Examination of the properties of sustainable yarns with EcocellTM fiber and bast fibers in comparison with conventional cotton yarn and organic cotton yarn

Purpose As the use of sustainable raw materials gained importance, the use of natural and regenerated fibers in textiles began to come to the fore and a regenerated plant fiber, which is lyocell fiber and produced in Turkey under the name EcocellTM, formed the basis of this study. The aim of the study was to determine the properties of EcocellTM yarn and blended yarns with EcocellTM as the main fiber and bast fibers, which are linen, recycled linen and hemp, as the second fiber and then to compare them with each other and with conventional cotton and organic cotton yarns, and additionally with the standard yarns given in USTER 2023 Statistics, and most importantly, to reveal the yarn quality, economic and sustainability properties, which yarns can be used instead and the final usage area. Design/methodology/approach In this study, EcocellTM, which is a generic lyocell fiber as the main fiber and linen, recycled linen and hemp as the second fiber were used to produce blended yarns. Conventional cotton fiber and organic cotton fiber were also added for comparison with Ecocell yarn and other blended yarns. All yarns are produced in two yarn counts, Ne 24 and Ne 28, in the ring spinning system. The component determination processes of the used fibers were carried out in five steps. After, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis to determine the functional groups and determination of the physical and performance properties of the yarns were performed. Lastly, the properties of obtained yarns were compared with the properties of standard yarns given in USTER 2023 Statistics. Findings EcocellTM fiber contributes positively to yarn properties, reducing unevenness and yarn imperfections, improving tensile properties by increasing breaking strength and elongation values and reducing the yarn-metal friction coefficient, but increasing yarn hairiness by having a negative effect due to fibrillation. Positive contribution of bast fibers was only in the yarn tensile properties due to their high fiber strength and elongation, and they especially hemp fiber significantly increased yarn unevenness and imperfection since they are thicker and have higher length variations. The content of lignin negatively affected the yarn friction coefficient. When blended with bast fibers, Ecocell yarns were negatively affected. Originality/value Raw material selection in textiles has become much more important regarding sustainability. Sustainable regenerated cellulosic fibers also gained importance in this context, and lyocell fiber began to be produced in Turkey with the trade name Ecocell. In this study, it was found that although it does not meet expectations economically and is much more expensive than standard yarns, EcocellTM yarn and EcocellTM yarn with 10% bast fibers are much more advantageous in terms of sustainability, especially than cotton, flax, viscose and modal yarns, and considering yarn quality, it is also better than most standard yarns. Only regarding yarn quality, these yarns can also be used instead of polyester, acrylic or organic cotton, which are more sustainable yarns according to the Higg MSI index.