Effect of Heat Setting Parameters on Some Properties of PLA Knitted Fabric

This article reports the outcome of a study conducted for examining the effect of heat setting parameters on some properties of PLA knitted fabric. Three heat setting parameters, namely, treatment time, treatment temperature, and tension, were considered for optimizing the heat setting process with fabric shrinkage after dyeing and color yield as the evaluation factors. Experimental results revealed that lower shrinkage and higher color yield can be achieved when: (i) heat setting time=60 s; heat setting temperature=130 degrees C; and tension=0%. After that, the PLA knitted fabric was treated under the optimum heat setting condition and was dyed with 1% depth disperse dye, which produced a better dyeing result. However, the handle of the heat set PLA knitted fabric, as measured by Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabric (KES-F), became stiffer and more resistant to shearing movement and had worse drape and bending recovery ability, while the appearance became fluffier and rougher.