A preliminary study of non-woven fabrics for forensic identification purposes

While traditional woven textiles have been the subject of many forensic investigations, non-woven fabrics have received minimal attention thus far. Given the expansion of commercial applications of non-woven fabrics, a preliminary investigation of household wipes has been carried out to characterize the compositions of these widely available non-woven fabrics. Infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis were employed to identify the fibre type and additives of three types of commercial wipes. Polyester and/or viscose fibres were found to be the main components and, along with the identification of binders, enable source types to be differentiated. The predicted different sensitivities of the fibre types to biodeterioration highlights the importance of future environmental studies for the correct characterization of non-woven fabrics in evidence.

Automated summary

This study conducted a preliminary investigation of household wipes, using infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis to identify polyester and/or viscose fibers as the main components, along with binders to differentiate source types. The different sensitivities of fiber types to biodeterioration underscore the importance of future environmental studies for accurately characterizing non-woven fabrics in evidence.