What are the common fabrics used for clothes? And what are natural fibres, chemical fibres…
Functional textiles standards and testing in one article
+A functional textile is better than a regular one. It has special functions that regular textiles lack. With the development of science and technology, more and more functional textiles are recognised and used.
Table of Contents
1. Classification of Functional Textiles
Functional textiles have five uses: comfort, protection, health care, easy care, and smart tech.Comfort textiles must be comfortable. They should be moisture-permeable, breathable, and quick-drying. They must be heat-resistant, warm, and cool to the touch. And they should create a comfortable feeling in the body.Protective textiles reduce harm to the body. They can be flame retardant, anti-electromagnetic radiation, anti-ultraviolet, anti-static, windproof, or waterproof. Health care textiles with far infrared, negative ions, antibacterial, anti-mould, anti-mite, anti-mosquito and other functions, which can inhibit the reproduction of germs, moulds and other micro-organisms, repel or kill harmful insects, protect human health and prevent diseases;
Easy maintenance textiles with non-iron, wrinkle-resistant, easy to remove dirt and other characteristics, can reduce the time and frequency of maintenance of textiles, easier to maintain and easy to take care of cleaning;
Intelligent textiles can adjust to changes in their environment. They can store heat, regulate temperature, and remember shapes. They have self-luminous fibers, tracking, and bionic functions.
2. Functional textile effect test
01 Waterproof and moisture permeability
GB/T 4744 2013 ‘Textile waterproof performance testing and evaluation of hydrostatic pressure method’.
Test principle:
The hydrostatic pressure on the fabric to indicate the resistance encountered by water through the fabric. Under standard conditions, we raise the water pressure on one side of the specimen. We do this until three seepage points appear on the other side. We record the pressure at the third seepage point. The specimen’s waterproof performance is then evaluated.
Test equipment: hydrostatic permeability analyser
GB/T12704.1 2009 ‘Test Method for Moisture Permeability of Textiles Part 1: Moisture Absorption Method’ GB/T12704.2 2009 ‘Test Method for Moisture Permeability of Textiles Part 2: Evaporation Method’.
Test principle:
The moisture-permeable cup containing desiccant or distilled water at a certain temperature and sealed with a fabric specimen is placed in a sealed environment at a specified temperature and humidity, and the moisture permeability rate, moisture permeability and moisture permeability coefficient of the specimen are calculated according to the change of the quality of the moisture-permeable cup within a certain period of time.
Evaporation method: Method A is the positive cup method; Method B is the inverted cup method.
Test equipment: water vapour permeability analyser
It can be seen from the selection of test indexes and test methods: general daily wear clothing in the test of moisture permeability mostly choose GB/T 12704.1 desiccant method; functional sports products mostly choose GB/T 12704.2 evaporation method (water method).
| Product Standard | Test Standard | Moisture Permeability Test Requirements | |||
| FZ/T 73045-2013 Knitted children’s clothing | GB/T 12704.1 Condition a) | ≥2500 g/(m2·24h) | |||
| FZ/T 73045-2015 Warm socks | GB/T 12704.1 Condition a) | ≥2500 g/(m2·24h) | |||
| FZ/T 73016-2013 Knitted thermal underwear Flocculation | GB/T 12704-1991 6.1 Method A | Superior Grade | First Grade | Qualified Grade | |
| ≥5000 g/(m2·24h) | ≥3000 g/(m2·24h) | ≥2500 g/(m2·24h) | |||
| GB/T 29869-2013 General technical requirements for knitted professional sportswear | GB/T 12704.2-2009 Method A | Windproof and breathable performance (before/after washing) | ≥3500 g/(m2·24h) | ||
| Waterproof and moisture permeability (before/after washing) | ≥5000 g/(m2·24h) | ||||
| GB/T 21294-2014 Test methods for physical and chemical properties of clothing | Coated products GB/T 12704.1-2009 conditions a) | ≥22000 g/(m2·24h) | |||
| Coated products GB/T 12704.2-2009 Method A, Condition a) | |||||
| GB/T 32614-2016 Outdoor sports apparel | GB/T 12704.2-2009 Method B | Grade Ⅰ Fabrics
| Pre-wash | ≥5000 g/(m2·24h) | |
| After Washing | ≥4000 g/(m2·24h) | ||||
| Grade Ⅱ Fabrics | Pre-wash | ≥3000 g/(m2·24h) | |||
| After Washing | ≥2000 g/(m2·24h) | ||||
02 Coolness in contact
Test Principle:
A thermal test plate is in contact with the specimen during the test. We measure the change in temperature of the plate over time. The contact coolness coefficient, q max, is then calculated. It characterizes the specimen’s instantaneous cooling performance.
Test equipment: Contact warmth analyser
At present, the main methods to give textiles with cool-sensitive function are to use cool-sensitive fibre or to do cool-sensitive finishing.
03Anti-static property
In the evaluation of electrostatic properties of textile products, there are resistance indicators (volume specific resistance, mass specific resistance, surface specific resistance, leakage resistance, inter-pole equivalent resistance, etc.), electrostatic voltage and its half-life, charge surface density and other indicators.
