International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology

The effect of weave type on dimensional stability of woven fabrics

Mehmet Topalbekiro#lu Hatice Kübra Kaynak
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Mehmet Topalbekiro#lu Hatice Kübra Kaynak, (2008),"The effect of weave type on dimensional stability of
woven fabrics", International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 20 Iss 5 pp. 281 - 288
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The effect
The effect of weave type of weave type
on dimensional stability on woven fabrics
of woven fabrics
281
Mehmet Topalbekiroğlu and Hatice Kübra Kaynak
Department of Textile Engineering, University of Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey Received 13 September 2007
Accepted 8 April 2008

Abstract
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Purpose – Testing the effect of machine washing and drying on dimensional stability produces
information about the fabric types that satisfy consumers during end use. At present, it is a known fact
that the weave patterns affect the dimensional stability property of woven fabrics. But the essential
requirement is to determine the magnitude of this effect for weave types and establish the proper
weave types for end use in definite tolerances. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the
dimensional stability properties of 100 percent cotton woven fabrics as a function of weave type.
Design/methodology/approach – In total, 12 woven fabrics with different weave derivatives are
woven with 100 percent cotton and Ne 30/1 combed ring spun yarn for this investigation. These
samples are then washed and dried according to domestic washing and drying standard test
procedures. The shrinkage values are measured and then expressed as a percentage of the initial
dimensions.
Findings – It was observed that weave pattern has a significant effect on the dimensional behavior of
woven fabrics. Weave patterns with a high number of interlacings have lower shrinkage values. At the
same time, lower yarn crimp values restricted the fabric shrinkage and resulted in better dimensional
stability. According to one way ANOVA results, the effect of weave type on dimensional stability is
found to be significant ( p , 0.01). In addition to these, Pearson correlation analysis showed that there
is an important, positive and fair relationship between the number of washing cycles and total
shrinkage.
Research limitations/implications – The study covers 100 percent cotton woven fabrics with
one type of warp and weft sett. The only finishing treatment applied to the sample fabrics was
desizing. No dyeing was carried out.
Originality/value – Understanding the magnitude of the effect of weave type on dimensional
stability of cotton woven fabrics produces more knowledge about products which satisfy the
customers with respect to dimensional stability during usage.
Keywords Fabric testing, Cotton, Dimensional measurement
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Dimensional stability refers to a fabric’s ability to resist a change in its dimensions.
A fabric or garment may exhibit shrinkage, i.e. decrease in one or more dimensions or
growth, i.e. increase in dimensions under conditions of refurbishing (Collier and Epps,
1999). Changes occur because tensions in some materials that developed during, yarn
spinning, fabrication, and finishing may be relaxed when a material is wetted and International Journal of Clothing
dried without tension (Kadolph, 1998). Science and Technology
Vol. 20 No. 5, 2008
Many problems are related to dimensional changes of materials. Poor dimensional pp. 281-288
stability can create problems with fit, size, appearance, and suitability for end use. q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0955-6222
Besides, the problems of product fit and appearance, poor dimensional stability also DOI 10.1108/09556220810898890
 IJCST effects fabric density and drape. Materials may become more compact and stiff when
20,5 they shrink (Kadolph, 1998).
Woven fabrics account for the majority of the market for cotton goods. Although
dimensional instability and distortion after laundering are perceived by consumers as
less of a problem in woven cotton fabrics than in cotton knits, these problems do still
occur (Higgins et al., 2003). Refurbishing of textile products, including laundering and
282 dry-cleaning, can affect their shape, dimensions, and other properties. Testing for the
effect of refurbishing can help predict consumer satisfaction and is used to develop
care labels that are required for textile products (Collier and Epps, 1999).
When yarns are woven into fabrics they are subjected to considerable tensions,
particularly in the warp direction. In subsequent finishing processes such as tentering
or calendaring this stretch may be increased and temporarily set in the fabric. The
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fabric is then in a state of dimensional instability. Subsequently, when the fabric is

thoroughly wetted it tends to revert to its more stable dimensions which results in the
contraction of the yarns. This effect is usually greater in the warp direction than in
the weft direction (Saville, 2002).
The dimensional stability of fabric is its ability to resist shrinkage or stretching.
While fiber content has some influence on this property, geometric factors are
extremely important. One of the most significant elements in dimensional stability is
the degree of tension under which yarns are held during fabric construction. Yarns are
held taut during weaving, and after removal from the loom they relax. This relaxation
is accelerated when the fabric is first subjected to moisture. As the yarns relax, they
return to their original length and pull closer together, so that fabric shrinkage results.
Extremely compact fabrics with firm yarns and a high fabric or thread count are
less subject to size change than those with loose, soft yarns and low thread count
( Joseph, 1972).

