Original article

Textile Research Journal

83(6) 591–605

Effect of repeated laundering on wicking ! The Author(s) 2013

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and drying properties of fabrics of DOI: 10.1177/0040517512456754
trj.sagepub.com
seamless garments

Sena Cimilli Duru and Cevza Candan

Abstract
Good moisture transport and drying properties are quite important factors for garments worn next to the skin,
especially sportswear, underwear, etc., and seamless technology, in comparison to circular knitting technology, may
offer higher flexibility in designing such garments with optimized comfort properties. Accordingly, seamless garments
were knitted at three stitch lengths (i.e. slack, medium and tight) using a plaiting technique. In doing so, Ne 40/1 yarns
from cellulosic fibers (namely cotton, viscose and bamboo) were employed as face yarn whereas 33 denier 34 filament
nylon, which was intermingled with 17 dtex spandex yarn, was utilized as the plaiting yarn. They were piece dyed under
commercial conditions. After that, half of them were subjected to a repeated laundering process (five cycles) and then
flat-dried. Liquid transporting and drying properties of the fabrics of the garments were measured and the data obtained
were evaluated using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) as well as independent t-tests and the results were
discussed comparatively. Finally, the relative importance of liquid transfer parameters was evaluated by using the analytic
hierarchy process (AHP) method based on seamless garment requirements. Final ranking of the garments was discovered
according to the relative closeness value determined by the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution
(TOPSIS) method in order to be able to offer the best option from all of the feasible alternatives suggested with the
work.

Keywords
cellulosic fibers, seamless garment, wicking, drying rate, AHP, TOPSIS

Various reports reflecting consumers’ preferences for
purchasing apparel products suggest that comfort is
one of the most important attributes for consumers,
especially when purchasing garments next to the skin
or in hot climates.1 Liquid transporting and the drying
rate of fabrics are, on the other hand, two vital factors
affecting the physiological comfort of garments. The
transport of a liquid into a fibrous assembly has been
a subject of numerous studies investigating the influ-
ence of factors such as size, shape, alignment and dis-
tribution of fibers, fiber combinations, yarn structure
and yarn packing, fabric type and fabric construction
parameters, fabric position in multilayer system, the
hydrophilic nature of a blended material in fibrous
assemblies, de-sizing, scouring, bleaching, alkaline
hydrolysis, enzymatic treatments, plasma, ultraviolet
and ozone treatments, property of liquid, surfactants,
type of finishes and laundering.2–18 Furthermore, some
studies focused mainly on the effect of relatively new
fibers such as bamboo, chitosan, etc., on the moisture
management properties of fabrics.19–22
In addition to the wicking mechanisms of fabrics,
their drying behavior is also an influential parameter
of feeling comfortable. Evaporation of water/sweat is
the dominant mechanism by which fabric and clothing
dry during wear, and they have the potential to cool the
body through the heat energy required for the process
Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design, Istanbul Technical University,
Turkey
Corresponding author:
Sena Cimilli Duru, Istanbul Technical University, Gumussuyu Yerleskesi
Inonu Caddesi No: 65 Oda: 509, Istanbul, Gumussuyu/Taksim 34437,
Turkey.
Email: cimilli@itu.edu.tr

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592
being taken partly from the human body. Accumulation
of sweat in the clothing microclimate moves evaporation
close to the skin surface to the outer surface of the cloth-
ing itself, lowering the potential for skin cooling by this
means because part of the heat required for evaporation
will then be taken from the ambient air. The length of
time required for a garment to dry while being worn is
therefore important in maintaining a desired level of
comfort and minimizing the additional weight from
the liquid that the garment may have absorbed.23–25
Despite various studies on moisture management
and drying behavior of knitted fabrics, it is surprising
that fabrics of seamless technology, which in compari-
son to circular knitting technology may offer higher
flexibility in designing next-to-the-skin garments with
optimized comfort properties for especially active
sportswear, are the least investigated. A literature
survey also suggests that there has been very limited
work on the effect of a repeated laundering process
on moisture transport as well as on drying behavior
of knitted fabrics, including the ones from relatively
new fibers. Accordingly, the work described in this
paper was conducted in an attempt to investigate the
points outlined.
Materials and method
The samples for the study were produced on an eight-
system, 14-gauge Santoni SM8-TOP 2 seamless
machine of 1248 needles. The reason for selecting seam-
less technology was that it is commonly used for the
production of active sportswear as well as functional
knits.
All the seamless garments were knitted according to
a plaiting technique, as water stays in a pure knit struc-
ture and does not dry as fast as knits plaited with elas-
tane and polyamide thread. In doing so, Ne 40/1 yarns
from cellulosic fibers (namely cotton, viscose and
bamboo) were employed as face yarn whereas 33
denier 34 filament nylon, which was intermingled with
17 dtex spandex yarn, was utilized as the plaiting yarn.
The garments were also produced at three knitting
settings (i.e. slack (S), medium (M) and tight (T)). All of
them were dyed and finished under commercial condi-
tions, and they were then conditioned at standard
atmospheric conditions (21 C, 65% relative humidity)
for one week. Half of the samples were washed five
times at 40 C for 30 minutes and were then flat dried.
The details regarding the properties of the garments are
given in Table 1.
The samples were coded so the first letter shows the
fiber type (cotton: C; viscose: V; bamboo: B), the
second letter(s) refers to the process (dyed: D, dyed
and washed: DW), and the last one stands for the
stitch length.
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Textile Research Journal 83(6)
Wicking, fabric weight, thickness and dimensional
stability were tested in accordance with the standards
Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN) 53924,
Technical Specification (TS) 7128 EN International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) 5084, British
Standard European Norm (BS EN) ISO 5084:1997
and ISO 3759 in turn. The overall porosity is defined
as the ratio of open space to the total volume of the
porous material and was calculated from the measured
thickness and weight per unit area values using the fol-
lowing equations:25
Porosity ð%Þ
 
