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Aloe vera, Adhathoda vasica, Agele marmelos, Calendula officinalis, and Solanum trilobatum herbal extracts have been used to treat cotton fabric using the pad-dry cure technique. Three distinct herbal treatments have been used on the fabrics, each of which has its unique therapeutic properties which is more suited to older individuals. The study focuses on developing herbal finished fabrics for old age people to prevent them from microbes and UV rays, and to increase the comfort property. Air permeability, wickability, absorbency, thermal conductivity, tensile strength anti-microbial and UV repellence properties have been studied. It is found that the finished fabrics show moderately good UV repellent protection and has antimicrobial creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal comfort characteristics of polyester and cotton fibres blends (100:0, 50:50 and 0:100) having in four different structures, such as single jersey, cross tuck, cross miss and twill, at two different loop lengths (0.29 cm and 0.32 cm) have been studied. The results evidently prove that the knitted fabrics made from 100% polyester show better thermal comfort properties, possessing an appreciable comfort level; hence they are applicable for active sportswear textiles. The structure and the loop length of the fabric influence the thermal property to a greater extent. The fabric knitted from 100% polyester with a cross-miss structure on a loop length of 0.32 cm shows an excellent thermal comfort characteristic as compared to other samples due to its suitable thermal conduction behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture management properties of six samples of bi-layer fabrics have been determined after optimised finish and their statistical analysis is done. It is found that the finished fabrics show better properties than those of unfinished fabrics. The bi-layer fabric structure along with the application of optimized moisture management finish makes the fabric more suitable for sportswear, exhibiting excellent moisture management properties in terms of wetting radius, absorption rate, wetting time and spreading speed of sweat. The results indicate that, the inner and outer microdenier polyester fabrics show better moisture management property, offering high levels of comfort, and hence are preferred during summer for active and sportswear due to the appreciable wetting radius, as well as good absorption rate, wetting time and well spreading speed of sweat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six samples of bi-layer knitted fabrics have been given the moisture management finish, with the formulation containing amino silicone polyether copolymer, along with the hydrophilic polymer and wetting agent in the ratio of 1:2 with pH 5.5 at 60o-70o C. It is found that the chemical combination of wetting and finishing agents, and the experimental conditions are proved to be the best possible options taken in this study. The fabrics are tested for various thermal comfort properties, such as air permeability, thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, and water vapour permeability. The bi-layer fabric structure along with the application of the optimized moisture management finish makes the fabric more suitable for sportswear, exhibiting good comfort properties, like water vapor permeability, air permeability, thermal resistance, thermal conductivity, and moisture management properties. The results of the air permeability, water vapour permeability, thermal conductivity and moisture management tests indicate that, the microdenier polyester (inner)- microdenier polyester (outer) fabric treated with suitable optimized moisture management agent shows better thermal comfort property, providing high levels of comfort. Hence, these fabrics are preferred during summer, active and sportswear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture management behaviour of four different woven fabrics, such as cotton, polyester/cotton blend, microdenier polyester and nylon, has been studied. A wetting agent of ethoxylated alcohol blend and moisture management finishing agents, such as amino silicone polyether copolymer and hydrophilic polymer, have been prepared and used. Moisture management finishes with wetting agent and without wetting agent are imparted onto woven fabrics. The effect of moisture management finishing process parameters on the comfort properties of woven fabrics has been studied. The optimization of comfort level by varying the moisture management finishing process parameters in order to achieve suitability for making sports wear is done. It is found that the type of fibre and linear density of yarn affect the comfort properties of woven fabrics which include wicking, wetting, water absorbency and moisture vapour transmission characteristics. Based on the test results, microdenier polyester fabrics and cotton fabrics exhibit good wicking, wetting and water absorbency characteristics than the polyester/cotton blend and nylon. It is found that the combination of ethoxylated alcohol (wetting agent) and the recipe containing amino silicone polyether copolymer and hydrophilic polymer in the ratio of 1:2 with pH of 5.5 at 600-700 C temperature is the optimum finishing process than the other two combinations so as to attain better comfort properties for sportswear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]