As a denim production enterprises, in order to make the production of denim in line with the current trend, must be from all aspects to consider the impact of denim feel factors. In this paper, from the denim production of raw materials, spinning methods, fabric structure design, and finishing and other aspects, a brief discussion of all aspects of the impact of denim feel, and then better used in production.
Table of Contents
Improve The Significance Of Denim Fabric Feel
Mention of denim people will naturally think of is the heavy workwear fabrics, traditional denim hard, rugged, wild is the basic characteristics of its feel effect. With the change of people’s concept, comfortable and environmentally friendly, wearing casual, delicate style, soft feel has become the mainstream of the current denim. Feeling is an important means of purchasing fabrics and garments, specifically, the feeling of touching the fabric by hand in the psychological response. Because of the different varieties of fabrics, the quality of the high and low also have differences, the feel of the hand also has a big difference. People can also rely on the role of force, hand touch, rubbing, grasping and other actions, to determine the characteristics of the fabric. Feeling has the following aspects: soft and hard, smooth and rough surface, whether the body and bone stiff and loose, cold and warm: for example: silk fabrics feel cool, pure wool fabrics feel warm. The following is a brief talk about the impact of different aspects of denim fabric feel, so that the production of denim fabrics can meet the needs of consumers.
Improve The Denim Fabric Feel Of The Method
The Choice Of Raw Materials
Textile raw materials largely determine the feel of the fabric, so the use of different raw materials have a greater impact on the feel of the fabric.
- Cotton Fibers
The use of cotton fiber textile fabrics dressed in soft, comfortable, absorbent, breathable, is the first choice for high-grade clothing yarn. Cotton is divided into long-staple cotton, fine cotton. Long-staple cotton is generally long and thin fibers, extremely soft and comfortable. Do high yarn woven into fabrics, feel soft, meticulous, excellent drape.
- Hemp Fiber
Hemp fiber is a natural fiber in the greatest strength, elongation of the smallest fibers, elasticity is poor, so the hemp fabric clothing type retention is poor. But hemp fiber moisture absorption, moisture dissipation speed than cotton several times faster, so the use of hemp fiber clothing in the summer wearing cool and comfortable. In denim fabrics used more ramie, flax, hemp and so on.
- Viscose Fibers
Viscose fiber is a man-made fiber made from plant wood or cotton short staple as raw material, processed into spinning stock, and then made by wet spinning. The moisture content of viscose fiber is most in line with the physiological requirements of human skin, with smooth and cool, breathable, anti-static properties. Viscose staple fiber is soft, feel good, viscose fabrics touch with elasticity, but viscose fabrics will become hard to the touch after water.
- Tencel Fibers
Tencel fiber is a new type of man-made cellulose fiber, which has a cotton fiber “comfort, polyester” strength “strength”, woolen fabrics, “luxury beauty” and silk “unique feel “and” soft drape “whether in a dry or wet state, are very tough. Tencel fabrics are soft and drapey, with a silk-like luster. The use of Tencel made of clothing, clothing soft, flowing and dynamic, after many washings can still remain soft, not easy to change shape.
- Polyester Fibers
Polyester is one of the three synthetic fibers in the simplest process, polyester fabrics it is strong and durable, not easy to deform, straight, easy to wash and quick drying characteristics. Using polyester fiber fabrics after many washings, still has excellent conformal properties.
- Core-Spun Yarns
Mainly spandex elastic core yarn, T400 core yarn promotion. With elastic silk as the core silk, cotton yarn, woven denim feel soft, processed into the clothing is very comfortable. In recent years to T400 for the core yarn is also widely used in denim fabrics, woven fabrics are not only stretch stretch freely, and the fabric is soft, smooth feel!
- Other Fibers
In recent years, the use of COOLMAX series of fibers, but also to a large extent to improve the feel of denim fabrics. Point. Containing COOLMAX denim fabrics not only feel smooth, and clothing without hot and humid feeling. Wool fiber, silk fiber is also gradually used in denim fabrics. Different fibers give denim fabrics a different feel. Such as containing wool denim clothing feel soft, comfortable to wear, warmth; containing silk denim both with the cowboy’s rough style, but also retains the appearance of fine, moisture absorption, sweat, good breathability characteristics. If the raw material selection from the one-sided judgment, viscose feel better than cotton, tencel, etc., and polyester fiber, hemp fiber rigidity is relatively large, that is to say, feel hard and dry.
