Development and Characterization of Plant Structured Warp Knitted Fabric and Garment

This study was to develop anew structure of double jersey warp knitted fabric with effective water absorption and transport property which contributes to comfortable wear condition. Objective measurements in terms of vertical wicking, wetting time, air resistance, water vapor permeability as well as fabric handle were utilized to evaluate the comfort property of fabrics. This study demonstrated that the fabric knitted in plant structure had faster initial water transport rate, faster water absorbency speed, quicker vertical wicking rate, lower air resistance and better handle than the conventional control fabric. Furthermore, sweating manikin test suggests that polo-shirt made with plant structured fabric had lower evaporative resistance and thermal resistance against conventional warp knitted garment under 2.2 m/s wind speed. Besides, wear trial was performed in hot and normal office condition. The subjective test result suggested that plant structured garment is more comfortable than the conventional garment in terms of skin temperature and humidity under sitting and walking.