Assignment 6 - Functional Wear - Raincoat

In this assignment we are looking at functional wear and more specifically at raincoats.

A raincoat is a piece of apparel that is waterproofed and would therefore, keep the body from rain, snow or other conditions when the body is exposed to water.

Desired properties for a raincoat

A rain shell like this is a lower cost alternative to a hardshell jacket. A rain shell, like a hardshell, needs to be 100% waterproof. It is easy to make a garment waterproof but what is hard, is to make the garment breathable at the same time. The material also needs to be very durable to handle conditions that rain coats are put through over a time.

Rain shells typically lose the water resistance when the coating of the fabric goes through a chemical breakup as this damages the waterproof coating.

The more wet and warmer the conditions are, the sooner the chemical breakup takes place – the fabric becomes sticky. This process happens in one to five years, or maybe later if you rarely use the jacket or if keep it at the same indoor temperature.

Other important property for a raincoat to have, is lightness. Raincoats often have to be packed in a bag and also worn outside other clothes, so the weight is critical factor.

Lastly, we would like a raincoat to be functional and comfortable – factors in consideration are the placement of pockets and other details.

Composition

The selected raincoat is made of 100% nylon (surface), and 100% PVC (backing), where the two layers are laminated. The weight of the fabric is 184 g/m2 which is a very light weight but also very good in terms of the desired lightness.

PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)

This is a synthetic resin made by the polymerisation of vinyl chloride. It is also the third most produced kind of plastic.

PVC has become more and more used in clothing, to either create a leather-like material or sometimes simply for the effect of PVC.

PVC fabric is waterproof and water repellent so it is used in coats, skiing equipment, shoes, jackets and bag that need to be protected from water and fire (The PVC can protect the garment from fire because it is also flame resistant - Chlorine is released when you burn PVC, and chlorine atoms stop the fire).

PVC is not as breathable as sometimes wished for in a raincoat because the PVC does not allow the sweat to go through the fabric and the water stays inside the jacket.

The reason to be used in this case is mainly because the waterproofness is in focus and the low price is predominant.

Nylon

The Nylon is used for the outer layer of this raincoat. It is a synthetic fabric made from petroleum products. It has a light weight, good strength, durability and resistance to damage.

Nylon is very sensitive to heat and should be washed and dried on cool settings. Nylon does, however, dry rather fast.

Coated Nylon is a rather inexpensive and breathable alternative for raincoats. The breathability property is very needed because it is not provided by the PVC. The PVC is however the inner layer and traps the moisture inside the jacket.

When we coat the Nylon, we help keep the water out better, while still allowing breathability.

DWR coating - Durable water repellent

This is a coating which is added to fabrics to make them waterproof and breathable at the same time. It is normally used with a fabric which has some breathable properties before the coating. DWR coating wears off over time and re-treatment is recommended, as we will talk about further down.

Structure

Below we can see the of the outer layer – 100% Nylon

As it can be seen, the fabric is woven as a plain weave.

This is the simplest and tightest method of interlacing warp and weft. Each warp passed under and then over each weft. The reason the plain weave is chosen here is that it makes the fabric very tight and strong.

Tests

1. Waterproofness test

We perform this test in order to check the main property of the raincoat.

First we have tested the area around the pockets which consists of two double layers of Nylon and PVC.

The two layers handled 2700 mmwc (or higher). After the fact that there was no water coming up by the time we have reached the the minimum standard of 1200 mmwc, we have stopped the test.

Furthermore, we have tested an area with only one layer of Nylon/PVC.

We have got three water drops (1st by 800 mmwc, 2nd by 1190 and 3d by 1980 mmwc ) which made us to stop the test.

Finally we have tested a sample of PVC. Just like the second test, this one showed negative results.

We have got three water drops (1st by 315 mmwc, 2nd by 1090 mmwc and 3d by 1240 mmwc).

The overall conclusion is that the sample of one layer Nylon/PVC fails the minimum standard of good waterproofness. Therefore, the manufacturer should change the thickness of the materials or to use double layering.

2. Standard spray test / Water repellency test

We have made the water repellency test to see how the jacket reacts to water on the outer surface and see if the outer layer takes in water and stays wet.

