Improvement of comfort properties of denim fabric after coating process

Denim, which is characterized with certain physical properties, is a generally cotton fabric produced for work and sportswear for years thanks to superior abrasion and tear resistance than other fabric types like gabardine. The importance of this sector is easily accepted when considering approximately 3,5 billion meters annual worldwide manufacture. Denim fabrics are subjected to coating to give new appearance, create new market and increase performance. However decrease in air / water vapour permeability of the fabric after coating is a disadvantage. The garments have to help obtaining thermal balance between body and environment and make consumer feel comfort by transferring, perspiration, heat and moisture. In this thesis, commonly used conventional type PU coating was made with denim samples to the laboratory and micro cracking process was applied in order to increase the breathability of the fabric. Acetone, dimethylformamide (DMF) and ethanol solvents were used for micro cracking process and fabric samples comfort (water vapor permeability, air permeability, wicking) and mechanical (tensile strength-elongation, abrasion, water repellency) parameters were measured. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) was performed in order to understand the statistical importance of solvent type, bath rate and duration time on denim fabric properties and were used to determine variations. Key Words: Clothing comfort, denim fabric, coating.