THE WEAR RESISTANCE OF COTTON TEXTILES

Investigations on the wear of cotton fabrics were conducted by the U. S. Army Natick Laboratories. It was found that the theories of 'adhesive' and 'abrasive' wear, originally developed for metals, when applied to textile wear problems, provide new insights into the interpretation of laboratory and field measures of wear resistance. The predominant form of wear of military clothing is of the 'abrasive' type. This finding stimulated the development of two instruments which provide essentially the abrasive type of wear. These two instruments are described. Early studies made by the Army on the influence of garment fabric weave and weave orientation both in field and laboratory wear were extended to determine their influence on the wear that occurs in laundering. With the increase use of resin treatments to produce desired functional properties in military fabrics, this type of wear has become more important because of the sensitivity of resin-treated fabrics to laundering damage. It was found that the location and rate of edge wear in seams is a function of weave type and fabric orientation.