Density of fabric ð g=cm3 Þ
¼ 1  100 ð1Þ
Density of fiber ð g=cm3 Þ
Density of fabric ð g=cm3 Þ
 
Fabric weight ð g=cm2 Þ
¼ ð2Þ
Fabric thickness ðcmÞ
Measurement of transfer wicking test was based on
Zhuang et al.’s method6 except that the pressure applied
was kept constant at 15.6 kg/m2. Fabric samples were cut
into 74.5 mm diameter circles that were the same size as
the dish placed on the fabrics. The amount of water ini-
tially held in the wet fabric was controlled by completely
soaking the sample in distilled water and then removing
the excess water with a paper towel. The wet fabric
was weighed periodically. As soon as the dry layer
fabric, which was the same fabric as the wet layer, was
placed on the top of wet layer, liquid transfer was con-
tinuously allowed for a certain period of time, then the
amount of liquid transfer was measured by weighing the
dry fabric layer at five, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minutes.
The test for each sample was repeated three times.
The research of Coplan26 and Fourt et al.24 was used
to measure the drying rates of the fabrics. Each speci-
men was soaked in distilled water for 30 minutes. When
no air bubbles were produced upon squeezing under
water, the fabrics were considered wet-out. Wet-out
fabrics were suspended vertically for 15 seconds and
then laid flat on a double thickness of dry paper
towel for two minutes on each side. The samples were
weighed at half-hour and one-hour intervals as drying
progressed. When the measurement value was 105% of
the dry weight, the test was ended. Drying rates were
expressed as average weight loss over the initial water
content per unit area per unit hour.
For testing the water absorbency, circular specimens
per sample were cut with a round cutter, each having an
area of 100 cm2. Specimens were conditioned under
standard atmospheric conditions for six hours as per
American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) D
1776 and the weight of each sample (W1) was recorded.
Duru and Candan 593

Table 1. Properties of the fabrics of seamless garments

Stitch Dimensional Dimensional

Fabric Weight density Thickness Porosity stability stability
Sample type (g/m2) (loops/cm2) (mm) (%) widthwise (%) lengthwise (%)

Viscose V-D-T 386 608 1.070 75.95 2.0 5.0

V-D-M 395 510 1.083 75.69 1.5 6.3
V-D-S 406 459 1.190 77.25 1.0 5.2
V-DW-T 392 510 0.917 71.49 1.0 0.5
V-DW-M 400 448 1.080 75.31 0.5 0.5
V-DW-S 410 384 1.097 75.08 0.6 0.5
Cotton C-D-T 283 476 0.983 81.07 2.5 5.3
C-D-M 270 390 1.080 83.55 1.4 5.2
C-D-S 295 345 1.113 82.57 2.3 6.9
C-DW-T 296 540 0.937 79.21 0.1 0.4
C-DW-M 274 420 1.003 82.03 0.1 0.6
C-DW-S 307 405 1.123 82.02 0.1 0.5
Bamboo B-D-T 270 493 0.930 78.01 3.0 6.0
B-D-M 304 480 1.063 78.34 2.7 6.5
B-D-S 330 300 1.057 76.34 3.1 7.3
B-DW-T 365 765 0.937 70.48 0.6 0.5
B-DW-M 376 608 1.030 72.34 0.8 0.4
B-DW-S 401 512 1.137 73.27 0.6 0.3
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack; D: dyed; DW: dyed and washed.

The samples were dipped in distilled water at a depth of
about 10 cm with the help of a wire sinker. After six
hours, the specimens were taken out and kept on a
sponge sheet in a closed room for 30 minutes to
remove the excess surface water. Subsequently, the
weight of fabrics (W2) was recorded:15
W2  W1
Absorbency ð%Þ ¼  100
W1
The statistical evaluation of the data obtained was
performed with the SPSS 18 software package. One-
way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed and
the factors were considered to be significant at a p-value
of less than 0.05. Also a t-test was used to evaluate the
results of the washed and unwashed garments.
Finally, a multi-criteria decision approach was
adopted to offer the best option from all of the feasible
alternatives suggested with the work. Multi-criteria
decision making is a branch of Operations Research
(OR), which deals with selection problems under the
presence of a finite number of decision criteria and
alternatives.27 Multi-criteria decision making may be
considered as a complex and dynamic process that
includes one managerial level and one engineering
level.28 TOPSIS is a kind of multi-criteria method
that is based on a simple and intuitive concept; it
enables consistent and systematic criteria based on
choosing the best alternative having the shortest dis-
tance from the ideal solution and the farthest distance
from the negative ideal solution.27–29 The ideal solution
is regarded as the maximal benefits solution. It consists
of taking the best value of the alternative, and the nega-
tive ideal solution is treated as the minimal benefits
solution; it is composed of the worst value of all alter-
natives so the alternatives are ranked with respect to the
ð3Þ
relative closeness to the ideal solutions.29 The analytic
hierarchy process (AHP) is a powerful and flexible
multi-criteria decision-making tool that deconstructs a
complicated problem hierarchically at several different
levels where both qualitative and quantitative aspects
need to be considered. The AHP combines both sub-
jective and objective assessments into an integrative
framework based on ratio scales from simple pair-
wise comparisons and helps the analyst to organize
the critical aspects of a problem into a hierarchical
structure. It has the following advantages:29
. It can measure the consistency in the decision
maker’s judgments;
. The pair-wise comparisons allow the derivation of
weights of criteria and scores of alternatives from
comparison matrices;
. The AHP can help decision makers to organize the
criteria and subcriteria of a problem into a hierarch-
ical structure similar to a family tree.

