Abstract
This work investigates the changes in bending properties in laundering of plain weft-knit silk fabrics, as compared with cotton and polyester. The effects of variations of linear density and stitch density of fabric samples on bending properties due to repeated laundering are examined. It is shown that both bending rigidity and hysteresis of the various yarns show different behaviour of the fibres in laundering. Silk is characterized by higher flexibility for bending in both principal directions than cotton and polyester, in laundering. Differences between technical face and technical back bending are also shown. Linear density of silk yarns affects bending rigidity more than cotton.
