Novel testing equipment for fabric wrinkle resistance simulating actual wear

Wrinkling is one of the most important factors that determine the visual aesthetic of our clothes. To investigate wrinkling characteristics in actual wear and explore the relationship between the wrinkling caused by wearing and testing results of the wrinkle recovery angle (WRA) method, we made a device that can produce wrinkles very similar to those on clothes. Twenty-four fabrics were wrinkled by the device, and the images of wrinkled fabrics were analyzed. Wrinkle density (WD) was defined for wrinkling characterization. In addition, fractal dimension (FD) and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) variables were also used to describe wrinkling. These features were subsequently correlation analyzed with wrinkle recovery angles in 11 directions. The results show that both FD and WD can be used to characterize the wrinkling behavior and wrinkles generated by the device have obvious fractal characteristics. The larger the wrinkle recovery angle, the lower the fractal dimension. GLCM variables (energy, entropy, contrast, and correlation) had not shown obvious correlation with WRA. Furthermore, the wrinkling behavior in the 45° direction plays an important role in actual wear. It is advised that the WRA in the 45° direction be tested.