This fabric got 50 ISO-1 - Complete wetting of whole of upper surface. Considering that the Nylon & PVC are making one single piece, there is no significant problem with the result. Having in mind the result from the previous test though, make us believe that there will be problems coming up with stronger watering.

3. Breathability test

Finally, we have performed the breathability test as the breathability is such an important property of the raincoat. As we have stated before, the rain coat can loose its DWT coating over time.

When we have started the test our sample has had a weight of 331.65 g. Over 20 hours of testing, the weight has decreased to 114.05 g. which is over 2 times the initial weight. Therefore, we can claim a very good breathability.

Waterproofness and Breathability Care Tips

Keep the jacket as clean as possible

Dirt and abrasion are very bad for the raincoat. They will wear away the DWR coating and fray the face of the fabric. This will in the end reduce the raincoats breathability because it will absorb water more easily.

Wash your jacket frequently

The oils coming naturally from the body around the hood, neck and shoulders can overtime reduce the performance of the fabrics.

Restore the DWR coating

The DWR coating is not working anymore when the fabric starts taking in water instead of shedding it. When we manually restore the DWR coating, we will increase the waterproofness and then the breathability. In order to do so, wash-in or spray-on treatments should be used.

Assignment 5 - Own choice - Hat

For our assignment "own choice", we have decided to investigate a winter hat.

We have thought about all the important qualities, we would like to see in a perfect winter hat and furthermore, tested a selected hat to check out how much of these qualities are fulfilled.

We think that a good hat will be able to keep warmth, to be soft and gentle to the skin, to be stretchy, therefore comfortable. Lastly we would like the hat to be made of antistatic materials.

Style

Composition

70% Acrylic, 30% Wool

Acrylic

Acrylic fibers are synthetic fibers made from a polymer. Production of acrylic fibers is centered in the Far East, Turkey, India, Mexico, and South America and a little bit in Europe. 

Acrylic is mostly used for sweaters, hats, hand-knitting yarns, socks and rugs. It has a very good wool feel (not as warm as wool) but depending on the spinning process it can also be made to imitate cotton. It can also sometimes be used as a less expensive alternative to cashmere because of the fuzziness of the look.

Acrylic is easily washable and has a very high colour fastness. It is also hypoallergenic.

It is resistant to many chemicals, and is very resistant to distortion from sunlight exposure. Pilling can however be a problem in certain fabrications.

Wool

Wool is made from sheep and some other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats and angora from rabbits. It is elastic, and it grows in staples (clusters). 

It has very good insulation properties. Because of the crimp, wool fabrics have a greater bulk than other textiles, and retain air, which causes the product to retain heat. The fineness of the wool is determinded by crimp corresponds - a fine wool has more crimps than a more course wool.

Wool fibers are hydrophilic meaning that they can easily absorb moisture (almost one-third of the own weight). 

Wool can handle higher temperatures than cotton and some other synthetic fibers. It has low heat release and low heat combustion and does not melt. 

Garments made out of wool is less likely to cling to the body because wool is resistant to static electricity.

Blend

This Acrylic / Wool blend is a very common and used blend. As we just stated Acrylic has the ability to imitate wool very well. This is why it is often chosen as a blend to make the garment less expensive. 

Dye

Acrylic takes color well. In most cases the woollen yarns are fibre dyed.

Some Acrylic is extruded in colored or pigmented form; other is extruded in "ecru", otherwise known as "natural," "raw white," or "undyed." Pigmented fiber has highest light-fastness. Its fibers are very resilient compared to both other synthetics and natural fibres.

Structure

This is a weft knitted fabric made using Tunisian Purl stitch. This means that loops are formed in sequence across the width of the fabric. A weft knitted fabric can unravel and may ladder. This is also the case with our fabric. 

A purl fabric has high extensibility when you stretch it in the length. It is also the case when we pull in the length of our hat.

Purl produces a row of little bumps, but it also retains the characteristic vertical bars. The Tunisian purl knit is often used with other stitches as a contrast and to create something different visually in the fabric.

The fabric has a rather heavy weight - 1210 g/m2.

Tests

1. We have tested the durability of the fabric with the bursting test (ISO 13938-2 1999 test method).

The result of the test was great - the maximum pressure of 575.0 kPa was reached without breaking the fabric.

2. We have tested the colour fastness to washing in accordance to ISO 105-C06.

Even though the washing instruction states only hand wash, we have tested the colour fastness to 60 degrees.

