A study on dimensional changes in the fused shirt components

Abstract

Shirt manufacturing involves fusing the cut parts with an interlining. Shrinkage in these components leads to puckering, mismatched design between fused and non-fused components, and increased fabric consumption. The study aims to explain the effect of ten factors – fabric (content, weight, weave structure, cover, and finish), interlining (weight, finish), fusing time, temperature and pressure – on thermal and relaxation shrinkage of the fused plackets. The results show that the thermal shrinkage in the placket is influenced by three factors (interlining finish, weight and temperature), and relaxation shrinkage of placket samples is influenced by three factors (fabric fibre content, temperature and pressure). The lower weight interlining with a raised finish used for shirt plackets are found to shrink when fused. After washing, the cotton placket shrunk more than the polycotton plackets. The optimised process condition for a specific fabric and interlining is proposed in the study.