International Journal of Textile Science 2017, 6(3): 88-91

DOI: 10.5923/j.textile.20170603.02

Comparison of Several Cotton Yarn Properties

before and after Conditioning
Khan Ayub Nabi, Abir Nafis*, Hawlader Md. Ramij

Dept. of Textile Engineering, BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology, Dhaka Bangladesh

Abstract This article summarizes the effect of yarn conditioning on several yarn properties like moisture content, tenacity,
elongation at break and yarn hairiness. At the early stages of fibre to yarn manufacturing, the range of moisture content in the
cotton fibre lies around the standard level but after yarn manufacturing which becomes lowered, which creates several
negative impacts on different yarn properties. To avoid this incident, presence of exact amount of moisture in the fibres is
ensured through yarn conditioning process. During this research, yarn made from different fibre lots were tested before and
after conditioning to analyze how conditioning puts significant impact on moisture content, tenacity, elongation at break
and hairiness of yarn. The result showed around 5% increase in moisture content, around 4 to 6 % decrease in hairiness, 12 to
13 % increase in elongation at break, and a significant change in yarn tenacity. Besides these, this article also provides some
explanations behind each impact.
Keywords Yarn conditioning, Moisture content, Tenacity, Elongation at break, Hairiness

increased around 15% after heat setting at 90°C. and an

1. Introduction increase of 8% in terms of elongation at break [5].
Ahmed et al. analyzed the tensile properties of different
The aim of yarn conditioning is to ensure the presence of fabrics in different relative humidity and found that after
exact amount of moisture in yarn packages. After increasing the relative humidity from 55% to 85% through
conditioning, different properties of yarn like tenacity, conditioning, tensile strength of cotton fabric increased
elongation at break, thermal conductivity, air permeability, around 20% in warp direction and 33% increase in weft
pilling resistance etc. get improved [1]. Yarn conditioning direction [6].
also provides better performances of yarn in post spinning Uzair Hussain et al. tested hosiery yarn and knit fabric
processes like warping, weaving, knitting etc [2]. after conditioning through different methods and found an
This article deals about four major yarn properties like increase in CLSP value and also around 60% increase in the
moisture content, hairiness, tenacity and elongation at break bursting strength of knit fabric [7].
and the analysis shows that how much these properties get
influenced by yarn conditioning.
During the experiment, yarns having same count from 2. Materials and Methods
different lots were made. Above stated yarn properties were During this experiment cotton fibres from three different
checked by using USTER Evenness Tester 3 and USTER lots were taken from CIS origin (Uzbekistan). The whole
Tensojet before and after conditioning to analyze the impact experiment was done at the spinning unit of Padma Textile
on stated above yarn properties [3]. Mills Ltd.
Sardag et al. did a research about the effect of conditioning Yarns of 30Ne count were produced. After that yarns were
on the tenacity properties of cotton and viscose yarn. They tested by Uster EvennessTester-3 and Uster Tensojet before
found significant changes after conditioning. Such as, after and after conditioning (conditioning time 25 min,
conditioning a 16 Ne at 80°C for 30 minutes they got 9.31% conditioning temp. 80-85°C).
increase in breaking load and 2.16% increase in breaking The objective of conditioning is to ensure the presence of
tenacity [4]. necessary amount of moisture in order to achieve a lasting
Kara et al. analyzed the effect of heat setting on improvement in quality [8].
polyester/Viscose blended yarn and found that yarn tenaciy Conditioning was done according to the vacuum steaming
process. In this process, at first vacuum removes the air
* Corresponding author:
[email protected] (Abir Nafis) pockets and then water vapor is applied to the yarn packages
Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/textile in the form of steam in a vacuum condition, so that saturated
Copyright © 2017 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved steam can diffuse uniformly into the yarn cones [9-11].
 International Journal of Textile Science 2017, 6(3): 88-91 89

Uster evenness tester is equipment which is used to Table 1. Effect percentage of conditioning on yarn properties
evaluate the quality parameters of sliver, roving and Test
Increase
specially the yarn. This instrument determines the Parameter
unevenness (U%), co-efficient of variation of the fibrous Moisture Content % 5%
strand throughout the whole length, yarn hairiness, Hairiness value -4.8%
Yarn Lot No. 4056C
imperfection index (IPI) etc.
Tenacity (cN/tex) 1.35%
Uster evenness tester evaluates the fibre strands by
Elongation (%) 12.17%
measuring capacitance where the fibrous strands are passed
through two parallel plates of a capacitor and the changes of Test
Increase
the capacitance due to the change of masses of the materials Parameter
through the parallel plates are recorded [12]. Moisture Content % 4.63%
Yarn Lot No. 4058C
Hairiness value -5.9%
Tenacity (cN/tex) -0.38%
Elongation (%) 12.32%
Test
Increase
Parameter
Moisture Content % 4.51%
Yarn Lot No. 8020C
Hairiness value 0.8%
Tenacity (cN/tex) 1.20%
Elongation (%) 13.29%