As it can be seen a lot of the colour went off to all the different fibres especially to the nylon, therefore we gave a grade - 2. The conclusion is that the care instructions regarding washing should be followed and the garment should be hand washed separately from other pieces.

3. We have tested the fabric propensity to pilling in accordance to ISO 12945.

The results are good, grade 4 - there is no visual pilling, just a bit of very light fusing. But as the hat has been used before, we believe that the fusing is due to the usage and not due to the test itself.

Care instructions & tips

The care instruction label states hand wash cold, no bleaching, dry flat and no ironing. As the washing test showed, the washing instruction should be followed strictly. 

Furthermore, we have decided to add a little hint notes for the removal of static electricity in order to remove the unpleasant hair electrification.

1. Keep the item in a space with some humidity or expose the item to some light humidity before use. 

2. Use fabric softeners while washing in order to prevent and remove static cling.

Assignment 3 - Underwear - Singlet

For our next assignment we are focussing on underwear, more specifically a singlet.

Style

This singlet is bought in Kvickly for 59,95 DKK. The brand of our singlet is Units Underwear. Units underwear have a clear idea of their brand and products - “The quality is in focus. You will experience a perfect durability and fit at a competitive price". It is an attractive alternative to the luxury and more expensive brands. 

Desired properties of underwear

One of the most important properties for underwear like this is comfort, because this is an item to wear under other clothes.

The underwear should also keep its nice appearance. This means that the colourfastness test would be always done in order to secure the colours and the look. The underwear we have chosen is however white. This means we can not test the colour fastness. Therefore, we will look upon another important property of the underwear - the good insulation of it. This is especially important when using the underwear to keep warm in the winter. 

Composition

100% Cotton

Using cotton for underwear

As we know, cotton is a very popular and a low cost fibre. This makes it very preferable in all kinds of clothing, also underwear. Cotton gives a light comfortable feel, which is what we are looking for in our item.

Looking at the insulation properties, we should consider that cotton is not the most insulating material for underwear, especially when wet. It does not transport moisture away from the skin, therefore it can cause discomfort in case of sweating etc.. Therefore, use of other material like wool or a blend would be a better solution if the item would be used in more cold months.

The reason they have chosen to make this underwear from 100% cotton, is because they have chosen to put focus on lightness and price. It would however be possible to reduce price even further and get different properties with blend with other materials.

Production cycle for a cotton singlet

We will go through some of the steps in the cycle and explain how this singlet is made.

Structure 

This singlet is made from weft knitted fabrics. It is made from single yarns that are fed crosswise to the length of the fabric. A weft knitted fabric can be unravelled. The singlet is knitted in a 1/1 rib.

Ribbing is often used for garment that should have a more form-fitting.

The reason the 1/1 rib was chosen is that it is gives a more stretchy feeling to a 100% cotton singlet like this and creates the fitted shape. The elasticity depends on the number of knit/wales transitions; 1x1 ribbing is more elastic than 2x2 ribbing.

The weight of the fabric is 131g / sq. m. 

Finish

The singlet is a fabric-bleached garment.

Measurements and fitting

After being washed the singlet has lost 4,5cm in the length. This means it shrank 10,7% of the start length. This is quite a lot but that is one of the properties we know that cotton has. You can often experience a 5-10% shrinkage from the first wash of a cotton garment. The bottom is now 3cm wider and the waist 2cm. This means that it has lost some of the fit after being washed.

The fit is also even more “twisted” at the seams around the arms, than it was before washing. 

Wrinkle and look after wash 

After washing our singlet is has got some small creased, but not more than expected and it would be visually when wearing the singlet. 

Tests

1. Colour fastness test - ISO 105 C06
 A2S

After 1 wash. 40°C, 30 min, 10 steel balls, flat dry. 
Ece B detergent+sodium perborat (1 g/l), Stiched to Multifibre DW wool

Maximum requirements width and length ± 5%

Width +8,1 % - Not approved

Length -10,7 % - Not approved 

APPEARANCE AFTER WASHING;

EKOTEKS 4(*)


After 1 wash no obvious deterioration was observed. General appearance of the washed sample was approved. Small creased, but not anything which wasn’t satisfying. 