Purpose of the study

The aim of this study is to clarify the relationship between weave type and
dimensional stability for 100 percent cotton woven fabrics. Determining the most
proper weave types for customer satisfaction is intended.

Materials and method

Sample fabrics were woven by a Dornier loom with electronic dobby shedding
mechanism and rapier weft insertion with 450 rev/min loom speed. The warp sheet was
prepared by a sample warping machine, and sized with a sample sizing machine. After
sizing straight draft, was applied to warp sheet with a sample drawing machine.
Twelve frames were used for all sample fabrics with straight draft. The only finishing
treatment applied to the samples was desizing. Fabrics were treated to enzymatic
desizing for 6 h. Then they were washed with 60 m/min washing speed in washing
machine which have five vats with the liquor temperatures of 95, 95, 85, 65, and 308C,
respectively. Drying operation of fabrics was done at 1208C and 140 cm fabric width by
30 m/min drying speed. Sizing, desizing, and washing recipes are given in Table I.
These samples were produced as men’s shirts. Weft sett is 28 wefts/cm and warp
sett is 46 warps/cm for all samples. The component yarn used for both warp and weft is
Ne 30/1, 100 percent cotton combed ring yarn. Detailed information about the yarn
used to produce the fabric samples with relevant structures is given in Table II.
 Structural views of 12 woven fabrics tested in this experimental study are given The effect
in Figure 1 and fabric weight (g/m2), yarn crimp (percent), fabric thickness (mm) of weave type
properties of samples are shown in Table III.
In this study, we report an experimental investigation of dimensional stability on woven fabrics
properties of different weave types of woven fabrics. The shrinkage of fabrics were
tested according to ISO 6330 Textiles – domestic washing and drying procedures for
283
Sizing recipe Desizing recipe Washing recipe

150 l liquor 2.5 g/l Torozym NT 2 g/l Sevalin D

20 kg EMSIZE CMS 60 2 g/l Schnellnetzer KE 1 g/l Schnellnetzer KE Table I.
10 kg BP20 (PVA) 1 g/l R. Entlüfter BK 0.6 g/l Optiderm BS-L Sizing, desizing, and
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500 g Glissofil extra (oil) 1 g/l Emulgator BE-O washing recipies

Yarn twist 919 turns/m

Yarn strength 23 Rkm
Hairness 5.67
Unevenness percent 9.69
Thick þ 50 percent/km 20 Table II.
Neps þ 200 percent/km 71.7 Properties of the yarn
Fiber length 29.4 mm used in the experimental
Fiber fineness 4.25 micronaire study

P1 P2 P3 T1

Figure 1.
Structural views of weave
types. Pl, regular weft rib;
T2 T3 T4 T5 P2, irregular weft rib
combined rib; P3, basket
weave; Tl, balanced
twill; T2, unbalanced twill;
T3, weft faced twill;
T4, warp faced twill; T5,
warp faced twill; T6, twill
2/1; T7, twill 2/2; T8, twill
3/1; S1, sateen
T6 T7 T8 S1
 IJCST
Yarn crimp
20,5 (percent)
Weave type Sample code Fabric weight (g/m2) Warp Weft Fabric thickness (mm)

Plain P1 150 1.6 16.7 0.48

P2 150 1.7 16.9 0.38
284 P3 146 4.7 13.5 0.42
Twill Tl 150 5.3 13.6 0.31
T2 148 4.9 14.8 0.29
T3 150 4.9 14.3 0.30
T4 149 4.9 14 0.33
T5 148 4.4 13.8 0.33
T6 148 6.8 13.6 0.28
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Table III. T7 149 6.0 14.1 0.30