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594 Textile Research Journal 83(6)

Table 2. Nine-point scale of relative importance30,32

Intensity of importance
on an absolute scale Definition Explanation

1 Equal importance Two activities contribute equally to the objective.

3 Moderate importance of one over another Experience and judgment slightly favor one
activity over another.
5 Essential or strong importance Experience and judgment strongly favor one
activity over another.
7 Very strong importance An activity is strongly favored and its dominance
is demonstrated in practice.
9 Extreme importance The evidence favoring one activity over another is
of the highest possible order of affirmation.
2, 4, 6, 8 Intermediate values between two adjacent When compromise is needed.
judgments

The TOPSIS is more efficient in handling the tan-
gible attributes and there is no limit in terms of the
number of criteria or alternatives.27 Therefore, the com-
bination of AHP and TOPSIS can determine the liquid
transfer properties of garments. In a hybrid AHP-
TOPSIS method, the pair-wise comparison method of
AHP is amalgamated with the other steps of TOPSIS in
a procedure expressed here:27,29
Step 1: The relevant objective or goal, decision criteria
and alternatives of the problem are identified.
Step 4: The relative importance of different criteria with
respect to the objective of the problem is determined
using AHP. To do so, a pair-wise comparison matrix of
criteria is constructed using a scale of relative import-
ance. The judgments are entered using the fundamental
scale of AHP, which is shown Table 2.
The normalized weight or importance of the ith cri-
teria (Wi) is determined by calculating the geometric
mean of the ith row (GMi) of the Dmxn matrix and
then normalizing the geometric means of rows. This
can be represented as follows

Step 2: A decision matrix of criteria and alternatives is ( )N1

Y
N
formulated on the basis of information available GMi ¼ cij ð5Þ
regarding the problem. If the number of alternatives j¼1
is M and the number of criteria is N, then the decision
matrix having an order of MxN is represented as GMi
W i ¼ PN ð6Þ
follows i¼1 GMi

2 3 To check the consistency in pair-wise comparison

a11    a1n
6 .. .. .. 7 judgment, the consistency index (CI) and consistency
Dmxn ¼4 . . . 5 ratio (CR) are calculated using the following equations,
am1    amn
max  N CI
CI ¼ and CR ¼ ð7Þ
where an element aij of the decision matrix Dmxn repre- N1 RCI
sents the actual value of the ith alternative in terms of
jth decision matrix. where RCI is the random consistency index and its
value can be obtained from Table 3. If the value of
CR is 0.1 or less, the judgment is considered to be
Step 3: The decision matrix is converted to a normal-
consistent and therefore acceptable. Otherwise, the
ized decision matrix. The normalized value rij is calcu-
decision maker has to reconsider the entries of
lated as
the pair-wise comparison matrix.
aij Step 5: The weighted normalized value ij is
rij ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Pm  2 j ¼ 1, . . . . . . , m calculated as
j¼1 aij

i ¼ 1, . . . . . . , n ð4Þ ij ¼ Wrij j ¼ 1, . . . . . . , m i ¼ 1, . . . . . . , n ð8Þ

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Duru and Candan 595

Table 3. Random consistency index (RCI) values for different numbers of alternatives (M)30,32

M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
RCI 0 0 0,58 0,9 1,12 1,24 1,32 1,41 1,45

where Wi is the weight of the ith attribute of criterion Within the first five minutes of the transfer wicking,
and ni¼1 Wi ¼ 1 the greatest wicking was observed for bamboo gar-
ments, while cotton garments gave the lowest values
Step 6: The positive ideal and negative ideal solutions for the same period. Additionally, as shown in
are determined by the following formulations: Figure 1, in the first five minutes of the test the transfer
wicking ratio had a steep increase for all samples, which
  then became more gradual.
Aþ ¼ þ þ
i , . . . ::, n
    A comparative study of the results showed that
¼ maxj ij li 2 I , minj ij li 2 J ð9Þ bamboo garments differed from the others in that
for each stitch length (i.e. S, M, T) studied, they
  gave the highest transfer ratio percentages, which
A ¼  
i , . . . ::, n were followed by cotton and viscose garments (see
   