2. Bursting test - ISO 13938-1

The result of the bursting test is 187 kPA. This is below 200 which is the standard most purchaser stick to when determining the strength of the material. Having in mind that it is underwear though and there will be no dramatical pressure or stretching while usage, there should be no problem in sticking to the lower result.

Assignment 4 - Baby Clothing

Today we are going to present a piece of baby clothing – namely baby leggings.

Style

The piece is from the autumn/winter collection of H&M, size EUR 74 and is suitable for both baby boys and baby girls.

The leggings look quite thick, therefore durable and warm. Furthermore, they have very soft and nice to skin feel, they are stretchy and comfortable. 

In order to understand if the materials we are investigating are fitted for children’s wear, we will also briefly look into the needed properties of children’s wear.

Strong and durable materials - First of all the materials need to be strong. Children play around and use their body a lot and this means the materials need to be able to be used a lot around playground etc. 

No discomfort for the child - Comfort is main priority when it comes to children’s wear. The design often more secondary to a child than clothes for adults. It is important that there are no bulky seams, button or anything that might cause discomfort. 

Harmful materials, treatments or pieces - An other important factor for children’s wear is that the materials and treatments are all environmental friendly and don’t harm the child skin or even if the child put any parts of the garment in their mouth. Drawstrings can also be very harmful to children and should for young kids be totally avoided. The strings around the neck can get caught on playground etc. and cause strangulations. Strings on the legs can get caught in car and bus doors. 

Choking hazards - Also we need to look at if there are any detachable parts on the garments. Investigate if there is anything that can be detached from the garment and end up choke the child if they eat it. Snaps, buttons, zipper heads, bows, rhinestones and other decorative appliques are all a concern. Shoelaces, ribbons and other dangling clothing attachments can also be harmful. Velcro is a much safer alternative for securing shoes on small children. 

Function in focus - Designing children’s wear it is important to look at the function of the garment and then work around that. If it is for children wearing diaper it needs to be taken in consideration. Also it needs to be easy to get over the head of the child. It is also important the it is easy to wash because in many families with small children, they often have a lot of laundry and they need clothes that can handle most kinds of treatments and washing. 

Construction - Loose knitted fabrics and loose threads can wrap around a baby and pose a risk of circulation being cut off. Because of this tightly woven garments are to be preferred. 

Composition

Cotton (40%) - We know the properties of cotton from previous presentations. But in short words, cotton is a good choice when producing children’s wear, mainly because of its softness. Also, cotton is non-allergenic and this makes it a good choice for children suffering from asthma, allergies or sensitive skin. The fabric is further more durable and easy to care for which are both factors we have previously established to be important when making children's wear.

Polyamide (30%) - (it is found in the elastic band of the leggings for example).

Polyamide can occur both naturally and artificially. Polyamide fibers are primarily used for clothing, in stockings and tights, lingerie, corsetry as well as sports- and swimwear. It is a type of Nylon fiber. 

· Polyamide fibers are very durable strong and resistant to abrasion 

· They have high elasticity 

· They are light and fine 

· They are easy to wash and quick-drying 

· Polyamide fibers guarantee shape retention

· Flame Retardant (Good properties for childrens wear) 

Viscose - (25%) Viscose is created from natural fibrеs, most often made from wood and then go through a man made process that makes them ready for spinning. Viscose has a silky feel, and is used extensively for clothing manufacture. Though it breathes like cotton and has a good drape, it can wrinkle easily and shrink in hot water. 

Angora - (5%) - The Angora fibers come from either a Angora cat, rabbit or goat. The fiber is hollow, giving it insulating properties. Because it is about seven times warmer than sheep's wool, it is usually blended with other fibers, such as wool or silk. The angora wool has a huge “fluff-factor”.

Angora yarn is exceptionally comfortable to wear next to the skin, not being at all itchy or scratchy and is usually suitable even for those with the most delicate of skins.

Angora wool is sometimes left in its natural color, but can be hand dyed. Its superior quality can also be demonstrated with its ability to retain dye color permanently over all other types of wool fibers. Angora wool can also be mixed when knitted into clothing, with other soft fibers. 

The Angora is rather expensive and this is why H&M are using other blends as well, to minimize the costs. 

