Overview
This lecture covers key textile performance properties—durability, comfort, appearance retention, and safety—to help select appropriate materials for different uses.
Durability Properties
- Durability involves abrasion resistance, pilling, strength (tenacity), flexibility, cohesiveness, and elongation.
- Abrasion resistance is a fabric’s ability to withstand rubbing; types include flat, edge, and flex abrasion.
- Pilling forms when fibers break and create small balls, especially on synthetics.
- Strength (tenacity) is a fiber’s resistance to stress; nylon and silk are among the strongest.
- Flexibility is the ability to bend without breaking, affecting drape and durability.
- Cohesiveness is how well fibers cling together during spinning, impacting yarn strength.
- Elongation is how much a fiber stretches before breaking, important for protective gear.
Comfort Properties
- Comfort depends on how textiles manage heat, air, and moisture.
- Absorbency (moisture regain) is the fiber’s ability to take in moisture; cotton, wool, silk, and rayon are highly absorbent.
- Hydrophilic fibers absorb water; hydrophobic fibers repel water and dry quickly.
- Wicking moves moisture away from the body, improving comfort.
- Absorbent fibers build up less static electricity.
- Dimensional stability is the ability to keep size and shape after washing; hydrophobic fibers shrink less.
Appearance Retention Properties
- Includes resiliency (ability to recover from creasing), compressibility, mildew and insect resistance, and thermoplasticity.
- Resilient fibers (wool, nylon, polyester) resist wrinkling; cotton and linen wrinkle more.
- Compressibility is resistance to crushing, helping fabrics keep their shape.
- Mildew grows in damp, dark places; cotton is especially vulnerable.
- Insect damage mainly affects protein and cellulose fibers; good storage helps prevent it.
- Thermoplasticity allows synthetic fibers to be heat-shaped for permanent features.
Safety Properties
- Flammability is how textiles react to fire; important for protective clothing.
- Flame-resistant fabrics slow burning; flame-proof fabrics do not burn.
- Chemical reactivity is how fibers respond to chemicals (e.g., acetone dissolves acetate).
- Environmental resistance includes sunlight (UV) resistance; polyester and acrylic resist fading, while silk and nylon do not.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Tenacity: fiber strength under stress.
- Abrasion Resistance: ability to resist wear from rubbing.
- Pilling: formation of small fiber balls on fabric.
- Moisture Regain: percent of moisture a dry fiber can absorb.
- Hydrophilic: water-absorbing fiber.
- Hydrophobic: water-repellent fiber.
- Wicking: movement of moisture along fiber surface.
- Resiliency: ability to return to original shape after deformation.
- Thermoplasticity: ability to soften/melt with heat.
- Flammability: ease of ignition/burning.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review these notes to understand textile performance properties.
- Prepare for the next lecture on Product Development.