Assessment of Carbon Footprint of Various Cotton Knitwear Production Processes in Bangladesh

Carbon footprint is defined as the amount of greenhouse gases generated during the whole lifetime or within a specific boundary of a product. This study measured the average carbon footprint of some common cotton knitwear T-shirts, polo shirts, and fleece jackets during production using CCalC2 software. Energy and water consumption data were taken as the study's input, while direct and indirect emissions were not specified. The results show the amount of carbon dioxide emitted at different stages of knitwear production. Cotton processing and yarn spinning resulted in relatively high carbon dioxide emissions, while wet treatment gave similar results. Fleece jacket production gave high amounts of emitted carbon dioxide due to its complex fabric structure and high fabric weight, while T-shirts gave the lowest amount of the fabrics tested.

Thread Type and Stich Density Suitable for Seams in Ghanaian Public Basic School Uniforms

Background: The serviceability of a sewn garment is influenced by the quality of its seams, which form the basic structural element. The factors that affect seam quality in garments includes, sewing thread type and stitch density. Their right choice helps with the achievement of quality seams in garments. However, the choice of suitable sewing threads and stitch densities for particular fabrics can only be determined through testing. Objective: Problems associated with poor performance of school uniforms include seam failure. The aim of the study was to determine sewing thread brand and stitch density suitable for seams for a selected fabric (79% polyester and 21% cotton) for Ghanaian public basic school uniforms. Method: A 2×3 factorial design was employed which involved two brands of sewing threads labelled Aʹ and Bʹ and three range of stitch density, 10, 12 and 14. The total number of specimens prepared from the selected fabric was 81. The parameters investigated included fabric weight, strength and elongation, seam strength, seam elongation and efficiency. The data were analysed using the Predictive Analytic Software (SPSS). Means and standard deviations of the fabric’s yarn count, weight, strength, elongation and the linear density of the sewing threads were determined. Analysis of Variance and Independent samples t-test at 0.05 alpha levels were employed in testing the hypotheses. Results: Differences for seam strength, efficiency and elongation were significant for the two sewing thread brands and the three stitch densities in both warp and weft directions of the fabric sample. The sewing thread brand B′ with stitch density 14 performed best in terms of seam strength, elongation and efficiency. Conclusion: The sewing thread brand B′ and stitch density 14 are recommended to be used for the construction of uniforms with the selected fabric to achieve quality in uniforms.

Determination of Difficulty Level for Garment Model with Fuzzy Logic Method

The purpose of this study is a rule-based fuzzy logic approach is proposed for determining model difficulty in manufacturing top clothing for ladies. A decision framework concerned with different scenarios (main pattern types and material types) is proposed for determining the model difficulty. Each scenario modeled as a Mamdani type fuzzy inference system which is known as one of the best approximator fuzzy logic models. The fuzzified input variables are unit operation time, second quality rate and fabric weight. Moreover, two different defuzzification methods which are centroid and middle of maxima are compared for finding best fuzzy logic structure over the six different test instances. According to the results, both deffuzzification methods find similar model difficulty determinations. A graphical user interface of the proposed decision framework is designed in order to apply this to real-life applications. Finally, six different clothing models are identified to be simple, medium-hard, hard and very hard. The results of this study showed that defuzzification methods is not significantly effected the model difficulty decisions off is systems regarding different test instances. The model difficulty values range between 0-10. In order to find a useful difficulty assignment (linguistic), the model difficulty is determined by using the closeness to center value (a2) of membership functions. This research offers a solution to determine the difficulty levels of the garment models.

Impact of Laser Intensities at Various DPI and Pixel Time on the Properties of Denim Garments

This paper investigates the changes in the properties of denim garments with respect to laser intensities of different DPI and Pixel Time. The laser added value to denim garments can fade the outer surface and the yarn portion significantly. In this research, DPI 20 and 25 along with Pixel Time 100, 150 and 200 were applied on samples to investigate the fabric weight, absorbency, crease recovery, tear resistance, tensile strength, pilling and abrasion resistance. For each of the cases, increased DPI and Pixel Time had much greater impact than other parameters on the denim garment samples. After treatment, the fabric sample indicated around 10-30% in weight reduction. The absorbency property of the sample on the other hand showed that higher DPI and Pixel Time required less time to absorb the water on the fabric surface. Furthermore, fabric crease recovery property reduced sharply where maximum 33% crease could not recover after laser exposure. For both tear resistance and tensile strength, especially warp way direction, property reduced more compared to weft way direction due to higher fading effects. After 12,000 cycles, both pilling and abrasion resistance property demonstrated significant reduction for higher laser intensities.