Fabric properties of T8 149 4.9 12.5 0.30
samples Sateen S1 141 2.9 11.5 0.41

textile testing and ISO 3759 Textiles – preparation, marking and measuring of
fabric specimens and garments in tests for determination of dimensional change.
The shrinkage was determined after washing by measuring the final dimensions and
are then expressed as percentages of the initial dimensions for both warp and weft
direction.
In order to understand the statistical importance of weave pattern on dimensional
stability of woven fabrics, a one way ANOVA was performed. To determine the groups
of weave pattern types and the effects of these groups on dimensional stability Tukey
multiple comparison test was used, In addition to these, Pearson correlation analysis
was done to show the relationship between shrinkage and number of washing from
statistical approach. For this aim the statistical software package SPSS 8.0 was used to
interpret the experimental data. All test results were assessed at significance levels of
p , 0.05 and p , 0.01.

Results
Table IV and Figure 2 show the mean shrinkage values of different weave types for
both warp and weft direction after first washing.
In weft direction samples P1, P2, and P3 exhibits considerably high shrinkage
values. This is a result of low number of interlacings of these samples in weft direction
in comparison to other samples. Sample P1 has the highest shrinkage value of
6.3 percent and lowest number of interlacings in weft direction. Sample P1 is followed
by samples P2 and P3 with the values of 6 and 5.9 percent, respectively.
It is obvious from Figure 2 that twill weave samples which have high number
of interlacings in weave structure for weft direction exhibit fairly low shrinkage
values. Sample T1 which is a twill weave derivative has the lowest shrinkage value of
0.9 percent. The highest weft direction shrinkage value among twill weave types
1.9 percent belongs to sample T5 is even an acceptable value.
In warp direction, the lowest shrinkage value belongs to sample P2 (2.3 percent) and
it is followed by sample P1 (3.6 percent). These samples have the same interlacing
number but different shrinkage values in warp direction. Because in sample P2 the
 The effect
Shrinkage (percent)
Weave type Sample code Weft Warp of weave type
Plain P1 9.0 3.6
on woven fabrics
P2 6.0 2.3
P3 5.9 6.0
Twill Tl 0.9 5.7 285
T2 1.4 5.8
T3 1.2 5.6
T4 1.7 7.0
T5 1.9 7.6
T6 0.9 5.9 Table IV.
T7 1.7 5.9 Shrinkage percentage of
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T8 1.1 5.6 weave types after first

Sateen S1 4.7 4.9 washing

10
weft warp
8
Shrinkage (%)

2
Figure 2.
Shrinkage percentage of
0
weave types after first
P1 P2 P3 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 S1 washing
Samples

interlacing points in weft direction restricts the warp yarn movement and so shrinkage
in warp direction. Samples T4 and T5 have the highest shrinkage values because of
their lower number of interlacing in warp direction.
For our samples, it is obvious that increasing the number of interfacings in the
weave structure causes lower shrinkage values. But sample S1 which has a sateen
weave structure exhibits lower shrinkage values than expected for both warp and weft
direction contrary to this mentioned assumption. This situation is a result of lower
warp and weft yarn crimp values than other samples. Because during fabric shrinkage
yarns swell by increasing their diameter via shortening their length simultaneously. So
increasing the yarn length in fabric structure by increasing crimp helps fabric to shrink
more easily. In other words decreasing yarn crimp value restrict the yarns to shorten
and fabrics to shrink.
According to one way ANOVA results of dimensional stability test, weave type has
a significant effect on weft direction shrinkage (F(n 2 24) ¼ 387.98, p , 0.01), on warp
direction shrinkage (F(n 2 24) ¼ 64.17, p , 0.01) and on total shrinkage
 IJCST (F(n 2 24) ¼ 56.34, p , 0.01). When the weave types used in this study are observed
20,5 very different structures are seen. Tukey post hoc test created groups of samples
according to the effect of weave type on average shrinkage values. These results
showed that at the end of the dimensional stability test, the weave constructions of
samples P1 ðX ¼ 6:30Þ and P3 ðX ¼ 5:97Þ consisted the group that has the highest
effect ( p , 0.05) on shrinkage while samples Tl ðX ¼ 3:30Þ, T6 ðX ¼ 3:37Þ, T8
286 ðX ¼ 3:37Þ, T3 ðX ¼ 3:40Þ consisted the group that cause the lowest increase on
shrinkage value ( p , 0.05).
Figure 3 exhibits the shrinkage values of samples in both warp and weft direction
after ten washing cycles. Shrinkage values increase by successive washings but
dimensional stability behavior of samples do not differ so much. The highest and the
lowest shrinkage values are belong to same samples in first washing.
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The Pearson correlation analysis showed that there is an important, positive and
fair relationship between number of washing and shrinkage values (r ¼ 0.557,
p , 0.01). The calculated r 2 value is 0.310. This means increasing number of washing
cycles cause higher shrinkage. Figure 4 exhibits the scatter diagram that shows the
relationship between number of washing and shrinkage.

