Recycled Polyester and Cotton Blended Siro Spun Yarns and Fabrics: A Sustainable and Eco-friendly Approach

In this paper, we report the comparison of physical properties of 19.68 Tex (30 Nec)/1 Siro spun yarns and fabrics manufactured from 100% cotton, virgin polyester, and recycled polyester in 50:50 blend ratio with cotton fibers. Tensile analysis revealed that recycled polyester-cotton siro spun yarns exhibited comparable tensile strength to the virgin polyester-cotton yarns. The evenness and structural uniformity of the recycled polyester-cotton yarn was also equivalent to the polyester-cotton siro spun yarns. Plain weave (1/1) fabrics were manufactured from the obtained yarns. Recycled polyester-cotton blended fabrics depicted comparable tensile, tear, and ball bursting strength to the virgin polyester-cotton blended fabrics, and exhibited better wettability, air permeability, and were less prone to pilling when compared with the polyester-cotton blended fabrics. Recycled polyester-cotton fabrics also exhibited good drape properties and less shear stiffness in the Kawabata analysis when compared to their counterparts. Based on the results obtained, it may be safely concluded that the recycled polyester fibers can be used as an alternative to virgin polyester fibers in siro spun medium-count yarns and consequent fabrics.