Comparison of testing and evaluation methods of textile electrostatic properties
| Method name | Current standard | Scope of application | Test Metrics | Evaluation standard |
| Corona charging method | GB/T 12703.1-2021 Textile fabrics | Textile fabrics | Static voltage half-life | Excellent:Half Yuan period≤10s Better:10s<half-life≤30s Average:30s<half-life≤60s Poor:Half-life>60s |
| Charge surface density method | GB/T 12703.2-2021 | Textiles of various compositions and structures capable of withstanding friction-activated operations | Friction charge surface density | Charge surface density≤7uC/m2 |
| Charge volume method | GB/T 12703.3-2009 | All kinds of ware and other textile products, other products can be used as reference. | Charge | Charge quantity≤0.6uC/piece |
| Resistivity method | GB/T 12703.4-2010 | All kinds of textile products other than flooring fabrics | Surface resistivity | Grade A:Electropositive rate<107 B of Grade:10’2≤resistivity<10102 Grade C:10102≤resistivity<10132 |
| Rotary Mechanical Friction Method | GB/T 12703.5-2020 | Applicable to fabrics of various compositions and structures capable of withstanding friction-charged operations. Not applicable to the evaluation of clothing and clothing materials involving personal safety and protection of electrostatic discharge-sensitive devices. | Friction Charging Voltage | This standard only specifies the test method does not involve evaluation criteria |
| Fibre Leakage Resistance Method | GB/T 12703.6-2010 | Leakage resistance measurement of all types of short fibres | Fibre Leakage Positive | This standard only specifies the test method does not involve evaluation criteria |
| Dynamic static voltage method | GB/T 12703.7-2010 | Suitable for textile materials and textile equipment in all processes in textile mills | Dynamic static voltage | This standard only specifies the test method does not involve evaluation criteria |
| Horizontal Mechanical Friction Method | GB/T 12703.8-2020 | For fabrics of all compositions and constructions that can withstand friction charged operations | Friction charged voltage and half-life | This standard only specifies the test method does not involve evaluation criteria |
In different test indicators reflect different characteristics: half-life reflects the speed of electrostatic decay, charge and charge surface density reflects the degree of friction generated by static electricity, surface resistivity and point-to-point resistance reflects the conductive properties of strong and weak.
Test Equipment:
Resistivity Analyser, Friction Band Voltage Detector
The industry uses GB/T 12703.1 to test textiles’ static half-life. This assesses fabric quality. Currently the main methods to achieve textiles with antistatic function are using antistatic fibres, adding wire filaments or using antistatic finishing agents.
04 Moisture absorption and quick drying
GB/T 21655.1 2008 ‘Evaluation of moisture-absorbing and quick-drying properties of textiles Part 1: Single combination test method’ GB/T 21655.2 2019 ‘Evaluation of moisture-absorbing and quick-drying properties of textiles Part 2: Dynamic moisture transfer method
Enterprises can choose the appropriate assessment standard according to the characteristics of their products.Textiles must pass all relevant tests for moisture absorption and quick drying. A functional textile is better. This holds before and after washing, no matter the method. Only then can they claim to be moisture-absorbing and quick-drying. And it has special functions that regular textiles lack.
05Warmth retention performance
ISO 15831 2004 ‘Clothing Physiological Effects Warmth Test Warm Dummy Method’ ASTM F1291 2010 ‘Clothing Warmth Test Warm Dummy Method’.
GB/T 18398 2001 ‘Test Method for Thermal Resistance of Clothing Warm Body Dummy Method’.
ASTM F 1868 2014 《Test Method for Thermal and Moisture Resistance of Clothing Materials Evaporative Heat Plate Method》.
The thermal resistance of cold-proof garments refers to the performance of cold-proof garments in resisting or preventing the wearer’s body heat dissipation under low-temperature environments.Clothing thermal resistance is the ability to reduce heat transfer. And it is the ratio of the temperature difference to the heat flow per unit area of the clothing. The difference is between the inner and outer sides of the clothing. And its unit is m2-°C/W. A simpler, easier-to-remember unit is the clo (Crowe).
Test equipment:
Warming dummy
06 Pressure protection
ENV 12718 2001 ‘Medical compression stockings’ ENV 12719 2001 ‘Medical thrombosis prevention stockings
FZT 73031 2009 《Compression stockings》.
YY/T0851 2011 《Medical anti-thrombosis socks》.
People often wear compression stockings in sports like running and jumping. In the large swing of the movement, it has the protection function characteristic.
Compression socks are very different from the thin leg socks used daily. And compression socks can reduce running-related muscle pain and speed recovery. They can prevent varicose veins and relieve swollen, uncomfortable legs.
Test equipment: medical compression stocking pressure analyser
3 Conclusion
In recent years, all kinds of functional textiles have emerged in an endless stream. People-oriented is the guiding ideology of textile research and development, and high performance, multifunctionality and intelligence of textiles are the direction of textile technology progress. In the future, textiles will develop towards safety, comfort, health care, convenience and low carbon.
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