Yarn Design Techniques for Enhanced Denim Fabric Feel
- Ring Spinning
The traditional spinning method, the fiber strip through the ring spindle wire ring rotation so that the fiber is twisted into yarn. Ring spinning yarn used in denim, denim fabric to improve the initial feel plays an important role, is still denim yarn in the most used spinning method.
- Cyclo-spinning
Two roving whiskers are fed into the yarn drafting area at a certain distance, and twisted into yarn after drafting respectively, the seloroid spinning yarn is similar to the strand structure. Sailor spinning yarn used in denim fabrics, make denim fabrics feel softer, a lot of degree to improve the grade of denim clothing.
- Compact Low Twist Yarn
It is in the compact spinning machine to add a set of special false-twisting device, the function of the device is to give the front roller out of the whiskers to a certain degree of false-twisting, so as to achieve a change in the spinning triangle within the yarn surface fiber distribution and production of low-torque yarn. Compact low-torque yarn has the characteristics of “the lowest twist, the torque is very small, and the yarn body is soft”, and the denim fabrics made are extremely soft to the touch.
- Air Jet Spinning
The spinning method of twisting the whiskers through the high-speed rotation of the rotating cup. Because of the irregular fiber, outside the loose inside tight fiber arrangement, woven into the denim fabric feel hard. Due to the difference in yarn structure, the fabrics produced by ring spinning are softer and better handfeeling than the denim fabrics produced by airflow spinning. Soft, feel better. Middle and high-grade denim yarns are basically ring-spun yarns, but with the increasing prosperity of the trend of cyclorama yarns will replace the traditional ring-spun yarns.
Selecting Yarn Twist for Optimal Fabric Feel
The twist of the yarn also affects the handfeel of the fabric: fabrics made of yarn with small twist are relatively more fluffy, while fabrics made of yarn with large twist are more fluffy, while fabrics made of yarn with large twist are more fluffy. The fabrics made from yarns with a small twist are relatively more fluffy, while fabrics made from yarns with a large twist are astringent and hard to the touch. Of course, too small a twist affects the strength of the yarn, which affects weaving; too large a twist makes the yarn self-twisting phenomenon serious, which also affects weaving, so a reasonable twist is particularly important. When spinning raw materials, yarn count has been fixed, the key to the configuration of the twist factor. Twist coefficient is small, and then with the appropriate tightness, so that the fabric is soft, full; twist coefficient is large, the cloth surface hairiness is less, the grain is clear, clean and smooth. Different spinning methods should also be matched with the corresponding twist factor, such as: ring spinning 360-400, airflow spinning flat yarn 380-420. bamboo yarn twist should also depend on the yarn count, due to the details of the relationship between the twist to be slightly larger than the flat yarn.
Fabric Density and Weave Tightness Design
The size of the fabric tightness and the feel of the fabric is closely related, the greater the tightness, feel hard: the smaller the tightness, the more fluffy feel. The tightness of the fabric is not only related to the choice of yarn, with the fabric organization, density is also closely related. Different organizations affect the tightness of the fabric, which in turn affects the feel of the fabric. The same yarn count, density, different organizations such as 31, 21, broken twill, plain, satin, satin organization loose, relatively soft feel, while the plain organization is relatively hard. The same organization, yarn count, different densities, the smaller the density, the tighter the looser, the softer the hand. When designing denim fabrics, the ratio of warp and weft tightness should be reasonable, generally Ej/Ew=1.4 or so. Different periods of consumers have different needs for the feel of the fabric, pre-coarse yarn, tightness of denim fabrics are respected by the people. In recent years high count, moderate density has become a popular product in the market. This is closely related to the comfortable feel of denim fabric.
Finishing Techniques for Denim Fabric Feel
Different finishing methods have different degrees of influence on the feel of denim fabrics, and the finishing methods of denim fabrics are divided into many kinds. There are many kinds of after-finishing methods for denim, besides the conventional pre-shrinking and mercerizing, there are also mechanical and chemical methods of re-finishing and other processes.
- Desizing
Desizing: denim sizing mainly adopts starch sizing, commonly used desizing methods include enzyme desizing, alkali desizing, and hot water desizing can also be used. Although hot water desizing can remove part of the pulp, but the feel is rough and hard. Enzyme desizing, alkali desizing can make the denim on the removal of pulp thoroughly, but maintain the main characteristics of the raw material, so that the fabric feel soft and not coarse and hard.
