A study on Terry woven Fabrics’ Dimensional stability and Areal Density during Wet processing

Experimental work on three fabrics, made from 100% cotton, with different pile ratios and yarn densities was conducted during wet processing. Areal density, dimensional stability, yarn crimp and yarn densities were investigated at three different stages of wet processing namely greige state, bleached state and dyed state. Results showed an increase in dimensional contractions as pile ratio was increased. Fabric dimensions were measured after each processing stage, and the widthwise contractions were between 2.4% and 7.9% for all the fabrics whereas the lengthwise contractions were between 9.7% and 14.6%. Areal density was determined using two methods thus by manual measurement and also by calculation. The measure and calculated result both showed that the areal density for each fabric increased during all stages of wet processing. Generally, warp crimp was higher than weft crimp for all the three fabrics, at all three stages of fabric ion. Weft crimp was between 2% and 7% whereas warp crimp was between 6% and 14%. The measured and calculated results were compared and analyzed using regression analysis methods, and it was found that there was a correlation between the measured and the calculated results. It was concluded that wet processes have a significant effect on dimensional stability and areal density. Also, it was concluded that the effect of wet processing is dependent on the fabric construction parameters which include the pile ratio and yarn density.