Anti-felting properties of wool/low melting point bi-component sheath-core fiber blended fabrics

A low melting point bi-component sheath-core fiber(ES fiber) was used to blend with wool at different blend ratios and then the blended fabrics were treated by thermo setting and non-thermosetting processes respectively.Electron scanning microscope(SEM) was used to observe the bonding inside the fiber,yarn and fabric after thermosetting treatment,and the maximum bonding force between ES fiber and wool,shrinkage of the yarn,and the shrinkage of the fabric after washing were tested.The results showed that the wool fabrics containing ES fiber have better anti-felting properties after thermosetting.The shrinkage percentage of the wool/ES fiber blended fabrics meets the criterion of IWS TM31 for washable assessment.