¼ minj ij li 2 I , maxj ij li 2 J ð10Þ Figure 1). Based on a literature survey, it may be
stated that thickness and porosity have a sizeable
effect on transfer wicking.6–8,19 However, as shown
where I is associated with benefit criteria and J is asso- in Table 1, thickness values of the samples were very
ciated with cost criteria. close to each other and it was found that the differ-
ences between the thickness values were not statistic-
Step 7: The separation measure using the n-dimensional ally significant. Furthermore, cotton fabrics had the
Euclidean distance is calculated. The separation of each greatest porosity percentages, followed by bamboo
alternative from the ideal solution is given as and viscose garments. Nevertheless, bamboo garments
performed much better than the other garments. This
( )1=2
X
n  2 is partly because of the fact that the fiber featuring
djþ ¼ ij  þ
i j ¼ 1, . . . ::, m: ð11Þ abundant gaps may have facilitated liquid advance-
i¼1 ment by providing higher capillary pressure. Also,
( )1=2 bamboo yarns form many gaps between fibers because
X
n  2 of the grooves on the surface, and this may produce a
dj ¼ ij  
i j ¼ 1, . . . ::, m ð12Þ strong capillary effect and result in greater moisture
i¼1
absorption and desorption properties.20 Meanwhile,
the convolutions in the cotton fibers and the striations
Step 8: The relative closeness to the ideal solution is over the longitudinal surface of viscose fibers might
determined. The relative closeness of the alternative increase the friction between the fiber surface and
Aj with respect to A+ is defined as the water, resulting in a decrease in the transfer wick-
ing of fabrics from these fibers.19
dj ANOVA evaluation of the results demonstrated that
Rj ¼ j ¼ 1, . . . ::, m ð13Þ fiber type had a statistically significant influence on
ðdjþ þ dj Þ
transfer wicking ratios of dyed samples (95% signifi-
Since dj  0 and djþ  0, then clearly Rj2 ½0, 1. cance level F ¼ 379.874, p ¼ 0.000). Duncan test also
showed that for each fiber type taken into account,
Step 9: All the alternatives are arranged in descending stitch length had a statistically significant influence on
order according to the value of Rj. The alternative at transfer wicking ratios of the fabrics (F ¼ 142.741,
the top of the list is the preferred one. p ¼ 0.000), though this very difference resulted mainly
from medium stitch lengths. In other words, regarding
tight and slack garments, the transfer wicking ratios
Results and discussion were not statistically significant (V-D-S and V-D-T:
p ¼ 0.832; C-D-S and C-D-T: p ¼ 0.509; B-D-S and
Transfer wicking
B-D-T: p ¼ 0.250). Finally, irrespective of fiber type,
Before laundering. Irrespective of fiber type, slack sam- changes in stitch length did not produce any significant
ples tended to give higher transfer wicking values. results (F ¼ 0.156, p ¼ 0.857).

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596 Textile Research Journal 83(6)

60
V-D-T

50 V-D-M

Transfer Wicking Ratio % V-D-S

40
C-D-T

30 C-D-M

C-D-S
20
B-D-T
10
B-D-M

0 B-D-S

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Time (min)

Figure 1. Transfer wicking ratio of dyed fabrics against time.

50 V-DW-T
45
V-DW-M
40
Transfer Wicking Ratio %

35 V-DW-S

30
C-DW-T
25
20 C-DW-M

15 C-DW-S
10
B-DW-T
5
0 B-DW-M
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
B-DW-S
Time (min)

Figure 2. Transfer wicking ratio of dyed and washed fabrics against time.

After repeated laundering. Except for V-DW–S garments,
which were found to give the highest transfer wicking
ratio, transfer wicking ratio percentages of the samples
decreased after the laundering cycles. Independent
t-tests between the data obtained from laundered and
unlaundered garments revealed that except for viscose
samples, the transfer wicking percentages of the fabrics
made from different fibers were statistically significant
(bamboo: F ¼ 9.729, p ¼ 0.007; cotton: F ¼ 12.544,
p ¼ 0.03).
Furthermore, unlike unlaundered (i.e. dyed-only)
garments, ANOVA evaluation of the data showed
that the repetitive laundering process resulted in statis-
tically significant results for all different stitch lengths
of the samples (bamboo: F ¼ 76.967, p ¼ 0.000; viscose:
F ¼ 337.443, p ¼ 0.00; cotton: F ¼ 61.553, p ¼ 0.000).
Moreover, it also revealed that no matter which fiber
was used, stitch length affected the transfer wicking
ratios of laundered garments (F ¼ 15.706, p ¼ 0.000),
in which the ones at medium stitch length gave the
highest ratios, and they were followed by tight and
slack, respectively.
Vertical wicking
Before laundering. The results revealed that the viscose
samples had the highest wicking height values; these
were followed by bamboo and cotton ones, respectively.

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Duru and Candan
2.00
1.80
Vertical Wicking Height (cm)
1.60
1.40
1.20
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
V-D-T
Viscose
Figure 3. Vertical wicking height of dyed fabrics.
Contrary to the literature findings,12 which implied that
tight fabrics feature higher wicking performance, wick-
ing height in viscose garments increased as stitch length
increased. For bamboo and cotton samples, on the other
hand, there was no such tendency and the greatest wick-
ing height values were obtained for B-D-M and C-D-M
(i.e. ‘‘medium’’ setting of stitch length) (see Figure 3).
The flow of the liquid moisture through the textiles is
caused by fiber-liquid molecular attraction at the surface
of the fiber materials, which is mainly determined by
the surface tension and effective capillary pathways
and pore distribution.9,13 Accordingly, the location
and form of the channels (or capillary) in bamboo and
cotton samples might have been more random than the
channels in the viscose fabrics; consequently this might
have been the reason for the lower wicking rate of these
samples. Changing surface energy levels of the fibers (i.e.
viscose, bamboo and cotton) may also have affected the
wicking rates of the samples studied.
Confirming the experimental results, ANOVA ana-
lysis showed that fiber type did have a statistically sig-
nificant influence on the vertical wicking height values
of the samples (F ¼ 34.316, p ¼ 0.000). Duncan test, on
the other hand, showed that for all fiber types stitch
length itself was a statistically significant factor for
the vertical wicking height of the fabrics (viscose
F ¼ 7.000, p ¼ 0.027; cotton F ¼ 37.000, p ¼ 0,000;
bamboo: F ¼ 7.000, p ¼ 0.027) But independent of
fiber type, there is no significant difference between
597
1.50
1.30
1.20
0.80
0.70
0.50 0.50
0.40
V-D-M V-D-S C-D-T C-D-M C-D-S B-D-T B-D-M B-D-S
Cotton Bamboo
FiberType
wicking heights of the samples for the stitch lengths
studied (F ¼ 1.241, p ¼ 0.307).
In the case of vertical wicking capacity of the sam-
ples, V-D-M, B-D-M and C-D-M samples tended to
give higher values than the corresponding slack and
tight garments. Additionally, viscose garments in gen-
eral performed much better than cotton and bamboo
garments (see Figure 4). This may have been partly
because the water retention value (swelling index) of
viscose is much higher than that of cotton. In aqueous
liquors, viscose fibers tend to swell more strongly than
cotton or bamboo fibers.30,31 High liquid retention in
viscose garments may have also been attributed to a
greater number of large pores or a higher total pore
volume.4
Finally, Duncan test revealed that independent from
stitch length, cotton and bamboo samples behaved in
the same manner with respect to wicking capacity
(p ¼ 0.229), though the viscose samples differed from
the others. Moreover, when the effect of stitch length
was analyzed, the results showed that there were no
statistical differences between V-D-S and V-D-M
(p ¼ 0.072), B-D-S and B-D-M (p ¼ 0.199) and C-D-S
and C-D-T (p ¼ 0.056) samples.
After repeated laundering. The results suggested that the
vertical wicking properties of the laundered samples
presented a significant variation with fiber type when
compared to the unlaundered samples (see Figure 5).
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598 Textile Research Journal 83(6)

