Abstract:
A color-fast and high-crocking combination fabric and methods for making the same. The color-fast and high-crocking fabric consists of dyed natural fibers and dyed polyester fibers. The natural and polyester fibers are dyed and/or colored before being combined into yarns and fabrics. The color-fast and high-crocking combination fabric has very high color-fastness as measured by crocking standard, while maintaining a quality hand feel. The color fastness can withstand at least thirty regular cold-temperature home-wash laundries.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/900,307, filed on Nov. 5, 2013, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to textiles and fabrics, and, more particularly, to environmentally friendly fabrics having a high crocking standard, long-lasting color fastness, and quality hand feel. 
         [0003]    In the textile industry, two considerations for manufacturers when producing fabrics are color-fastness, crocking standard, and quality of feel, i.e., hand feel. These three considerations often act at odds with one another, with those fabrics having a great hand feel lacking in color-fastness and/or high crocking, and vice versa. Regarding color-fastness, there is particularly a lot of discussion and demand in the clothing industry for high-quality apparel that maintains color fastness, in particular for black apparel that resists fading. Recent surveys indicate that, on average, about 30-40% of a woman&#39;s closet is black. 
         [0004]    A common concern for casualwear and sportswear is how to keep or maintain the color of the clothing without fading, crocking, and bleeding after washing. Certain textile producers use chemical treatments to increase color-fastness and crocking, but this comes at the expense of hand feel. Those fabrics that yield a high-quality hand feel often have the problems of crocking, color fastness, and shedding. 
         [0005]    It can readily be appreciated that there is a need for a fabric having a high crocking standard while still maintaining color fastness and a high-quality hand feel. The present invention fulfills this need and provides further related advantages. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention may be embodied in a method comprising coloring and/or dyeing natural fibers and polyester fibers; placing the colored/dyed natural fibers and the colored polyester fibers in a picking line; creating a plurality of combined ropes consisting essentially of the colored/dyed natural fibers and the colored/dyed polyester fibers; and spinning the plurality of combined ropes into yarns. The polyester fibers may be a recycled polyester fiber, and the natural fibers may be a natural wood fiber. In one aspect of this embodiment, the yarn may have a crocking standard of at least 4.0. 
         [0007]    In another aspect of this embodiment, spinning the plurality of combined ropes into a yarn comprises spinning the plurality of combined ropes into a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weft yarns. The method may further comprise joining the plurality of warp yarns and the plurality of weft yarns into a fabric. In a further aspect, the plurality of the warp yarns may comprise at least 50% to at least 70% colored/dyed natural fibers, and the plurality of the weft yarns may comprise at least 30% to at least 50% colored/dyed polyester fiber. In yet a further aspect, the warp yarns may comprise approximately 65% colored/dyed natural fibers and approximately 35% colored/dyed polyester fibers, and the weft yarns may comprise approximately 65% colored/dyed polyester fibers and approximately 35% colored/dyed natural wood fibers. 
         [0008]    The present invention may also be embodied in a yarn consisting essentially of a polyester fiber and a natural fiber, wherein the polyester fiber and the natural fiber are colored/dyed as fibers before being joined into a yarn. The polyester fiber may be a recycled polyester fiber, and the natural fiber may be a natural wood fiber. In one aspect of this embodiment, the yarn may have a crocking standard of at least 4.0. 
         [0009]    The present invention may also be embodied in a fabric consisting essentially of a warp yarn consisting essentially of polyester fiber and natural fiber; and a weft yarn consisting essentially of polyester fiber and natural fiber, wherein the warp yarn has at least 50% natural fibers, and the weft yarn has at least 50% polyester fibers. In a further aspect, the warp yarns may comprise at least 65% natural fibers, and the weft yarns may comprise at least 65% polyester fibers. The polyester fiber may be a recycled polyester fiber, and the natural fiber may be a natural wood fiber. The yarn itself may already have a color-fast characteristic due to the coloring/dyeing of the natural and polyester fibers prescribed in the paragraphs above in this section. The yarn may then be further developed into fabric for consumer apparel or industrial use. The resulting fabric/garment can maintain color fastness without bleeding for at least thirty regular cold-temperature home-wash laundries. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  provides an image of warp and weft yarns woven into a color-fast combination fabric, in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  provides a flowchart for a color-fast combination fabric method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    The present invention may reside in combination yarns and a combination fabric comprising natural and polyester fibers. Both the natural and polyester fibers are dyed as fibers, before they are combined into yarns which then can be knit or woven into fabrics. This process of dying the fibers rather than the yarns or fabrics provides increased color-fastness and higher crocking standard to the end product. The natural fiber is used to create a high-quality hand feel that is not available with a polyester fiber, while the polyester fiber provides the added advantage of increased color-fastness that is presently not available with natural fibers. Although the present disclosure will discuss the invention with respect to black fabrics composed of black natural fibers and black polyester fibers, it will be understood that the present invention may be applied to encompass fabrics of any color, such as Forever White, Red, Grey, Blue, etc. 
