Selective Water-Based Hardening of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Knitted Textiles

The increasing emphasis on sustainable practices in HCI requires the development of new materials-based approaches for fabrication, which consider degradation and recycling. In particular, textile products containing rigid elements are usually hard to recycle since they are assembled from different materials, which must be disassembled before recycling. We introduce a novel method for fabricating knitted textile objects containing both soft and rigid segments using PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol). PVA is a biodegradable synthetic material that dissolves in water. When exposed to a controlled amount of water and dried, the textile hardens and becomes rigid. We contribute a hardening method and protocol. Additionally, we present methods to achieve selective hardening by using intarsia knitting with two types of PVA. After being subjected to the hardening protocol, one type of PVA hardens while the other remains soft. To illustrate the potential, capabilities, and applications, a series of selectively hardened knitted objects are presented.