Effect of production speed on polyester/nylon intermingled yarn and melange fabric properties

PurposeThe main objectives of this research work were to investigate the effect of production speed on intermingled yarn properties and melange fabric properties with special reference to melange appearance.Design/methodology/approachPolyester/nylon intermingled yarns were produced using an SSM DP3-C air-intermingling machine using commercial process parameters and Heberlein P212 nozzle. Melange fabric samples were knitted from polyester/nylon intermingled yarns while maintaining the same parameters to avoid knitting variations. The fabric samples were dyed using a sample dyeing machine while maintaining dye recipe and dyeing parameters constant to avoid dyeing variations.FindingsThe production speed has significant effect on intermingled yarn and melange fabric properties. When the production speed is increased, mingle points, mingle stability, linear density, strength and the elongation of the intermingled yarns decreases. When the production speed is increased, fabric weight decreases and the melange effect varies from dot-like appearance to line-like appearance.Research limitations/implicationsOnly the effect of production speed on intermingled yarn and melange fabric properties is discussed in this paper. Appearance evaluating systems developed in this research are limited to melange fabrics produced using air-intermingled yarns with two colour components.Practical implicationsResults indicate that the intermingled yarns for the application of melange fabrics should be developed with optimum intermingling speeds, and it should not be changed during the production since production speed has significant effect on yarn and fabric parameters. Therefore, melange appearance and fabric weight may vary between fabric lots with different production speeds even though all the other parameters are kept constant. Further, melange appearance evaluation method developed in this research could be used as a guide in developing melange fabrics.Originality/valueThis research introduced a qualitative and a quantitative method to analyse melange fabric appearance. This melange appearance evaluation method can be used as a guide to achieve specific melange effect in the sample development stage. Further, when a melange sample appearance catalogue is developed for all the variables for a particular fabric type using this evaluation method, customer requested appearance can be achieved in minimum sample trials which save time, capacity, money and customer credibility.

Geometrical Properties of Upholstery Fabrics used in Cars

The main purpose of this research is to study about the geometrical properties of upholstery fabrics used in cars such as cotton and polyester. These fabrics such as cotton and polyester where assessed by its fabric count both warp and weft directions, fabric thickness and fabric weight. From the analysis of the result, it can be concluded that Cotton fabrics had better strength than other selected polyester fabric.

Study on fabric compression under seam vis a vis quantitative measurement of seam boldness and thread consumption for lockstitch 301

Purpose This paper aims to develop at sewing thread during the seam formation may lead to the compression of fabric under seam. In the present study, the model has been proposed to predict the seam compression and calculation of seam boldness, as well as thread consumption by considering seam compression. Design/methodology/approach The effect of sewing parameters on the fabric compression at the seam (Cf) for fabrics of varying bulk density was studied by the Taguchi method and also the multilinear regression equation is obtained to predict seam compression by considering these parameters. The framework has been set as per the single view metrology approach to measuring structural seam boldness (Bs). One of the basic geometrical models (Ghosh and Chavhan, 2014) for the prediction of thread consumption at lock stitch has been modified by considering fabric compression at the seam (Cf). Findings The multilinear regression model has been proposed which can predict the compression under seam using easily measurable fabric parameters and stitch density. The seam boldness is successfully calculated quantitatively using the proposed formula with a good correlation with the seam boldness rated subjectively. The thread consumption estimation from the proposed approach was found to be more accurate. Originality/value The compression under seam is found out using easily measurable parameters; fabric thickness, fabric weight and stitch density from the proposed model. The attempt has been made to calculate seam boldness quantitatively and the new approach to find out thread consumption by considering the seam compression has been proposed.

