Effect of Lyocell Blend Yarn and Pile Type on the Properties of Pile Loop Knit Fabrics

This paper investigates some physical properties of pile loop knit fabrics. Several fabric parameters, such as pile type (pile loop and cut-pile loop fabrics), fiber type (100% cotton and 50/50% cotton/lyocell blend), fabric tightness (slack, medium, and tight), relaxation (dry relaxation and wash and dry relaxation), are changed. The effects of these parameters on the physical properties of the fabrics, such as dimensional, drapeability, abrasion, and spirality, are analyzed. To determine their relationship and significance, a bivariate correlation analysis and an analysis of variance are conducted. The presence of lyocell and cut-pile loop fabrics increases the lengthwise shrinkage and widthwise extension after repeated wash and dry cycles. Fabric thickness decreases with the presence of lyocell and decreases fabric tightness. Lyocell blend and ground-face fabrics have lower drape coefficients. Spirality tends to increase with the presence of lyocell and pile loop fabrics. Fabric abrasion behavior is also studied.