Investigation on the Mechanical and physical Properties of Medical Scrub Fabrics

Medical scrub fabric is crucial for healthcare providers, as it offers medical professionals a blend of comfort, functionality, and hygiene. These factors significantly influence the overall performance and effectiveness of healthcare staff in their jobs. Therefore, the main objective of this research to investigate the relationship between different weft materials, weave structures and the mechanical and physical properties of produced medical scrub fabrics. For this aim, eight medical scrub samples were produced varying in weave structure (plain 1/1 & twill 3/1) and four different weft materials (Cotton, Bamboo and Microfiber polyester with two different number of fibers in cross section). Tensile strength and tear strength in both direction, air permeability, water vapor permeability (WVP), stiffness, and horizontal wicking of all the fabric samples were evaluated. Our finding showed that there is a significant effect of research parameters on all mechanical and physical properties of produced samples, whilst the weft materials have insignificant effect on fabric tensile strength in warp direction and fabric stiffness, in addition to weave structures have no significant effect on fabric air permeability and wicking in horizontal direction. The best sample performance for using as a medical scrub fabric evaluated by radar chart is sample (S2) manufactured with microfiber 300/576 den. as weft materials and plain 1/1 weave structure, with the percentage of quality factor (78.2%).