Discussion and conclusion

This experimental study on dimensional stability property of different weave
structures showed that weave type has a significant effect on shrinkage values. Weave
types with high number of interfacings showed better dimensional stability results. In
this respect samples Tl, T3, T6, and T8 exhibited acceptable average shrinkage values
which are lower than 5 percent. These samples all have high number of interlacings in
both warp and weft direction. In addition to this sample S1 which is a sateen weave type
having the lowest number of interlacing in both directions have a good dimensional
stability with 4.8 percent average shrinkagein contrary to expectations. This situation
is a result of low crimp values of this sample. So this experimental study brings the
importance of crimp values to light with respect to dimensional stability. Also
according to performed one way ANOVA results the effect of weave type on
dimensional stability is found to be significant ( p , 0.01). Tukey post hoc test grouped
samples Tl, T3, T6, and T8 as the best group and samples P1 and P3 as the worst group.

16
weft warp

12
Shrinkage (%)

4
Figure 3.
Shrinkage of different
0
weave types after
P1 P2 P3 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 S1
ten washings
Samples
 14 The effect
of weave type
12 on woven fabrics
10
Shrinkage (%)

287
8

6
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4 Figure 4.
Scatter diagram of
samples for Pearson
2 bivariate correlation
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
analysis
Number of washing

It is clear from test results that for a good dimensional stability woven fabrics must
have a good number of interlacing in both weft and warp direction. It is not enough to
have a good interlacing number in one direction because of this reason woven fabric
must have a balanced structure. In addition to this yarn crimp has an important effect
on dimensional stability fabrics with low crimp values have good dimensional
stability.

Recommendations for future research

In this study, the samples are produced with only one weft sett and only one warp sett.
The further study should be detailed on the effect of yarn sett to ensure more balanced
weave structures. By this way the effects of yarn sett on dimensional stability could be
investigated. An other point that attracts attention, related to yarn sett is the effect of
crimp on dimensional stability because different yarn setts result different crimp
values. As a result of this research, we observed that low crimp values restrict
shrinkage even if the number of interlacing is very low. So by varying the sett values
on some weave types the mentioned effect of crimp can be observed in a detailed
manner.
Our sample fabrics are planned to be used as summer shirts. So from this point of
view, keeping the cloth comfort in mind 100 percent cotton yarn is chosen as raw
material, In future study, different types of synthetic blended cotton yarns should be
used. By this way the effect of the type of synthetic fiber and the effect of blend ratio
should be determined in addition to weave pattern.
In this study, the sample fabrics are neither dyed nor finished. The only treatment is
enzymatic desizing. The fabric types which are determined to have good dimensional
stability at the end of this study should be chosen and treated with different finishing
and dyeing operations. By this way it can be achieved to develop dimensional stability
of these chosen weave types via finishing and dyeing.
 IJCST References
20,5 Collier, B.J. and Epps, H.H. (1999), Textile Testing and Analysis, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Higgins, L., Anand, S.C., Holmes, D.A. and Hall, M.E. (2003), “Effects of various home laundering
practices on the dimensional stability, wrinkling, and other properties of plain woven
cotton fabrics: experimental overview, reproducibility of results, and effect of detergent”,
288 Textile Research Journal, Vol. 73, pp. 357-66.
Joseph, M.L. (1972), Textile Science, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, San Diego, CA.
Kadolph, S.J. (1998), Quality Assurance for Textiles and Apparel, Fairchild, New York, NY.
Saville, B.P. (2002), Physical Testing of Textiles, Woodhead, Cambridge.
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Corresponding author
Mehmet Topalbekiroğlu can be contacted at: tbekir@gantep.edu.tr

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