Pilling of fabric in textile
Pilling of fabric :
Pilling is one kind of fabric surface faults . Pills are bunches or balls of tangled fibers which are held on the surface of a fabric by one or more fiber .
The pills are generally formed curing wear and washing by the entanglement of lose fibers which protrude from the fabric surface .
The pilling of fabric is discussed by braid , Hatfield and Morries in a paper which deals mainly with fabric made by nylon and nylon blends . One conclusion reached that the pilling is reduced by increasing the nylon filament denier .
How to reduction or minimized pilling :
1. By using high twisted yarn
2. By brushing and cropping of the fabric surface
3. By using singeing process
4. By using anti pilling technique
5. By special chemical treatment such as adhesive anti rubbing agent
6. By reducing migration of fibers by means of air jet spinning process
7. By in creasing denier of nylon or terylene / Polyester
Numerical Assesment of pilling :
The Matrindel abrasion tester can be used to determine the pilling . In this tester , the normal sample holder are replaced with light Square holders which are laid so that they may have vertical movement and can not turn on their axes . The rubbed against a standard fabric . After a certain number of rubs , the sample are examined and the number of pills are counted . This may be repeated as 500 cycles to 3000 or 5000 cycles .
To determine the resistance to pilling and change in appearance of apparel fabrics. The specimens are mounted on polyurethane tubes and tumbled randomly in a cork lined box. After a period of tumbling the change in appearance of the samples is assessed against a rating scale.
Pilling grade :
5- No pills in the surface of the fabric (Very good quality )
4- Slightly surface fuzzing
3- Moderate surface fuzzing or pills
2- Distnct surface fuzzing ( different types/sizes of pills)
1- Dense surface fuzzing (pills of varying size and full areas have densely fuzzing pills)