A Study of the Numerical Distribution of Fibres Transferred From Blended Fabrics

Abstract The composition of multicomponent textile fabrics is expressed as percentage by mass and cannot be used to estimate the ratio of the number of fibres transferred during contact. The possibility of predicting this ratio by expressing the donor fabric composition in terms of percent by number was investigated. Contact was simulated at fixed pressure using four donor binary mixtures of different fibre composition. An acrylic/nylon blend transferred fibres in close approximation to the calculated distribution by number but different from that by mass. Introduction of cellulosic or wool fibres in combination with polyester or acrylic fibres produced marked deviations from the expected values, increasing in the order wool, viscose and cotton. The observed differential transfers were most likely due to differences in fragmentation behaviour and were to some extent predictable based on the relative strengths of the generic fibre types.