Standardizing a Pre-treatment Cleaning Procedure and Effects of Application on Apparel Fabrics

Abstract

The objective of this work was to develop a pre-treatment (cleaning) procedure for a wide range of apparel fabrics and to determine whether differences observed in the properties of fabrics which had and had not been pre-treated were significant. Properties relevant to the manufacture and/or performance of apparel included mass per unit area, thickness, bending length, flex-ural rigidity, drape coefficient, air permeability, water vapor permeability, liquid absorptive capacity, drying time, ‘dry’ thermal resistance, ultra-violet transmission. Results for the same property on the same fabric measured when the fabrics had and had not been pre-treated generally differed significantly, confirming the importance of pre-treatment prior to measuring these properties, particularly when claiming in-use attributes of fabrics. A procedure for pre-treatment is recommended: six consecutive cleaning cycles following procedure 8A of British Standard EN ISO 6330: 2001 (i.e. not dried between cycles), and dried flat following procedure C of this standard.

Pressure and coverage effects of sporting compression garments on cardiovascular function, thermoregulatory function, and exercise performance

“…The garments were made from knit fabrics, with the fibre reported as 76% nylon and 24% elastane. Relevant fabric properties are given in Table 1, as determined from samples cut (British Standards Institution 1999) from new CG tops that had been pre-treated with six wash cycles (procedure 8A; International Organization for Standardization 2000a) to stabilise the fabric (Gore et al 2006). Fabrics were conditioned for 24 h in a controlled standard environment (20 ± 2°C and 65 ± 4% RH; International Organization for Standardization 2005), and tested in a relaxed state in that same environment.…”

Effect of repeated laundering and Dry-cleaning on the thermo-physiological comfort properties of aramid fabrics

“…The first laundering cycle leads to the maximum change in the physical parameters such as weight, thickness, fabric sett, stretch and recovery properties and dimensional stability, whereas the fabrics subjected to 6 laundering cycles are considered to be the most stable [18,[20][21][22]. This deterioration of properties is a great concern to the manufacturers, retailers and consumers.…”

Fibres and Textiles

“…Once an item of apparel is manufactured from fabric, it is subject to increasing levels of degradation from environmental and use factors (Slater, 1986;Guoping and Slater, 1990). The major causes of fabric and apparel degradation include abrasion, extension, light (including ultraviolet light and daylight), weathering, temperature and relative humidity variations, ozone, atmospheric oxygen, wind, microbial and insect attack, dust, dry-cleaning, laundering, ironing, perspiration, water (fresh, sea, chlorinated) and chemicals (organic solvents, acids, alkalis and salts) (Dweltz and Sparrow, 1978;Warfield and Stone, 1979;Slater, 1986Slater, , 1991Morton and Hearle, 1993;Gore et al, 2006;Kemp et al, 2009). The mechanical properties of fabric and apparel change with laundering.…”

“…The mechanical properties of fabric and apparel change with laundering. Similarly, washing will alter appearance and interactions with liquids (Sund and King, 1983;Slater, 1986;Gore et al, 2006) (Figs. 6.1a,b).…”