- Mercerizing
Mercerizing: mercerizing process improves the handfeel of denim to the greatest extent. As the denim yarn count is thicker, the cotton grade is lower, the cloth surface hairiness, cotton knot, impurity is relatively more, after mercerizing can greatly improve these conditions, at the same time, caustic soda on the cotton fiber to produce the effect, not only improve the denim surface luster, the cloth surface texture is more clear, at the same time, it also greatly improves the denim fabric feel. In the actual production process, different mercerization process will produce different hand feel. The clean degree of burnishing, desizing effect, caustic soda concentration, time, temperature, washing clean degree, these factors have a greater impact on the denim mercerizing after feel effect. At present, denim fabric mercerizing has become the basic process of denim fabric finishing.
- Rolling Finishing
Rolling finishing: denim rolling is usually used in conjunction with coating, which is beneficial to improve the flatness and luster of the coating finishing denim, and also helps to save paint. Generally speaking, through the high-pressure roller on the fabric pressure, squeeze away the air in the fabric, make the fabric flat and have a special feel.
- Leather Film Coating Finishing
Leather film coating finishing: refers to the denim surface evenly coated with polymer compounds that can form a film, so that the fabric changes its appearance, style or gives various functions. After the skin film coating, the denim fabric has a kind of skin film feeling when touching, and also has the function of waterproof.
- Add Softener
Add softener: such as in the pre-shrinking machine before the foam to the wet solution to add the appropriate amount of softener or silicone oil and other chemicals to obtain the denim need to feel. Denim chemical softening finishing usually used in the softener chemicals are: fatty acid amide, fatty acid amide derivatives, silicone softener, modified silicone, silicone oil, special silicone and so on.
- Air Washing
Air washing: let the airflow according to certain requirements on the fabric for continuous action, through the airflow and fabric, airflow and yarn, airflow and fiber contact in all directions, so that the fabric’s organizational structure, yarn fiber structure changes and fine-tuning, so as to obtain a good feel. The airflow force is both strong and gentle, avoiding the damage caused by mechanical power to the fabric. The actual processing of water flow and air flow is often used jointly, after the water flow and air flow of denim fabric feel has greatly improved. Especially for the high twist, coarse yarn count, tightly organized fabrics the effect will be more obvious.
- Abrasion Finishing
Abrasion Finishing: The process of grinding out a layer of short and dense fluff on the surface of the fabric with abrasive roller (or belt) is called abrasion finishing, also known as abrasion finishing. Abrasion fabric has soft and warm characteristics, can improve the performance of the fabric. Through the abrasion in the retention of the original performance of the fabric at the same time, the surface of the fabric to form a layer with a short pile layer feeling, increased warmth and softness, soft feel, full and pleasing appearance. Applied to the denim fabric on the abrasion of carbon abrasion, diamond abrasion and carbon and diamond combination of abrasion, mainly according to the denim fabric of different processing requirements and choose different processing methods. Comparatively speaking, although the yarn used for denim fabric will be thicker, but the fabric strength will be lower, therefore, to deal with the contradiction between the good or bad effect of abrasion and the strength damage, it is necessary to ensure the strength of the fabric under the premise of the abrasion effect, and then consider the effect of abrasion. The above air washing, brushing finishing are mechanical methods to improve the feel of the fabric, the principle of action is to make the surface of the fabric hair, hair particles, particles protruding part of the material affecting the feel of the fabric to remove or flat cover, so that the fabric tissue is fluffy or the yarn fiber structure is loose so as to obtain a soft feel. In order to improve the feel to achieve some special processing effect, in denim finishing, composite, flocking, piling, scratching and other processing methods are also applied. Denim and velvet for reasonable composite, so that the composite cloth not only reflects the style of denim on the front, both on the reverse side of the soft velvet, very suitable for winter fabrics!
Conclusion
In the actual production process, in order to get the denim feel needed, usually several methods are used at the same time, especially in the raw materials, fabric structure, more ways will be in essence to improve the feel of denim play a great role in the foundation, coupled with the fabric and clothing finishing process efforts will greatly improve the feel of denim. With the improvement of denim feel, there will be more and more consumers love denim clothing. Improvement of feel can enhance the value of the fabric, for denim production enterprises to bring greater profits.
