The Effect of Polyester and Lycra Loop lengths on the Recovery Properties of Single Jersey Knitted Fabrics

Knitted fabrics are well known for their comfort due to their ability to elongate in the wale direction at the expense of the course direction, and vice versa. However, they lack dimensional stability, especially single jersey knitted fabrics. To address this issue, Lycra threads have recently been incorporated into their production to improve shape recovery after stress is released. Despite this enhancement, the fabric does not fully return to its original shape, highlighting the need to measure this phenomenon accurately. This study aims to firstly: simulate the production of a frame designed to measure the recovery and elongation of knitted and woven fabrics using two methods: fixed elongation (growth) and constant load (stretch), using locally available materials. The secondary objective is produced knitted fabrics composed of polyester and Lycra at three different loop length levels. These knitted fabrics will subsequently be tested for their recovery properties using the produced testing frame. The results demonstrated that the loop length of both polyester and Lycra has a significant impact on the stretch and recovery properties of the fabric in both the wale and course directions.