Effect of finishing process on elastane contained denim fabric properties

Denim is a tightly woven fabric with a twill weave that is a strong and long-lasting traditional wear. Stretch denim is the most popular type of denim among young people. In this study, two series of denim fabrics were produced using elastane core-spun yarn with two distinct linear densities: 78 dtex and 127 dtex. Fabrics were also washed or mercerized at two different temperatures: 120°C and 190°C. Half of the materials were stretched to a 10 cm width, while the other half were left unchanged, yielding two width variables. The dimensional parameters of elasticity and growth, width, shrinkage, and areal density; strength parameters, i.e., breaking strength, tearing strength, and seam slippage and comfort parameters like air permeability and stiffness, have been measured. Furthermore, the color measurement was done by spectrophotometer, and SEM image analysis was also done to see the morphology of the fabric surface. Regression analysis, the independent samples T-test, and multiple comparison tests were used for statistical analysis. The results revealed that 127 dtex denim fabrics featured higher areal density, stretch, warp way breaking strength, weft tearing strength, and stiffness values but lower width, growth, weft way breaking strength, and air permeability values than 78 dtex fabrics. Furthermore, there were no significant changes in seam strength, shrinkage, and warp tearing strength between the two fabrics. The linear density of elastane did not affect the color values of the two series of fabrics and mercerized samples had larger color change values than washed samples.