic fibers. Furthermore, cotton has proved to be unsustainable because of the use of huge amount of fresh water, pesticides and insecticides. The purpose of this work is to find out the suitable blend/blends of regenerated fibers so as to replace 100% cotton fabrics. Therefore, mechanical and comfort properties of Tencel fabrics blended with other regenerated cellulose fibers have been compared with 100% cotton to achieve the equivalent or even better end properties. Hence, cotton, viscose, Tencel, modal, and bamboo fibers were taken. Plain woven blended fabrics of 100% cotton and 50:50 blends of Tencel with other regenerated fibers were prepared from normal yarn count of 20 tex. The mechanical properties (warp-wise and weft-wise tensile and tear strengths, pilling, and abrasion resistance) and the comfort properties including air permeability, moisture management properties, and thermal resistance were evaluated. It is found that Tencel blended fabrics show better results than 100% cotton fabrics. Therefore, it is concluded that Tencel blended with these regenerated fabrics can be used to replace 100% cotton fabrics.

The worldwide growing need of cotton but its lower production has boosted the production of regenerated cellulosic fibers. This work compares the thermal comfort and mechanical properties of bamboo rayon fiber blends with cotton and other regenerated fibers. So, bamboo rayon fibers were blended with cotton, tencel lyocell, modal rayon, and viscose rayon. One-hundred-percent pure fabrics of bamboo rayon, cotton, tencel lyocell, modal rayon, and viscose rayon were made. Also, 50:50 blends of bamboo rayon with cotton, tencel lyocell, modal rayon, and viscose rayon were prepared. Plain-woven fabrics were made by using yarns of 20 tex. The thermal comfort and mechanical properties were analyzed. It is found that 100% tencel lyocell fabrics give higher mechanical and comfort properties. Similarly, bamboo rayon:tencel lyocell (50:50)-blended fabric gives better thermal comfort and mechanical properties than bamboo rayon:cotton-, bamboo rayon:modal rayon-, and bamboo rayon:viscose rayon-blended fabrics. Keywords cotton, regenerated fibers, bamboo fiber, comfort properties, mechanical properties Almost two thirds of the surface of Earth is covered up with water. Of this water, 2.05% is frozen water, 97.4% is salty seawater, and the fresh water that is healthy enough for plant, animal and human consumption is only 0.65% (Krenkel, 2012). Among various crops, cotton is one of the thirstiest and is responsible for damaging the freshwater ecosystems both locally and globally. Cotton is a major natural fiber consumed in the apparel industry due to its excellent properties

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the 100 percent pure cotton and 50:50 cotton and regenerated fibers (tencel, modal, bamboo, viscose) blends. The blends of regenerated fibers with cotton are studied so as to replace 100 percent cotton fabrics with the cotton blends as cotton cannot fulfill the demand of clothing due to the increasing population. Design/methodology/approach In order to conduct this study, cotton, as natural cellulose fiber, was used. Regenerated fibers include viscose, tencel, modal and bamboo. Five yarn samples of Ne 30/1 of 100 percent cotton and blends (50:50) of cotton with tencel, modal, bamboo and viscose fibers were produced. The blending was done in the Blow-room, and yarn samples were produced by employing the ring spinning technique. Plain woven fabrics samples with Ends (76) and Picks (68) per inch of 120 gsm were prepared. The fabric samples were tested for mechanical (warp and weft tensile and tear strengths) and comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance). Findings Cotton:tencel fabric has the excellent mechanical (tensile and tear strength) as well as comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance). It means that the most suitable blend that cotton can make with the regenerated fibers is the tencel. Therefore, to have more comfortable fabrics, the fabrics which are being made by 100 percent cotton can be replaced with the cotton:tencel. Originality/value To the authors’ information, no study has been reported in which all the regenerated fibers blended with cotton were studied. Hence, the aim of this work is to study the mechanical and comfort properties of the regenerated fibers (modal, tencel, viscose and bamboo) blended with cotton. The blends of cotton with regenerated fibers might replace 100 percent cotton in clothing applications as cotton cannot fulfill the increasing demanding of clothing.

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The increasing demand of cotton and low production rate to fulfil the world requirements has boosted the production of regenerated cellulose based fibers. The purpose of this work was to compare the performance and comfort properties of regenerated cellulose fibers. For this purpose, cotton, viscose, tencel, modal, bamboo and viscose fibers were taken. Cotton and viscose of 100 % and blends (50:50) of viscose with cotton and regenerated fibers were taken. Normal yarn of count 20 tex was made and plain woven fabric samples were made and then pre-treated. The Warp-wise and weft-wise tensile and tear strengths were recorded. In addition, the tests of air-permeability, moisture management and thermal resistivity were performed It is found that the viscose:tencel and viscose:modal blends give better mechanical and comfort properties than all other blends. Also, it is found that viscose:cotton blend gives the lowest mechanical and comfort properties out of all studied fabrics. It is concluded that viscose makes more suitable blend with tencel and modal which outperforms in mechanical and comfort properties than other blends.