Evaluation of Methods for Characterising Fabric Deformations

Care finishes applied to the textile/garment can impart improved handle and drape resulting in better appearance and comfort for the wearer. The change in the fabric’s mechanical properties may be discriminated through characterisation of different fabric deformation processes, however, it is not clear which fabric deformations, related to consumer perception of tactile “feel”, would effectively help discriminate the subtle fabric changes during objective measurement. Many objective measurement systems have been developed historically which characterise unidirectional fabric deformations such: Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES-F) and Fabric Assurance by Simple Testing (FAST). Most recently, Leeds University have developed a Fabric Handle Evaluation System (LUFHES) to characterise biaxial fabric deformations which mimic fabric buckling deformations occurring during subjective fabric hand evaluation.

In this paper, the dynamic deformations of woven cotton fabrics treated with a conventional silicone lubricant at different concentration levels were characterised using the KES-F, LUFHES and PhabrOmeter®. It has been possible to identify which fabric deformations were sensitive to the small fabric mechanical changes arising from the aqueous treatments, and the extent to which instrumental methods can measure and discriminate those effects.