A New Approach for Testing Medical Stockings

Knitted medical stockings destined for the treatment of venous diseases must fulfill proper functions during wear, with some restrictions of criteria demanded by the raw material and the design parameters (including gradual compression and size). As the end use of the knitted stockings implies a complex of stresses applied in more than one direction, the grab method was used in an original way to assess the fabric behavior in three directions (wale, course and bias), with a few seconds time delay between tests. This testing method was applied in order to determine the capacity of medical compression hosiery to retain its designated gradual compression after repeated wearing-washing cycles. Additionally, the study revealed the manner of preservation of the gradual compression following the wearing-washing process, in connection with the patients' physical dimensions for panty hosiery.