Comparative study of colour yield of cotton knitted fabric made by torque-free ring-spun yarns

Torque-free ring spinning is a new spinning technology that has produced yarns with low twist and balanced torque. In this study, a commercially torque-free ring-spun yarn, namely Estex yarn, with three types of cotton fibre, i.e. Pima, upland and organic cotton, were used. Cotton fabric samples were knitted with Estex yarns and conventional ring-spun yarns. The fabric samples were then dyed with two reactive dyes, Remazol Black B and Remazol Brilliant Blue R Spec., and the fabric dyeability was measured in terms of reflectance and colour yield. Finally, the results were analysed using the statistical software package SPSS and the results revealed that fabric samples manufactured by Estex yarns could achieve a better colour yield than conventional ring-spun fabric samples. In addition, the Pima cotton gave the best colour yield, followed by upland cotton and organic cotton.