Novel engineering approach to optimization of thermal comfort properties of hemp containing textiles

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate the possibilities of producing comfort hemp containing textile fabrics by assembling a pure hemp yarn with other-fibre containing yarn. The plain knitted fabrics were produced from two-assembled hemp and three variants of cotton yarns which differed in twist level, all having the same linear density. The transport properties (air permeability, water vapour permeability and thermal resistance) of the hemp-based knitted fabrics were quantitatively analysed. The results obtained demonstrated that the introduction of cotton into hemp-based textiles reduces air and water vapour permeability with the downward trend in thermal resistance. The extent to which the transport properties varied among the hemp/cotton knitted fabrics was dependent on the twist intensity of the cotton yarns. Therefore, the yarn assembling technique is an effective way not only to combine different fibre properties but to take advantage of intrinsic properties of component yarns.