3.1. Effect of Conditioning on Moisture Content

Figure 1. Uster Tester 3 The major contributions of conditioning comes with the
increase in moisture content of yarn as well as increase in the
Uster Tensojet is a tensile tester where sample is clamped package weight.
between top and bottom roller and then extended by another After conditioning the increase in the moisture content in
rotating roller which rotates in counter direction with respect different yarn lots are shown below. It is seen that after
to the clamping rollers. Here, extension is continued until conditioning Moisture content has been increased about 5%
rupture of the yarn sample to get the breaking load and for each yarn lot.
extension values [13]. During yarn conditioning, yarn packages are fed into the
closed vessel of a yarn conditioning machine. Since
conditioning machine applies saturated steam into the layers
of yarn packages, a major rise regarding moisture content has
been seen [14].

14
12.44 12.51 12.4
12
Moisture content (%)

10
7.88 7.89
8 7.44

Figure 2. Uster Tensojet 4

Finally data was collected regarding the effect of 2

conditioning on yarn properties and analyzed.
0
lot no. 4056C lot no. 4058C lot no. 8020C
3. Results and Discussion
Yarn from different lots
The Table 1 shows the effect of conditioning on four key
before conditioning After conditioning
properties of yarn. Numerical values are shown at the table
before and after conditioning. The negative signs indicate the
percentage of deterioration after conditioning. Chart 1. Effect of conditioning on moisture content
90 Khan Ayub Nabi et al.: Comparison of Several Cotton Yarn Properties before and after Conditioning

3.2. Effect of Yarn Conditioning on Yarn Hairiness Yarn tenacity also increases after conditioning. Among
Positive influences has seen regarding yarn hairiness value. three yarns, two of them show an increase in the tenacity
It is seen among three yarn samples that, two of them shows value, though one sample shows a very slight reduction in
a decrease in the hairiness value where other yarn show tenacity, but it is almost same to the tenacity value before
almost same result. conditioning.
Reduction of hairiness may occur due to the fact that, after This fluctuation of tenacity value from the regular
conditioning, possibility of static electricity formation tendency may occur due to the improper instrument
reduces which can render the repulsion of neighboring fibres handling.
[15]. Again after conditioning, cotton fibre obtains a The addition of tenacity occurs due to the swelling of
favorable degree of softness which may also influence the screw shaped fibrils of cotton fibres. After conditioning,
reduction of hairiness after conditioning [16]. fibrils tend to untwist and unbend and simultaneously
become pressed more efficiently against each other by
5
4.57 4.57
swelling action which increases the resistance of fibres
4.5 4.35 4.3 against any external force [17].

4 3.4. Effect of Yarn Conditioning on Elongation at Break

3.4 3.43 of Yarn
3.5
A dramatic addition is seen in the elongation at break of
Hairiness value

3 yarn. After analyzing data it is seen that in every cases

2.5 conditioning process provides a 10-13% increase in the
elongation at break value.
2
During conditioning of cotton yarn, water vapor act as
1.5 plasticizer by destroying the rigidity of cellulose structure of
cotton fibre. After addition of moisture, cellulose molecules
1
tend to move more freely with respect to other adjacent
0.5 molecules. As a result cellulose structure becomes capable to
change its shape more frequently against elongation [18].
0
4056C 4058C 8020C 4.8
4.69
yarn from different lots 4.7 4.61
4.6 4.56
before conditioning after conditioning
elongation at break (%)

4.5
Chart 2. Effect of yarn conditioning on yarn hairiness 4.4
4.3
3.3. Effect of Yarn Conditioning on Yarn Tenacity
4.2 4.11 4.14
25.5 4.1 4.06
25.11
24.81 4
25 24.74
3.9
24.41
24.5 3.8
Tenacity (CN/tex)

24 3.7
4056C 4058C 8020C
23.5 23.32
23.23 yarn from different lots
23
before conditioning after conditioning
22.5
Chart 4. Effect of yarn conditioning on elongation at break of yarn
22
4056C 4058C 8020C
4. Conclusions
Yarn from different lots
before conditioning after conditioning Yarn conditioning has an enormous impact on the physical
properties of yarn. From this research work it is seen that,
Chart 3. Effect of yarn conditioning on yarn tenacity conditioning provides remarkable increase in, moisture
content, elongation at break, and a significant decrease in
 International Journal of Textile Science 2017, 6(3): 88-91 91

yarn hairiness. In terms of tenacity, the increase of tenacity [8] “/spinning/yarnconditioning.htm”, [online]. Available:
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2013.
[11] P. K. N Muthukumar, “Yarn conditioning process: an
overview” [online] available:
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