There is nothing wrong in saying that water absorbency is a synonym for terry fabric as it may not existed without this property. So, this paper intended to collect, critically analyse, rearrange and present the scattered information scientifically and to provide a single source of all information. In this paper, a critical review of the evolved theories and mechanisms of water absorption in terry fabric has been presented along with the key factors to improve the water absorption. Randomly scattered information throughout the current as well as last century, has been collected, analysed and concluded judicially. Critical analysis of all the information helps to understand and choose the most realistic theory and mechanism of water absorption of terry fabric which will be helpful in designing the most absorbent terry fabric.An attempt has also been made to conclude findings of the researches that have been directed towards understanding the effect of washing, dyeing and finishing treatment on water absorbency of terry fabric. Both dynamic and static water absorbency along with the initial time lag immerses to be the equally important attributes of the water absorbency performance of terry fabrics. High loop shape factor is the key to improve the absorbency behaviour of the terry fabric. This article provides a collective source of information to understand the philosophy of absorbency and the ways to develop highly absorbent terry fabric. This is the first review article providing a comprehensive source of information regarding all aspect of water absorbency behaviour. Study of cross-section images of different fabric is the original work of the authors for supporting the concluding theory, mechanism and results.

https://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/JTATM/article/download/5387/3276

Performance of terry towel-a critical review.Part I: water absorbency

The objective of this research paper is to investigate the important factors that contribute to the absorbency characteristics of terry fabric in order to produce highly absorbent terry towels by using suitable raw materials and changing the fabric constructional parameters. Yarns produced from two varieties of cotton (100% J-34 and MCU-5) and their blends with bamboo and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) with different counts, twist and number of plies are used to prepare terry fabric of varying loop densities, loop lengths and loop shape factors. The water absorption rate and the total amount of water absorbed are measured by a gravimetric absorbency testing system (GATS). It is found that loop density is the most important parameter for water absorption rate followed by loop length and yarn twist. For the total amount of water absorbed, loop density is again the most important parameter followed by yarn twist, loop shape factor and number of ply in the pile yarn. Furthermore, a Box-Behnken statistical design with 3 factors and 3 levels is used to determine the optimum construction parameters to obtain the desired absorbency characteristics of terry towels and also to see the interaction effect of the various factors.

Factors Contributing to Absorbency Behaviour of Pile Fabrics

The objective of this study is to develop eco-friendly, functional towel material utilizing cotton-Modal-chitosan blended(C-M-CH) yarn and natural dyeing with mugwort colorants. Dyeing properties of towels with mugwort colorants were studied by investi - gating the effect of dyeing conditions including concentration of mugwort colorants, dyeing temperature, and dyeing time, and the effects of mordants on dye uptakes were investi - gated. The C-M-CH towel showed better dye uptake than 100% cotton towel with mug - wort colorants. The shade of towels got darker and red-yellowish tint increased by mordanting. Comparing with 100% cotton towel, the colorfastness of dyed C-M-CH towel was satisfactory showing above 3 grade which is the lowest grade to washing fastness. The antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and deodorization performance of towels were excellent and improved by dyeing with mugwort colorants. From the results obtained, it is concluded that the cotton-Modal-chitosan blended towel dyed with mugwort colorants can be used practically for an eco-friendly and multi-functional towel materials with excellent absorbance and drying properties.

http://koreascience.or.kr:80/article/JAKO201613752757461.pdf

Dyeing and Functional Properties of Cotton-Modal-Chitosan Blended Towel Fabric Dyed with Mugwort Colorants

The compression properties of towel pile fabrics with water contents from 0% to 500% were measured to investigate the effect of pile ratio and weft yarn density. The compression energy decreased su...

Compression properties of pile fabrics in the presence of water

The properties and performance of woven terry fabrics depend upon the fibre and yarn properties. The mechanism of fibre and yarn bending plays an important role in the compression and hand behaviour of terry fabrics. The measurement of the textural and serviceability behaviour of the terry fabric has been described in this chapter. Various research work done related to the properties and performance of terry fabrics has also been discussed.

Properties and performance of woven terry fabrics

To design and develop a novel comfort towel, a relationship between water absorbency and structure of towel fabric was investigated. The water absorption of after breaching towels with different kinds of weft yarn density and pile length were measured using the porous plate method (Larose method). The result showed that the maximum velocity and the amount of water absorption were greatly affected by the weft yarn density and the mean pile length in towels.Therefore, as the water absorbency of after breaching towels was controlled by changing the weft yarn density and the mean pile length, it can be used for the design of comfort towel.

Structure and Water Absorbency of Towel Fabric

In this paper, to design and develop a novel comfort towel, the relationship between the water absorbency and the comfort feeling in an actual using is investigated.On two bath towels with the different level of water absorbency, the skin temperature after bathing and drying the body under a constant condition is measured, and the sensory test for feelings of warm/cold, wet/dry, and comfort/discomfort is carried out at the same time. The results show that the skin temperature is greatly affected by the water absorbency of towel, and that in order to get the comfort feeling, it is important to maintain the skin temperature of about 31°C when using the high absorbent towel.Therefore, it is useful to measure and analyze the skin temperature for estimating the water absorbency and the comfort of towel.

Katsuhiko Miyazaki

Papers

Structure and Water Absorbency of Towel Fabric

Estimation of Water Absorbency and Comfort of Towels on the Basis of Skin Temperature