Comparative analysis of size materials and their weaving potential

Abstract

The application of different varieties of natural starches, modified starches and synthetic size materials on cotton and P/C blend yarns has been studied followed by their evaluation with respect to retrogradation, cohesion, adhesion and solubility. It is observed that the size paste characteristics and film properties of modified starch are better than those of the natural starch. Yarns sized with modified starch perform better than those sized with natural starch and even some synthetic size materials. The use of starch ester is found to be beneficial as compared to other size materials, as the ester modification in starch gives better results and the yarn sized with it gives better weaving performance, close to that of PVA. Adhesion of size material with fibre substrate is found to have good correlation with weavability of sized yarns and it is an important parameter for selecting the size material for any application. The studies on the effect of lubricant show that the addition of lubricant into size solution helps to provide surface lubrication to the yarn which improves the abrasion resistance of the yarns and hence the weavability without affecting the essential properties.