Thermal Comfort Properties of Angora Rabbit/Cotton Fiber Blended Knitted Fabrics

In this study, thermal properties of different cotton and Angora rabbit fiber blended fabrics were investigated. It is known that cotton fiber has good comfort properties and Angora rabbit fiber is a speciality fur fiber which possesses good softness, whiteness and warmth. The aim of this study was to combine the excellent characteristics of these fibers to produce knitted fabrics with better comfort properties. First, short staple yarns were spun from cotton and Angora rabbit fibers with different blend ratios in two different spinning systems. Then, 1 x 1 rib knitted fabrics were produced with these yarns and the thermal comfort parameters of fabrics were measured on Alambeta and Permetest devices. Finally, according to end use, the optimum ratios were analyzed. The results indicated that the increase of Angora fiber ratio in the fabric and the spinning system affected the thermal comfort properties. The statistical analyses showed that only the fabrics including 25 % of rabbit fiber generated a significant difference on these parameters. Besides, the fabrics knitted from ring yarns had a warmer feeling at first touch and provided more thermal insulation but less water vapor permeability than the fabrics knitted from open-end yarns.