Suitability of a fiber for a blend

Fibers in a blend are chosen keeping in mind various properties of the constituent fibers. Thus a blend is chosen which gives the best of properties of the different constituents of the blend. The properties that are considered can be strength, absorbency,crease resistance, resistance to abrasion, resistance to heat, bulkiness,resistance to pilling and Dimensional stability.All the fibers do not have all the properties that are desired. This is the very reason why blend is chosen.

Cotton has moderate strength and dimensional stability. However, it is excellent in

absorbency, resistance to heat and pilling. It has an average resistance to abrasion and poor bulkiness properties and crease retention.Thus it is added in the blend to have excellent absorbency properties.

Viscose Rayon has excellent absorbency, resistance to heat and pilling. Thus it is similar to
cotton in these properties.It has however, poor resistance to abrasion, bulkiness, crease retention and stability. It has an average strength. It has absorbency properties similar to cotton. It is also cheaper than cotton.

Acetate Rayon has excellent resistance to pilling and stability. It has moderate resistance to
heat and average absorbency, crease retention and stability. However its resistance to abrasion is very poor.

Wool has excellent absorbency, bulk and wrinkle resistance. However, it has poor stability. It
has moderate abrasion and heat resistance. Its crease retention, resistance to pilling and strength can only be considered as average.

Nylon has excellent strength, stability and abrasion resistance. However, It has poor absorbency and bulk. It has moderate crease retention and average resistance to heat and pilling. Polyester has excellent strength, stability, crease retention and abrasion resistance. However
it has poor absorbency, bulkiness properties and resistance to pilling. Its resistance to heat is average.

Acrylic has excellent bulk and stability. It has moderate resistance to heat and average crease
retention and strength. Its resistance to abrasion and pilling and absorbency are very poor.It is similar to wool in most of the properties. It is also cheaper than wool.

Modacrylic has excellent stability and bulk properties. However its absorbency, resistance to
heat and pilling is very poor. It has average strength, resistance to abrasion and crease retention.

Polypropylene and Polyethylene have excellent stability and strength. They have poor
absorbency, bulk and heat resistance. The have average crease resistance and resistance to pilling.

How to Identify Constituent Fibre Percentage in a Blend-2

Blend of Acrylic with Wool, Silk, Cotton, Viscose, Polyester or Nylon

1. Dissolve the acrylic fibres in (Dimethyl Formamide DMF). Acrylic Fibres will dissolve
in MF. 2. Filter, rinse and weigh carefully to get the ratio of Acrylic Fibres.

Blend of Protein Fibres ( Wool or Silk) with cotton, polyester, nylon or acrylic 1. Take the blended fibres ( Carefully weighed) in a conical flask. 2. Add a solution of 5% (w/w) solution of Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide and boil for 10 minutes.Protein fibres will dissolve in Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide 3. Rinse the leftover fibres with water and neutralise with dilute Acetic Acid. 4. Weigh the fibres after drying and find the ratio of protein fibres. Blend of Polyester with Cotton or Viscose 1. Weigh the blend and heat it with Meta cresol. Polyester fibres will dissolve. 2. Weigh the residual fibres after rinsing thoroughly and drying and find the percentage of polyester fibres. Blend of Elastane ( Spandex or Lycra) with Cotton or Viscose 1. Treat the blend with DMF. Elastane will dissolve in DMF. 2. Filter, Rinse, dry and get the weight of residual fibres to get the percentage of elastane.

How to Identify Constituent Fibre Percentage in a Blend-1

Blend of Polyester/Cotton (viscose) 1. Take 0.5 to 1.0 gms of blend sample, carefully weighed, and put it in a flask. 2. Add 75% (w/w) Sulphuric Acid (M:L::1:200). 3. Put in a water bath for one hour at 50+-5 deg C. 4. Filter it, whatever is left is polyester. 5. Wash it thoroughly. 6. Neutralise it with Dilute solution of Ammonia 7. Dry at 110 deg C, cool and weigh to find the Percentage of Polyester and the other cellulosic component. Blend of Cotton/Viscose 1. Take 0.5 to 1.0 gms carefully weighed sample and put it in 60% w/w Sulphuric Acid. Keep material to Liquor ratio as 1:100. 2. Stir this solution mechanically for 30 minutes. Viscose fibres will dissolve by this process and cotton fibres will be left. 3. Filter the cotton fibres and wash it in Sulphuric Acid. 4. Again wash it with water and neutralise it with a dilute solution of Ammonium Hydroxide.

5. Dry and Weigh. Note that cotton fibres lose weight by 5% in this process. Apply this correction factor in finding the blend percentage . Blend of Polyester/Cotton/Viscose 1. Put the fibres in 60% w/w sulphuric acid (after weighing). Viscose will dissolve in 60% w/w sulphuric acid. 2. Dry and weigh carefully the rest of the fibres. 3. Put these fibres in 75% sulphuric acid. Cotton will dissolve. 4. The fibres left will be of polyester, which are weighed after thorough washing and drying.

Blending-2
How to select Blend Constituents Selection of Blend Constituents depends upon the following factors: 1. Type of Fibre Depending upon the end use of the fabric, blend constituents are chosen. For example, it is well known hat a polyester-cotton yarn looks fuller as compared to the lean look of polyester-viscose yarn. Therefore for light constructions like shirtings, polyester-cotton blend is used. However polyester-viscose blend is preferred for medium and heavy construcitons such as suitings. 2. Compatibility of blend fibres Compatibility must be there in terms of the following properties: a. Length and Denier of Fibres: As a general rule, these two fibre properties should be nearly the same for all the constituents. For example in a viscose rayon cotton blend, the rayon staple of 1.5 denier and 29-32 mm length is generally used since the cotton component used has a denier of around 1.5 and a length of 28mm. b. Extensibility - A large difference in the breaking elongation of the fibres in a blend adversly affects the yarn tenacity. c. Density - The blend fibres should prefereably have the same density. Any large differences on this account will lead to selctive separation while conveying the blended stock through ducts under the influence of air suction in the blow rooms. d. Dispersion Properties - This property describes the ability of an individual fibre to separate from its group and disperse thoroughly within the fibre matrix of the blend to produce an intimate and

homogeneous blend. e. Drafting Properties - Some fibres like viscose are outstanding it terms of draftability. These fibres, when blended with other fibres act as good carriers to obviate the trouble relating to drafting. f. Dyeing Properties - In case the blend yarn or fabric is to be dyed subsequently, due consideration should be given to the dyeing properties of individual fibre components. CHARACTERISTICS DESIRED IN A BLEND YARN A. The constituent fibres should be arranged at random in the yarn cross section. B. The ratio between the blended fibres should be uniform at any cross section of the yarn. C. There should not be any long-term or short-term irregularity in blend ratio of blended fibres.