Effect of filament fineness on comfort characteristics of moisture management finished polyester knitted fabrics

Clothing comfort is an important aspect for any garment used for sportswear and leisurewear. Every human being sweats during different kinds of activities. An important feature of any fabric is how it transports this water out of the body surface so as to make the wearer feel comfortable. Hence, wetting and wicking properties are critical aspects during wearing of clothes. Polyester micro-fibers have twin characteristics of durability and comfort. The usage of continuous filament micro-denier polyester yarn for sportswear and leisurewear clothing has a practical significance in clothing comfort. In this study, polyester filament yarn were taken and made into single jersey knitted fabrics. Five different fabrics were made from 150 denier polyester yarns constituting different number of filaments, namely, 34 filaments, 48 filaments, 108 filaments, 144 filaments, and 288 filaments. Moisture management finish was applied to the five types of single jersey knitted fabrics and the effect of filament fineness on comfort characteristics of moisture management finished polyester knitted fabrics was analyzed to achieve suitability for making sportswear. From the tests, it was observed that the fabric containing 108 filaments in yarn gives better wetting, higher wicking, and optimum moisture vapor transmission. A new test method was introduced to find out the transverse wicking behavior of the fabrics. Filament fineness and surface area of yarn play a vital role in deciding the comfort characteristics of the fabric, as also moisture management finish treatment which enhances it.