Textiles, Testing
Authors: Sawhney Paul S. , Condon Brian , Singh Kumar V. 
Published: July 2007

Since time immemorial, textiles continue to play a major role in human society. In fact, the textile industry today is one of the largest consumer‐supported industries in the world. Although the conventional textiles continue to be used for apparel and household applications, some newly developed special‐purpose textiles are being used in wide range of engineering and science applications, such as nonwoven fabrics, technical fabrics, mobile textiles (for the transportation industry, eg, airplanes, aerospace, ground and sea transportation, etc), geo‐textiles, smart or intelligent textiles, biomedical and medical textiles, and lately nano‐based, high performance textiles. Ultrastrong polymer fibers, such as Dyneema polyethylene and Kevlar aramid, for producing high‐performance textiles for a variety of sporting, industrial, medical, aerospace, and military applications have been produced. Semiconducting textile fibers for electronic and computer applications and quite a few other novel polymer fibers are now on the horizon. The performance of these unique textile structures or chemical entities largely depends on the constituent fibers, yarns and fabrics. Chemical, mechanical, thermal, or any other special finishing of fabrics also influences attributes of the end products considerably. Obviously, standardization of the various components involved in the manufacture of modern textiles is critical for the manufacturers, marketers, and users/consumers of the textile end products. Furthermore, it is a natural human tendency to “cut corners” for extra economic benefit, and the manufacturers of textile and chemical products are no exception to this natural temptation. Therefore, establishment of government‐ and/or institution‐ mandated standards for evaluating quality and performance of textile products is very important to prevent any fraud and protect the general public.

Standardization of any raw material and end product requires standard testing methods and procedures. In the arena of textiles, the Committee D13 of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) provide the most widely used textile testing techniques for compliance of voluntary or mandatory standards for quality and performance of various textile products, both natural and manmade. In general, several engineering principles are used for the measurement of the properties of textile fibers, yarns, and fabrics to meet the required textile standards. In this article, the basic knowledge of the physical, mechanical and chemical properties of various textile fibers, yarns and fabrics and the relevant testing procedures is provided. Although the textile testing procedures with greater details are widely available in the literature (1, 2, 3, 4), the attempt here is to encapsulate the most significant textile properties and their tests in a brief format. It may be mentioned that textile materials generally are moisture and temperature sensitive. To ensure their test accuracy and reliability, most of the textile testing discussed here is performed at controlled ambient conditions of 21°C (70°F) and 65% relative humidity.