The mechanism of wrinkling of cotton fabric in a front loading washer: the effect of mechanical action

In order to understand the impact of mechanical action on the wrinkling of cotton fabrics in a drum washer, fabric movement was observed and a movement index system was developed to characterize the textile motion. Results showed that wash load and spinning speed were the major factors influencing the smoothness of cotton fabrics, with a p value of 0.032 and 0.00 respectively at 95% confidence level. The analysis of fabric movement illustrated that when the wash load increased, the free motion region decreases and the ratio of passive motion region increase, resulting in severe wrinkling of cotton fabric.A regression model was developed to characterize the relationship between fabric movement and smoothness.. These findings help the understanding of the mechanism of wrinkling during a drum washer washing.