60
51.65 50.09
Vertical Wicking Capacity (%) 50
41.90

40

30
23.51

20 14.71
13.62
11.87
10.20 8.84
10

V-D-T V-D-M V-D-S C-D-T C-D-M C-D-S B-D-T B-D-M B-D-S

Viscose Cotton Bamboo

Fiber Type

Figure 4. Vertical wicking capacity of dyed fabrics.

2.00
1.80 1.70
Vertical Wicking Height (cm)

1.60 1.50

1.40
1.20 1.10

1.00
0.80 0.70 0.70
0.60
0.60 0.50
0.40 0.40
0.40
0.20
0.00

V-DW-T V-DW-M V-DW-S C-DW-T C-DW-M C-DW-S B-DW-T B-DW-M B-DW-S

Viscose Cotton Bamboo

Fiber Type

Figure 5. Vertical wicking height of dyed and washed fabrics.

Wicking capacity as well as wicking height of the The independent t-tests conducted between ‘‘laun-
viscose and cotton samples radically dropped after dered’’ and ‘‘unlaundered’’ samples indicated that
laundering, whereas those of the laundered bamboo there was a statistically significant difference among
ones tended to increase. In fact, bamboo garments the vertical wicking capacity values of viscose and
gave the highest wicking capacity and wicking height bamboo garments (viscose: F ¼ 5.451, p ¼ 0.033;
values. The grooves on the surface of the fiber may bamboo: F ¼ 27.375; p ¼ 0.000). For cotton samples
facilitate stronger capillary effect and result in greater on the other hand, the laundering process appeared
moisture absorption properties when compared to the not to affect their comfort properties. However, when
other types. Also, due to the laundering, reduction in it comes to wicking height, only the laundered cotton
pore volumes may result in better vertical wicking prop- samples did not differ from the unlaundered ones
erties in the bamboo samples. (F ¼ 0.803, p ¼ 0.806).

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Duru and Candan 599

Table 4. Drying properties of dyed garments

Dry fabric Initial wet-out Initial water Drying Drying

weight (g) fabric weight (g) amount (g) time (h) rate (g/h/m2)

Viscose dyed
V-D-T 4.65 11.12 6.47 10.56 46.15
V-D-M 5.16 11.98 6.82 9.91 51.73
V-D-S 5.02 12.66 7.64 9.92 58.23
Cotton dyed
C-D-T 3.66 8.84 5.17 9.90 39.38
C-D-M 2.72 9.15 6.43 10.93 45.01
C-D-S 3.82 9.99 6.17 9.02 51.76
Bamboo dyed
B-D-T 3.58 8.74 5.16 9.80 39.72
B-D-M 4.11 9.92 5.81 9.87 44.34
B-D-S 3.56 9.10 5.54 9.88 42.40
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack; D: dyed.

The ANOVA evaluation also showed that fiber type
was an influential parameter on vertical wicking height
and capacity of the samples (vertical wicking height:
F ¼ 19.267, p ¼ 0.000; vertical wicking capacity:
F ¼ 40.256, p ¼ 0.000). Additionally, Duncan test
revealed that stitch length had an influence on the verti-
cal wicking height of cotton and bamboo samples
(cotton: F ¼ 21.000, p ¼ 0.002; bamboo: F ¼ 84.000,
p ¼ 0.000) only, while in the case of the wicking capacity
it was a significant parameter for all of the fiber types
under discussion (viscose: F ¼ 53.894, p ¼ 0.000; cotton:
F ¼ 717.167, p ¼ 0.000; bamboo: F ¼ 382.680,
p ¼ 0.000).
In light of the wicking performances of the samples
studied (both transfer and vertical), it may be con-
cluded that repeated laundering processes in general
had a noteworthy effect on the wicking behavior of
the samples. This may be partly attributed to the fact
that laundering relaxed fabrics may result in changes in
inter-yarn and inter-fiber pore size and volume. Also
laundering remove finishes that may not be resistant
to washing, as well as residual oils and auxiliary com-
pounds added during yarn/fabric manufacture, all of
which may influence the contact angles of the samples.
Moreover, repeated laundering processes may cause
some fiber damage and fibrillation in the fibers at vary-
ing degrees, which in turn may affect the moisture
transport properties of the samples. Finally, in addition
to the face yarn (which was viscose, bamboo, or
cotton), the nylon-spandex yarn (plaiting yarn) was
employed in the samples, and this very yarn has a
bipartite structure with a spandex core and nylon sur-
face loops. Accordingly, as a result of the laundering
and drying processes, the configuration of loops and
their frequency may have changed in such a way that
they may have influenced pore tortuosity in the fabrics
and in turn their wicking behavior.
Drying rate
Before laundering. From Table 4, which lists sample
drying properties, it may be observed that the viscose
samples had the highest drying rates in terms of g/m2/
hour, which can be partly attributed to their higher
longitudinal wicking ability. This was followed by
cotton and bamboo fabrics, respectively. Confirming
the data, ANOVA results revealed that drying rates
of the viscose samples were statistically different from
the cotton and bamboo ones (F ¼ 10.969, p ¼ 0.000).
Table 4 also suggests that for the cotton and viscose
samples, the drying rate tended to increase as stitch
length increased whereas for the bamboo ones there
was no such pattern. However, ANOVA evaluation
showed that for each fiber type, changes in stitch
length significantly affected the drying rates of the
relevant samples (viscose: F ¼ 109.656, p ¼ 0.000;
cotton: F ¼ 115.262, p ¼ 0.000; bamboo: F ¼ 16.145,
p ¼ 0.004). Duncan test results, on the other hand,
demonstrated that it was the tight knitted samples
that mainly differed from the others (medium and
slack ones).
Like drying rates, the viscose samples also had the
highest initial water amount, which in parallel with the
literature,1,8,10,12,19 caused slightly longer drying times
than the others (see Table 4).
After repeated laundering
The data given in Table 5, which lists the drying
properties of the laundered garments, indicate that
the repeated laundering processes had a radical influ-
ence on drying properties of the samples; bamboo

