An experimental study on fabric softness evaluation

Abstract

Structured Abstract for a Literature Review PurposeTo examine a simple testing method of measuring the force to pull a fabric through a series of parallel pins to determine the fabric softness property.Design/methodology/approach A testing system was setup for fabric pulling force measurements and the testing parameters were experimentally determined. The specific pulling forces were compared with the FAST testing parameters and subjective softness ranking. Their correlations were also statistically analyzed. FindingsThe fabric pulling force reflects the physical and surface properties of the fabrics measured by the FAST instrument and its ability to rank fabric softness appears to be close to the human hand response on fabric softness. The pulling force method can also distinguish the difference of fabrics knitted with different wool fibre contents. Research limitations/implicationsOnly 21 woven and 3 knitted fabrics were used for this investigation. More fabrics with different structures and finishes may be evaluated before the testing method can be put in practice. Practical implicationsThe testing method could be used for objective assessment of fabric softness. Originality/valueThe testing method reported in this paper is a new concept in fabric softness measurement. It can provide objective specifications for fabric softness, thus should be valuable to fabric community.

Determining Formability Function of Worsted Woven Fabrics in Terms of Fabric Direction

“…(10) it was found that multiplication of bending rigidity and tensile behavior under low loads, present a Gaussian function as it was stated before in Eq. (8).…”

“…Hui et al (2005) used artificial neural network in order to predict fabric sewing performance, and they used fabric content, weight, thickness, formability, and extensibility as input units to predict puckering, needle damage, distortion, and overfeeding [7]. Zhang et al (2005) studied fabric softness experimentally by measuring the force needed to pull fabric through a series of parallel pins. The results show that pulling force is significantly correlated to fabric properties such as its bending rigidity, thickness, formability, and extensibility [8].…”

Physical and mechanical testing of textiles

“…Studies have shown that results from the nozzle measurement are in fairly good agreement with those from other more complicated hand evaluation systems, such as the KES-F system and physical tests related to fabric hand. Other simple techniques include the ring or slot test (Grover et al, 1993) and the pulling force measurement by pulling a fabric through a set of parallel pins (Zhang et al, 2006). These methods consider the combined effect of fabric surface properties and bending stiffness.…”

Evaluation of Quality and Assurance Parameters of Mulberry Silk Waste and Viscose Blended Knitted Fabrics by Using ‘Fabric Assurance by Simple Testing’ (FAST) Technique

“…The test determines properties which sharply define ease of garment construction and its durability [8]. This test method is based on correlations between a number of subjective evaluations of fabric handle (like smoothness, firmness, fullness, crispiness and hardness) and corresponding mechanically detectable Figures [9]. In the present study, authors have intended to evaluate fabric hand of blended knitted fabrics.…”