Factors during tumble drying that influence dimensional stability and distortion of cotton knitted fabrics

The length and width shrinkages, skewness, spirality and moisture content of three weft knitted cotton structures, plain single jersey, interlock and lacoste, were determined at regular intervals during tumble drying. Significant length and width shrinkages occurred in all three structures with the amount of shrinkage increasing rapidly in plain single jersey and lacoste as their moisture contents fell below 30 per cent. Distortion was less affected by tumble drying. An attempt was made to isolate the effects of heat and agitation during tumble drying. It has been demonstrated that similar patterns of shrinkage and distortion occur whether heat is applied during tumble drying or not. The tumbling action in a tumble drier has the greatest influence on the dimensional stability and distortion of weft knitted cotton fabrics.