         [0014]    The natural fiber component of the combination fabric may comprise a dyed wood fiber. An example of a current such product is the Lenzing Modal (R) COLOR fiber in black. Crocking standard is a standard of measure that may be used to measure the color-fastness of a fabric or fiber, with 5.0 being the highest color-fastness. The black Lenzing Modal fiber offers a fine hand-feel similar to silk. However, the black Modal fiber offers a dry crocking standard between 3.5 and 4.0 and a wet crocking standard between 2.5 and 3.0, which are only average in terms of crocking performance. The wood fiber fabric, made from wood pulp material, offers the added advantage of being an environmentally friendly product. 
         [0015]    The polyester fiber component of the combination fabric may comprise a recycled polyester fiber. One such product is the Repreve polyester fiber made by Unifi, Inc. This fiber has a high crocking standard between 4.0 and 5.0. This recycled polyester fiber also offers the added advantage of being an environmentally friendly product. 
         [0016]    The natural fibers and polyester fibers are combined into a combination yarn. The combination yarn is made of a combination of the natural wood fiber and the polyester fiber. In one embodiment, the fibers may be combined such that the composition ratio of natural fiber to polyester fiber comprises greater than 50% polyester. In a presently preferred embodiment, the preferred warp-yarn ratio is approximately 65% natural wood (Modal) and approximately 35% polyester fiber. The weft-yarn ratio is approximately 65% polyester fiber and 35% natural wood (Modal) fiber. The combination of the black Lenzing Modal COLOR fiber with the black Repreve polyester fiber in the presently preferred 65/35 warp ratio and 35/65 weft ratio results in a crocking standard between 4.0-5.0, which is difficult to achieve in the apparel industry, while maintaining the silk-like hand feel of the Lenzing Modal fiber. This combination yarn may be used on its own to create a fabric, or combined with other yarns to create a fabric, as will be described in greater detail below. 
         [0017]    The present invention may also be embodied in a color-fast fabric comprising the color-fast combination yarn discussed above. Yarns are generally woven or knit into fabrics. An example of yarns woven into a color-fast fabric  10  is demonstrated in  FIG. 1 . The color-fast combination fabric  10  may consist of a single type of yarn, such as the combination yarn described above, or multiple different types of yarns. In one embodiment, as depicted in  FIG. 1 , the color-fast fabric may  10  consist of warp yarns  12  and weft yarns  14 , the warp yarns  12  and the weft yarns  14  each consisting essentially of natural and polyester fibers, as described above. The warp yarns  12  and the weft yarns  14  may have different polyester fiber/natural fiber content ratios. In one embodiment, the warp yarns  12  may have a high natural-wood fiber content of greater than 50%, as described in the color-fast combination yarn described above, while the weft yarns  14  have a higher polyester fiber content. In a presently preferred embodiment, the warp yarns  12  have a natural-wood fiber content of at least 50%, while the weft yarns  14  have a polyester fiber content of at least 50%. In yet a further preferred embodiment, the warp yarns  12  have a natural fiber content of approximately 65% modal (natural wood fiber) and approximately 35% polyester, while the weft yarns  14  have a polyester fiber content of at least 65%. As discussed above with respect to the color-fast combination yarn, the color-fast fabric  10  maintains quality hand-feel while providing superior color-fastness. The combination fabric  10  also increases the life of the fabric, as it sheds less than natural fibers and has better tear and tensile strength. 
         [0018]    The present invention may also be embodied in a method for creating a combination fabric.  FIG. 2  provides a flow-chart representation of a color-fast combination method  100 . The disclosed method  100  may be implemented in most current mills without increasing operational costs. The method comprises dying natural fiber (e.g., black Modal fiber) and polyester fiber (e.g., Repreve) as fibers, rather than the yarn or the fabric being dyed and/or colored at a later step ( 101 ). These colored fibers are then placed in a picking line, and delivered into a blower to clean the fibers and to mix them together ( 102 ). The mixed fibers then go through a carding process to remove any extraneous materials, such as cotton seeds, unwanted fibers, or any other waste ( 103 ). The fibers are then sent to a drawing room or draw frame to create a single rope comprising both types of fibers ( 104 ). The combined fiber ropes then go through a spinning process to form yarns ( 105 ). Manufacturers may use any suitable spinning process, including open end or ring spinning. Determination of which spinning method to use will depend on the desired look and weight of the final fabric. Finally, the yarns are knit or woven into a fabric ( 106 ). 
         [0019]    As previously described, the yarns used to make a fabric may be identical such that a single yarn is used to make a fabric, or the yarns may have different polyester fiber to natural fiber ratios. It is preferable that a certain portion of the yarns used to make the fabric (e.g., warp yarns discussed above) have greater than 50% natural-wood fiber, and, preferably, a warp-yarn ratio of approximately 65%/35% natural fiber to polyester fiber and a weft-yarn ratio of at least 65% polyester fiber. 
         [0020]    Although the invention has been disclosed with reference only to presently preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications can be made without departing from the invention. The specification and figures are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. As such, the present invention is defined only by the following claims and recited limitations.