Development of Weft-Knitted Spacer Structures for Enhanced Wicking in Menstrual Underwear

The function of the wicking layer of menstrual underwear is to transfer menstrual fluid into the absorbent layer promptly and effectively while minimizing fluid spread on the skin contact surface and preventing rewetting. In this study, fifteen-weft knitted spacer fabrics were developed in two groups. Spacer yarns formed tuck stitches in the front needle bed and knit stitches in the back needle bed in the first group while tuck stitches were formed in both front and back beds in the second group. The fabric structures were designed to have improved unidirectional fluid transport capability and higher fluid spread in their outer surface compared to their skin contact surface to maximize comfort. A specific yarn combination of trilobal nylon 6,6 40D/20f face yarn, round hollow polyester 100D/100f back yarn, and fourchannel Coolmax two-fold 78D/88f spacer yarn was used for the spacer structures. The horizontal and transverse wicking performance of the developed fabrics was assessed using a moisture management tester. It was observed that the second group performed better in terms of moisture management properties compared to the first group. The best-performing fabric structure showed a one-way transport capacity index of 401.0768 and an overall moisture management capacity of 0.8387.