28 April 2010, Boennigheim – Researchers at the Hohenstein
Institute have partnered Swiss knitted fabrics manufacturer Eschler Textil to
develop innovative knitted fabrics for use in workwear. Garments made from the functional
warp knitted fabrics are said to be able to withstand industrial laundering and
can therefore be used in the garment rental sector, which is normally the
domain of woven fabrics.
“For the first time, warp-knitted fabrics have been
developed for making clothes for healthcare workers and doctors which retain
their functional properties, especially their smart appearance and high degree
of comfort, even after industrial washing. This means that highly functional
knitted garments can also be used in the textile leasing business,” a
spokesperson for the Hohenstein Institute said yesterday.
Normally, woven fabrics made from polyester cotton blends
are used in the medical garment rental sector due to their crease resistant properties
and ability to withstand industrial laundering.
However, according to the Hohenstein Institute, the newly
developed knitted fabrics have advantages over woven fabrics in that they offer
better management of perspiration, resulting in their being more comfortable to
wear and in their improved resistance to creasing. In addition the new knitted
fabrics are able to withstand a realistic number of industrial wash cycles and
so are suitable for garment rental, while at the same time being very
comfortable to wear, the institute says.
Tests carried out on the samples at the Hohenstein Institute
focused mainly on the thermal physiology and skin-sensitivity parameters,
strength, resistance to abrasion, self-smoothing characteristics, ability to
keep their shape after washing, opacity and tendency to drawn threads. By
identifying the fabrics with the best physiological comfort characteristics and
those most suitable for industrial washing, design guidelines have been drawn
up for producing various versions of the functional knitted fabrics.
The project received financial support from the Textile
Research Council under a programme called PROINNO which aims to improve the
innovation skills and competitiveness of medium-sized companies. Funding came from
the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) through the Federation
of Industrial Research Associations (AIF).
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