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600 Textile Research Journal 83(6)

Table 5. Drying properties of dyed and washed garments

Dry fabric Initial wet-out Initial water Drying Drying

weight (g) fabric weight (g) amount (g) time (h) rate (g/h/m2)

Viscose dyed and washed

V-DW-T 3.35 8.25 4.89 7.00 52.73
V-DW-M 3.64 9.37 5.74 9.98 43.47
V-DW-S 3.41 8.27 4.85 8.99 40.67
Cotton dyed and washed
C-DW-T 3.94 9.07 5.14 9.02 42.80
C-DW-M 3.68 8.99 5.30 8.01 49.92
C-DW-S 4.10 9.76 5.66 8.02 53.17
Bamboo dyed and washed
B-DW-T 4.79 11.38 6.59 10.63 46.68
B-DW-M 5.06 12.21 7.15 8.02 67.18
B-DW-S 5.16 12.66 7.50 10.00 56.59
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack; DW: dyed and washed.

70
61.68 61.34
60
Vertical Wicking Capacity %

50 43.55 41.95
40

26.23
30

20
13.41

10 5.62 6.62 6.08

0
V-DW-T V-DW-M V-DW-S C-DW-T C-DW-M C-DW-S B-DW-T B-DW-M B-DW-S

Viscose Cotton Bamboo

Fiber Type

Figure 6. Vertical wicking capacity of dyed and washed fabrics.

garments had the highest drying rates while the viscose
samples had the lowest ones. Changes in the dimen-
sional properties of the bamboo samples (see Table 1)
as a result of the laundering process may have increased
capillary penetration as well as the interconnectivity of
pores in these samples. The improvement observed in
the vertical wicking properties of the laundered
bamboo garments (better wicking leads to quicker
spreading of water) seemed to support this hypothesis
to some extent (see Figures 3–6). Also, the independent
t-test revealed that the difference between the drying
rates of the laundered and unlaundered bamboo sam-
ples were statistically significant (F ¼ 10.345, p ¼ 0.005).
For the cotton and viscose types, the repeated launder-
ing, however, appeared not to markedly affect the
drying properties of the samples.
Table 3 shows that, for the viscose samples, the drying
rate tended to decrease as stitch length increased,
whereas for the cotton ones the opposite tendency was
observed. ANOVA results suggested that stitch length
was a highly significant factor for the drying rate of the
laundered samples (viscose: F ¼ 109.656, p ¼ 0.000;

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Duru and Candan
250
200
Water Absorbency (%)
174.46 172.54
150
100
50
0
V-D-T V-D-M
Viscose
Figure 7. Water absorption rates of dyed fabrics.
cotton: F ¼ 61.553, p ¼ 0.002; bamboo: F ¼ 315.303,
p ¼ 0.000). However, ANOVA analysis indicated that
the influence of fiber type on drying rate was significant
only for the bamboo samples (F ¼ 6.861, p ¼ 0.004).
Water absorption rate
Before laundering. As shown in Figure 7, the water
absorbency percentages of the cotton fabrics were the
highest, which were followed by bamboo and viscose
ones, respectively. This was an unexpected result
because within the cellulose family, viscose with its
semi-crystalline structures and high number of hydroxyl
groups along the polymer chain has a higher moisture
regain and absorbency than cotton (with its more crys-
talline structure). Moreover, the fabrics did have almost
the same thickness values (see Table 1), the higher of
which can provide more space to accommodate water
and can lead to more water absorbed. Consequently, this
very result may be attributed to the relatively higher
porosity values of the cotton fabrics since, as claimed
in the literature,16 the amount of water taken up by a
fibrous material depends on the porosity of the material,
so water entrapment by the pores increases as porosity
increases. In comparison with the cotton samples, rela-
tively lower water absorption rates of the bamboo fab-
rics (see Figure 7), on the other hand, may have resulted
from possible thin-wall cell tissues remaining during the
degumming of the fiber,21 in addition to lower porosity
values of the fabrics (see Table 1).
Accordingly, bivariate correlation analysis was con-
ducted to evaluate the dependence of water absorbency
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601
227.56
202.45 198.67 203.23
192.36 188.95
166.01
V-D-S C-D-T C-D-M C-D-S B-D-T B-D-M B-D-S
Cotton B amboo
Fiber Type
on porosity, and the analysis showed that irrespective
of fiber type, there was a correlation (R2 ¼ 0.736)
between porosity and the water absorbency of the sam-
ples at a 99% significance level.
The experimental data revealed that independent
from fiber type, the tight samples gave the lowest
water absorbency percentages, which was in agreement
with the literature.14 ANOVA results also confirmed
that fiber type (viscose: F ¼ 58.865, p ¼ 0.000; cotton:
F ¼ 985.680, p ¼ 0.000; bamboo: F ¼ 159.595,
p ¼ 0.000) as well as stitch length (F ¼ 1093.209,
p ¼ 0.000) were influential parameters with respect to
water absorbency.
After repeated laundering. As shown in Figure 8, after the
repeated washing process, the water absorbency of both
cotton and bamboo fabrics decreased whereas that of
viscose fabrics increased. The independent t-tests also
demonstrated that the laundering process had a signifi-
cant effect on water absorbency of the samples (viscose:
F ¼ 14.998, p ¼ 0.001; cotton: F ¼ 19.636, p ¼ 0.000;
bamboo: F ¼ 5.450, p ¼ 0.033).
Furthermore, unlike the unlaundered fabrics, it was
the viscose samples that gave the highest water absorp-
tion values despite the fact that the cotton samples still
had the highest porosity values (see Table 1). This may
be primarily because, in comparison with the other
samples, the washing procedure may have resulted in
a relatively higher decrease in contact angles of the vis-
cose samples by washing off the impurities in the sam-
ples, which in turn may have offered better fiber-water
interaction for these fabrics. Also, the process may have
affected geometric configuration and topology of the
602 Textile Research Journal 83(6)

