Textile Environmental Conditioning: Effect of Relative Humidity Variation on the Tensile Properties of Different Fabrics

With the aim that to confirm the need for humidity control in the environment in which textile sample are visually and instrumentally analyzed, three different pre-conditioned fabrics sample of cotton, polyester and silk were treated at a fix temperature of 21?C. The relative humidity adjusted to four levels: 55%, 65%, 75% and 85% RH for a conditioning time of 24 hours as specified in ASTM D-1776-98. It has been observed that as the relative humidity increase from 55% to 85% cotton increase its tensile strength, silk losses its strength and there was no significant change observed in the tensile strength of polyester fabric.