Conference article

Recently; the modification of the fiber surface is becoming an essential factor for comfortable clothing life. Therefore; understanding the relationship between the fiber surface characteristics and comfort of the garment is very important. However; studies on the effect of modification of the fiber surface on wear comfort of the garment has been done little. In this study; the effect of balance between hydrophilic and hydrophobic property of the fiber surface on the mechanical and frictional properties of the cotton fabric is investigated. In order to change the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of the fiber surface; we adopted a method of fixing the hydrocarbon chains directly to the surface of the cotton fiber. The resulted fabrics demonstrated a good water repellency and the degree of water repellency can be controlled by the hydrocarbon agent (stearylamine) concentration in the non-aqueous media. Mechanical and friction properties of cotton fibers that are immobilized by stearylamine are assessed by KES-FB1~4; and 16 properties are measured [1]. In addition; based on these values; the primary hand value is computed. Consequently; it is found that hysteresis of shear force; 2HG; and hysteresis of bending moment; 2HB; of stearylamine-treated cotton fabrics tend to be lower; and tensile resilience; RT; tends to be higher. On the other hand; it is found that KOSHI (stiffness); HARI (anti-drape spread) tend to be lower; and SHINAYAKASA (flexibility with soft feeling) tends to be higher. These results suggest that the cotton fabric used in this study becomes softer by immobilizing the hydrocarbon chains.

Modification of cotton fiber; KES; water-repellent