Thermal and sound insulation properties of chiengora blended nonwoven fabrics

A novel animal fibre chiengora has been explored for its potential application in textile. Chiengora fibres are made into nonwoven fabrics by blending with polyester fibre in different proportions for their better strength. Nonwoven fabrics are also produced from wool and polyester blends in different proportions for comparison. Hair of Lhasa Apso breed dog is chosen to blend with polyester to produce the nonwoven fabric and is analysed for its thermal and sound insulation characteristics. It is observed that 100% chiengora nonwoven fabric has thermal insulation value of 0.211 clo which is 42% higher than that of 100% wool nonwoven fabric (0.121 clo). The 70:30 chiengora/polyester fabric shows a thermal insulation values of 0.141 do which is higher than 100% wool nonwoven fabric. The chiengora nonwoven fabrics also possess similar sound insulation properties like wool [noise reduction coefficient value (NRC) of 0.23 for chiengora and 0.22 for wool]. The increase in the chiengora and wool content in the blends reduces the tensile strength, tear strength and air permeability of the nonwoven fabrics. It is concluded that the chiengora blended nonwoven fabrics could be used as an effective padding material because of their better thermal insulation and sound absorption properties.