The effect of weft yarn type and elastomer yarn threading on the properties of elastic warp knitted fabrics. Part 1: Structure and elasticity

The demand for medical textile products is increasing with awareness regarding better healthcare services and efficient medical treatments. Compared to other textiles, elastic warp knitted materials, which have elastomer threads in each wale have been widely used in producing medical and preventive products. Thus, in order to decrease the weight and cost of these products without effect on fabric’s stretchability, in this study, various elastic warp knitted fabrics were produced using different raw materials and elastomer threading arrangements, and their properties were investigated. The fabrics were produced on a crochet knitting machine with five different arrangements of elastomer threading and four different laid-in yarn materials as polyester, cotton, and linen. Then the dimensional properties and elastic behaviors of the samples were determined and evaluated comparatively. Statistical analysis showed that all studied elastic warp knitted fabrics have high provide elasticity at a higher than 95% level. On the other hand, the mass per unit area of the fabric is reduced, with the use of linen yarn as weft yarn, or when the total linear density of the weft yarn and the amount of elastomer threads decrease. Finally, the obtained results revealed the possibility to reduce elastomer consumption to decrease weight for elastic medical products, which were developed, without effect on fabric’s stretchability and elasticity as well as replacing synthetic threads with natural yarns in order to improve product comfort.