DIMENSIONAL PROPERTIES OF COTTON FLEECE FABRICS

To enable rational fabric engineering for end-use performance, and to allow focused process control, it is necessary to be able to predict fabric dimensions as a function of knitting and wet processing input variables. In particular it is necessary to predict the course and wale densities of the dyed and finished fabric in its Reference State of Relaxation. A wide range of two-thread cotton fleece fabrics, together with the corresponding plain jersey controls, has been knitted, processed, sampled and tested. The results have been analysed to derive the necessary prediction equations. The equations have been included in a new version of the STARFISH computer program for simulating the manufacture and processing, and for predicting the end-use performance of cotton circular knits.