250
214.72
191.27 194.33 190.43 192.51
200 181.71 185.38 180.11
161.25
Water Absorbency (%)

150

100

50

0
V-DW-T

V-DW-M

V-DW-S

C-DW-T

C-DW-M

C-DW-S

B-DW-T

B-DW-M

B-DW-S
Viscose Cotton Bamboo

Fiber Type

Figure 8. Water absorption rates of dyed and washed fabrics.

Table 6. Pair-wise comparison matrix of criteria with respect to objective and codes

Transfer Drying Vertical wicking Vertical wicking Water Normalized

wicking (%) rate (g/h/m2) height (cm) capacity (%) absorbency (%) weights Codes

Transfer wicking (%) 1 1 1 5 7 0.298 C1

Drying rate (g/h/m2) 1 1 1 5 7 0.298 C2
Vertical wicking height (cm) 1 1 1 5 7 0.298 C3
Vertical wicking capacity (%) 1/5 1/5 1/5 1 3 0.069 C4
Water absorbency(%) 1/7 1/7 1/7 1/3 1 0.037 C5

pores (especially total pore volume) in the viscose fab-

rics in favor of better water absorbency behavior.
According to the ANOVA results, the water absorb-
ency of the samples was affected by both fiber type and
stitch length (for fiber type F ¼ 15.116, p ¼ 0.000 and
for stitch length viscose: F ¼ 487.509, p ¼ 0.000;
cotton: F ¼ 98.502, p ¼ 0.000; bamboo: F ¼ 324.447,
p ¼ 0.000). Moreover, the data obtained from Duncan
test suggested that for the laundered samples, the water
absorption rates of the samples may have been domin-
antly affected by fiber characteristics; irrespective of
fiber type there was no significant difference between
the water absorption values of the samples produced
at different settings (i.e. slack, medium and tight).
Finally, unlike the unlaundered fabrics, bivariate
correlation analysis revealed there was no correlation
(R2 ¼ 0.102) between porosity and the water absorb-
ency of the laundered samples at a 99% significance
level.
Performing hybrid AHP-TOPSIS approach
AHP was used to determine the relative weights of five
decision criteria according to their relative importance
for liquid properties of seamless garments (see Table 2).
As drying rate, transfer wicking, vertical wicking
height, vertical wicking capacity and water absorption
capacity are important and influential parameters of
liquid transfer properties of seamless garments, they
were taken as criteria and the normalized weights
were calculated in accordance with Equation 6. The
pair-wise comparison matrix of the five decision criteria
with respect to their importance level can be seen
in Table 6.
The relative weights of transfer wicking, drying rate
and vertical wicking height were found to be equal and
maximum (0.298) whereas water absorbency got the
minimum weight value (0.037).

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Duru and Candan 603

Table 7. Decision matrix of the unwashed garments Table 9. Weighted normalization matrix of the unwashed
garments
Decision matrix
Weighted normalization matrix
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
W¼1 0.298 0.298 0.298 0.069 0.037
V-D-T 35.16 46.15 1.2 41.90 174.46 W¼1 0.298 0.298 0.298 0.069 0.037
V-D-M 33.24 51.73 1.3 51.65 172.54 V-D-T 0.0860 0.0977 0.1219 0.0321 0.0110
V-D-S 34.99 58.23 1.5 50.09 166.01 V-D-M 0.0813 0.1096 0.1320 0.0396 0.0109
C-D-T 36.66 39.38 0.8 11.87 192.36 V-D-S 0.0856 0.1233 0.1523 0.0384 0.0105
C-D-M 36.15 45.01 1.2 23.51 227.56 C-D-T 0.0897 0.0834 0.0812 0.0091 0.0122
C-D-S 37.21 51.76 0.5 10.20 202.45 C-D-M 0.0884 0.0953 0.1219 0.0180 0.0144
B-D-T 49.29 39.72 0.4 8.84 188.95 C-D-S 0.0910 0.1096 0.0508 0.0078 0.0128
B-D-M 47.82 44.34 0.7 13.62 198.67 B-D-T 0.1206 0.0841 0.0406 0.0068 0.0120
B-D-S 50.26 42.40 0.5 14.71 203.23 B-D-M 0.1170 0.0939 0.0711 0.0104 0.0126
B-D-S 0.1229 0.0898 0.0508 0.0113 0.0129
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack; D: dyed.
Positive ideal 0.1229 0.1233 0.1523 0.0396 0.0144
solution
Negative ideal 0.0813 0.08342 0.04062 0.00677 0.0105
solution
Table 8. Decision matrix of the washed (W) garments
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack; D: dyed.
Decision matrix

