Preparing and characterizing kenaf/cotton blended fabrics

Kenaf fibers offer the advantage of being renewable, biodegradable, and env ironmentally safe, but kenaf is difficult to process and spin because of it s coarseness, stiffness, and the low cohesion of its fiber bundles. In this research, kenaf fibers are treated by a modified chemical degumming method to improve their properties. The finer and softer kenaf fiber bundles are easier to process than those in earlier studies. Treated kenaf fiber bundle s are blended with Pima cotton and spun on a cotton processing system to yi eld blended 30/70 kenaf/cotton yarns. For comparison, 100% cotton yarn, 30/ 70 jute/cotton yarn, and 30/70 flax/cotton blended yam ate also prepared. T he kenaf/cotton blended yarns are comparable to the jute/cotton and flax/co tton blends. Experimental woven fabrics made from 100% cotton yarn and from the blended yarns reveal that the breaking strength of kenaf/cotton blende d fabric is similar to that of other blends, but lower than that of 100% co tton fabric. The kenaf blended fabric displays the highest air permeability . When the Kawabata Evaluation System is used to evaluate the fabrics, the results show that the blends are stiffer and less recoverable after deforma tion than the 100% cotton fabric, but the measured surface properties of th e blended fabrics are comparable to those of 100% cotton.