Design and development of jute mixed knitted fabrics

Aiming at its rough surface,more hairness and low elasticity,jute yarn was mixed with cotton or polyester to make the knitting process smooth. The yarn hairiness,fineness and strength were tested.The suitable yarns were chosen to mix with jute yarn according to the test results. The mixed yarns were used to knit fabrics with different structures such as rib,loop transferring,tubular etc. on flat knitting machine after waxing process. The abrasion resistance,breathability and pilling resistance of the knitted fabrics were tested. The results indicated that the properties of abrasion and pilling resistance of jute mixed polyester fabric( No. 1) with 1 × 1 rib structure were the best. The breathability property of jute /cotton fabric( No. 4) with tubular structure was the best due to the lowest stitch density. The jute /cotton fabric( No. 2) showed slightly worse breathability and abrasion resistance because of the loop-transfer and dimple effects. The manufactured jute mixed fabrics are quite suitable for making home decorations of rural scenery styles and this study can open up application fields of jute yarns.