Blending

The reason behind blending these very different materials is that they all provide new important qualities to the final baby piece. Polyamide makes the piece extra durable. Together with the reduced amount of cotton, they make the piece light, easy to wash and dry. The viscose and angora bring soft, silky touch. Furthermore, the angora gives a great insulation.

Structure

The piece is made out of one of the most basic knitted fabrics called Stockinette stitch (Interlock). Stockinette-stitch is very smooth and each column (wale) resembles a stacked set of "V"'s.

Tests

1. We have tested the durability of the fabric with the bursting test (ISO 13938-2 1999 test method).

The result was about 284 kPa which is a great result for the strength of the material and proves its durability. 

2. We have tested the colour fastness to washing in accordance to ISO 105-C06 C15.

Even though the washing instruction states 30 degrees, we have tested the colour fastness to 40 and 60 degrees.

In both cases we got great results - grade 5. The colours remained exactly the same no matter of the temperature. Furthermore, what really surprised us, was the fact that the fabric did not schrink at all even though angora tends to shrink at higher temperature.

3. We have tested the fabric propensity to pilling in accordance to ISO 12945-1 and ISO 129452.

The result we have got after the visual assessment is Grade 3 - Moderate surface fuzzing and/or moderate pilling.

Care instructions

Conclusion

In general our piece got all the necessary properties to become a good children’s wear:

• It is soft and nice to wear and warm with good insulation.

• There are no dangerous parts except the string on the waist, but it is acceptable as long as it is not in the lower leg or neck.

• It is easy to wash but we assume that the tumble dry option is quite necessary too.

• It is made out of strong materials and there was no great changes in the pilling test.

Assignment 2 - Jeans

In our second assignment we focus on Men's Jeans. We should choose a specific model and to investigate the appearance, the comfort and the technical construction of the denim fabric.

The Style

We have chosen a pair of jeans under the label Vask. The company displays an updated yet distinctive touch, aiming for wear-ability without compromising on quality or imagination. The VASK denim is all about quality and is hand-made in Europe.

The Style of the selected jeans is plain straight. We have chosen size 32, with a width of 42 / 44.5. The cotton stretched denim has a soft handle feeling and should feel very natural and pleasant to the skin.

Composition

Material: 98% cotton, 2% elastan 

Almost all jeans are made out of 100% cotton. Polyester blend is however sometimes seen. The elastane in the denim makes the fabric stretch better. If you are using your body a lot, it is easier to stretch the jeans without ribbing. A good thing to remember when buying jeans with elastane in them, is to buy a size smaller than the usual size because the jeans will stretch half a size when worn. If you do not do that, your once great fitting jeans might start to look loose. 

Dye & Finish

Our jeans are standard blue jeans with 2% Elastane in the fabric. 

The most common dye used is synthetic indigo. This is also the dye method use to create our jeans. 

A lot of closes are being dyed after it has been woven, but denim is dyed before. 

There are so many different ways to make the finishing details on jeans today. We have methods like Acid washing, bleaching, crushing, dirty washing, frayed, overdyed, tearing and ripping and washing. 

Our jeans are left in a raw finish, which means the user is going to experience a slow transformation as it is worn. The raw finish is not the same when we add an elastane, as when we talk about raw 100% cotton jeans. 

Weight: 10.2 oz 

Composition

Woven 3x1 Right Hand Twill 

In this case, each warp yarn is going “over” three picks and then “under” one pick. At the next end, moving to the right, the same sequence is repeated but advanced up one pick. 

Most denims have been traditionally 3x1 weaves, though lighter weight denims (under 10.5 ounces/sqare yard) often use the 2x1 configuration. 

In denim, the warp yarn is colored, traditionally blue, while the weft yarn is white. 

Care instructions

The care label shows that these jeans need to be washed like most jeans at 40 degrees, not to be bleached, to be ironed with medium heat and no tumble dry.

Extra label states:

“Look out

Your new denim product is going to rub off.

Look out for rubbing against light furniture

Wash before use the minimize the risk of rubbing off”

It clearly shows on the label of the jeans that the user should be aware of the fact that the jeans are going to rub of and color is going to fade by time and after washing. The reason that jeans like these are gradually loosing color, is because of the way they are dyed. When the denim of the jeans was dyed it was dipped in the dye vat several times so that the dye forms in many layers. This means that the jeans are loosing color, layer by layer.