Elastic knits with different structures composed by using wrapped yarns: Function and comfort evaluations

In this study, the wrap yarns are made with antibacterial/green charcoal plied yarns as the wrap material and moisture management yarns as the core by using a rotary twisting machine. The wrap yarns and Tetoron(®) elastic yarns are then combined with different structures in order to form elastic knits. The elastic knits are then evaluated for their functions in terms of their antibacterial properties, far infrared radiation rate, and anion counts, as well as comfort in terms of settling time, wicking performance, water vapor permeability, softness, and air permeability, in order to examine the influences of jersey structure, stripe structures and mesh structures. The test results indicate that the combination of five green charcoal filaments and a mesh structure provides the elastic knits with the maximum functions and comfort, due to a high content of functional fibers per unit area. The optimal FIR emissivity reaches 0.89, maximum anion amount is 673±21.4, and the highest permeability is 63.9±2.6 cm(3)/cm(2)/s. As a result, the proposed elastic knits have an adjustable fabric structure that is feasible to meet any requirements and thus has a broad application range.