Production of a blended yarn from silk wastes and cotton fibres.

Abstract

Silk occupies a unique position as a textile fibre with a rare combination of beauty and strength. Production and processing of silk is labour intensive which leads to high cost and limited production of the silk fibre. Unfortunately, the high cost of silk makes it unaffordable for many consumers; therefore, mixed yams could be constructed in order to lower the price of the fabric, without changing the unique properties of the silk negatively. The aim of this study was to produce and compare the properties of different yam blends of silk waste/ cotton with the properties of cotton. This was done in order to determine which of the blend ratio creates a more suitable mixed yarn with desired properties. Standard test methods were used to evaluate the fibre properties such as fibre fineness (ASTM D 1448), fibre length and length uniformity of cotton fibres (ASTM D 1447), cotton trash content (ASTM D 2812), single yam strength (ASTM D 2256), yam count was determined as per the ASTM D 1059 test method and blend analysis was analysed using the solubility test as per AATee 20A test method. The silk waste/cotton yarn blend produced showed relatively good strength compared to the 100% cotton yarn. The strength of the yam was found to increase with an increase in the silk composition within the blend. In addition, the blend yarns were found to have higher counts than 100% cotton yarn. 50150 silk/cotton yarn blend showed the best results.