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5

W¼1 0.298 0.298 0.298 0.069 0.037 Table 10. Weighted normalization matrix of washed (W)
V-DW-T 30.39 52.73 0.4 5.62 214.72 garments
V-DW-M 25.15 43.47 0.5 13.41 191.27
Weighted normalization matrix
V-DW-S 45.57 40.67 0.4 6.62 194.33
C-DW-T 33.77 42.80 0.6 6.08 190.43 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5
C-DW-M 24.72 49.92 1.1 43.55 181.71
W¼1 0.298 0.298 0.298 0.069 0.037
C-DW-S 28.89 53.17 0.7 26.23 192.51
V-DW-T 0.0950 0.1028 0.0415 0.0035 0.0139
B-DW-T 30.61 46.68 1.5 61.68 161.25
V-DW-M 0.0786 0.0848 0.0518 0.0084 0.0124
B-DW-M 25.61 67.18 0.7 41.95 185.38
V-DW-S 0.1424 0.0793 0.0415 0.0042 0.0126
B-DW-S 35.74 56.59 1.7 61.34 180.11
C-DW-T 0.1056 0.0834 0.0622 0.0038 0.0123
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack; DW: dyed C-DW-M 0.0773 0.0973 0.1141 0.0274 0.0117
and washed.
C-DW-S 0.0903 0.1037 0.0726 0.0165 0.0124
B-DW-T 0.0957 0.0910 0.1555 0.0388 0.0104
For the measurement of consistency of judgment, B-DW-M 0.0800 0.1310 0.0726 0.0264 0.0120
the original matrix is multiplied by the weight vector B-DW-S 0.1117 0.1103 0.1763 0.0385 0.0116
to get the product. With the help of Equation 7, max Positive ideal 0.1424 0.1310 0.1763 0.0388 0.0139
was found to be 5.070491. Therefore, solution
Negative ideal 0.07726 0.07928 0.04148 0.00353 0.01043
5, 070491  5
CI ¼ ¼ 0, 017623 solution
51
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack; DW: dyed
CI 0, 017623 and washed.
CR ¼ ¼ ¼ 0, 015735 5 0, 1
RCI 1, 12
The weighted normalized decision matrixes of both
As the value of CR is below 0.1, the comparison groups are shown in Tables 9 and 10.
matrix remains consistent. After identifying the positive (A+) and negative ideal
The performance values of the decision matrixes for solution (A), the separation of each alternative from
both groups of the samples are shown in Table 7 and the ideal solution was calculated using Equations 11
Table 8. and 12. The relative closeness of the alternatives (Rj)

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604 Textile Research Journal 83(6)

Table 11. Preference order for dyed (D) garments results showed that fiber type as well as stitch length
had a significant influence on liquid transfer character-
Reference order
istic properties of the fabrics. Furthermore, the repeated
Relative laundering processes appeared to affect fiber and fabric
Fabrics d+ d closeness rank characteristics at varying degrees, which resulted in
changing the liquid transfer performances of the fabrics.
V-D-S 0.0376 0.1228 0.77 1
However, ANOVA analysis does not offer a method
V-D-M 0.0485 0.1006 0.67 2 by which the possible best option can be selected by
V-D-T 0.0549 0.0864 0.61 3 taking the overall liquid transfer performances of the
C-D-M 0.0580 0.0833 0.59 4 samples into account. As a result, the AHP-TOPSIS
B-D-M 0.0914 0.0483 0.35 5 approach, which is a flexible and powerful multi-
C-D-T 0.0932 0.0416 0.31 6 criteria decision method tool developed for complicated
B-D-S 0.1106 0.0436 0.28 7 problems, was adopted for the study.
B-D-T 0.1229 0.0393 0.24 8 With reference to the AHP-TOPSIS results, it may be
C-D-S 0.1120 0.0299 0.21 9 concluded that the cotton fabrics may be employed for
use under normal conditions, however, their properties
B: bamboo; V: viscose; C: cotton; T: tight; M: medium; S: slack. make them unsuitable for use in strenuous activities.
With respect to the viscose fabrics, the characteristics
of viscose fiber seem to contribute to the liquid transfer
Table 12. Preference order for dyed and washed (DW) properties of the fabrics made from them, but the laun-
garments dering process worsens these properties, making them
also less suitable for use in next-to-the-skin-type gar-
Reference order
ments. Unlike the viscose fabrics, the laundering process
Relative improved the liquid transfer properties of the bamboo
Fabrics d+ d closeness rank fabrics and turned them into the best alternative offered.
Consequently, it should be noted that laundering the
B-DW-T 0.0650 0.1214 0.65 1
samples before testing their liquid transfer perform-
C-DW-M 0.0969 0.0785 0.45 2
ances would produce more reliable results, though
B-DW-S 0.2395 0.1468 0.38 3 there is no doubt that further studies need to be con-
B-DW-M 0.1217 0.0646 0.35 4 ducted for defining the optimum laundering conditions
V-DW-S 0.1485 0.0652 0.31 5 (in terms of number of cycles, temperature, etc.) for
C-DW-S 0.1213 0.0436 0.26 6 that purpose.
C-DW-T 0.1336 0.0354 0.21 7
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