Assessment of the Durability and Bio-effectiveness of Three Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets in Three Different Communities After the 2017 Mass Net Distribution Campaign in Benin

Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are an essential tool in the fight against malaria. Physical integrity, durability and bio-effectiveness are key variables in the effectiveness of LLINs. The objective of this study was to identify the main factors affecting the survival of three brands of LLINs with different physical characteristics and to assess their bio-effectiveness. A cohort consisting of 1500 LLINs (500 of each) of the brands: DawaPlus®2.0 (polyester, 150 denier, 40 g/m2 fabric weight), PermaNet®2.0 and Yorkool® (polyester, 75 denier, alternating knit pattern with 85 g/m2 fabric weight) was monitored every 6 months in the communes of Ketou, Dogbo and Djougou (from October 2017 to September 2019) based on attrition and integrity measures and median survival in years. We also determined bio-efficacy using the WHO cone test. The physical presence rate was 26.4%, 21.4% and 48.6% respectively for DawaPlus®2.0, PermaNet®2.0 and Yorkool®. The main cause of loss of the three LLINs was displacement, 43.6% (in rural areas) versus 43.2% (in urban areas) with no significant difference (p ˃ 0.05). The median proportional hole index (pHI) ranged from 578 (IQR: 219-843) at 6 months to 196 (IQR: 46-524.5). After 24 months of use, 86.1% were in good condition (0≤pHI<65), 9% were damaged (65≤pHI<643) and 4.2% were too torn (643≤pHI). A significant decrease in physical survival of LLINs (all brands) was observed at 24 months (37.9%, range 34.7-41.3%) compared to 6 months (90.3%, range 88.7-91.8%) (p<0.001). The 24-hour mortality of the three LLINs met WHO requirements for efficacy. The decline in LLIN survival rates during this study highlights the need to develop and implement new strategies to manage this important vector control tool.

Comparative Analysis of Thermophysiological Comfort-Related Properties of Elastic Knitted Fabrics for Cycling Sportswear

This research focused on the investigation of the thermophysiological comfort properties of four selected knitted fabrics of different fiber blend ratios suitable for cycling wear. Comfort-related properties of the fabrics were determined and compared including air permeability, moisture management properties, drying time, thermal conductivity, and water vapor permeability. For those comfort properties of the fabric to be correlated, fabric structural properties, fabric density, fabric weight, and fabric thickness have been considered. Suited fabrics should have good air permeability, thermal conductivity, moisture management properties, and a short drying time. According to the measurement results, the fabric polyamide/elasane (58/42 PA6.6/EL) with good air permeability, thermal conductivity, moisture management properties, and short drying time was more suited for summer cycling clothing. Furthermore, this paper provides a new understanding of considerations that are needed for several end uses involving specific activity levels.

Effect of inlaid elastic yarns and inlay pattern on physical properties and compression behaviour of weft-knitted spacer fabric

Spacer fabrics are commonly used as cushioning materials. Their compression properties are one of the most important concerns in determining their specific end-use. Therefore, it is time and cost- efficient to have another means available that could allow quick and easy modifications to the compression behaviour of spacer fabrics and control them too. In this study, a method that uses an elastic inlay is adopted to modify the physical and compression properties of spacer fabrics. Fifteen samples constructed with different spacer structures and inlay yarns and patterns were fabricated and then evaluated. The results show that spacer fabrics with different thicknesses, densities and compression behaviours can be obtained by using different inlay patterns and elastic yarns. Increasing the number of miss stitches in the inlay pattern can help to increase the thickness and stiffness of spacer fabric and withstand a higher compression strength. However, when the number of miss stitches further increases to 3 miss stitches between every tuck stitch, the irregularity of the spacer structure would increase and could show adverse effects to certain spacer structures. The spacer fabric made by incorporating an elastic inlay can retain air permeability and a lower fabric weight than that made by the knit stitches of elastic yarns together with the surface yarns. By changing the inlay pattern, a spacer fabric with different compression behaviours in different areas of the same fabric can be realised. This novel method can increase the flexibility of creating a spacer fabric with the desired properties.