Over the past three decades Bangladesh’s RMG (readymade garments) industry has expanded rapidly [1]. This RMG sector is earning the highest foreign currency (84.21%) among the total exports of Bangladesh [2]. So, RMG industry plays a major role in the economy of this country. The amount of foreign currency can be increased by improving product quality [3]. Denim (Jeans) washing is considered as one of the frequently used finishing treatments that have widespread use in RMG sectors due to creating a special appearance and making trendy and comfortable garments of today’s world that are commonly used [4]. Due to its weaving and dyeing results, denim clothing is uncomfortable to wear without finishing treatments. For this, it basically requires a finishing treatment to make it wear even better, smoother and comfortable [5]. The popularity of clothing was growing day by day, particularly on denim clothing on the world market [6]. A range of treatment methods such as bleaching treatment, enzymatic treatment, acid treatment, and silicone treatment are widely used for the washing of denim garments. They all aim for new possible effects of the appearance of fabric [7]. Garments’ outlook is one of the most important aspects of its consistency [8] and various chemical and mechanical treatments on readymade garments give the production of very interesting and original visual effects on their surfaces. One of the current trends in fashion is the retro look or an aged look or a distressed look for casual wear that has become very popular among young clients [9]. Acid wash on denim jeans is becoming very popular due to its striking contrasts and attractive color appearance. Indigo & Sulfur base fabric clothes can be washed with acid. Acid washing of denim clothing is usually performed by tumbling the garments with pumice stones presoaked in a solution containing sodium hypochlorite (5% to 10%) or potassium permanganate (3% to 6%) [10]. In recent years, an increasing interest has been shown in the use of environmentally friendly, non-toxic, fully biodegradable enzymes in modern textile manufacturing finishing processes. Enzymatic treatment may replace a variety of mechanical and chemical processes used to enhance the comfort and quality of the fabrics [11] [12]. In the textile industry, enzymes are primarily used to achieve a smoother, less sticky fabric sheet, to reduce the tendency to form a pill, to improve the handling and to smooth the surface, together with conventional softeners. Development studies in this area focused on the application of enzymes to cellulose materials based on cotton, linen, viscose and their blending with synthetic fibres [13] - [18]. This paper investigated the impact of bleach, enzyme and acid wash on the physical and mechanical properties of denim apparel.

In the study, a denim fabric (Figure 1) which is mostly used was collected from a 100% export oriented denim industry of Bangladesh. The fabric was 100% cotton, 3/1 twill, warp count was 10/1 Ne Carded and weft yarn was Ne 12.5/1 Carded. During fabric production, the Picanol Rapier weaving machine was used and the weight of the produced denim fabric (Figure 1) was 12.5 Oz/Yd².

After that samples (leg panels) (Table 1) were produced using the manufactured denim fabric (Figure 1). Mainly two types of seam (superimposed and lapped) (Figure 1) were applied in the leg panels of trousers by industrial lock stitch and feed off the arm machine. In this case, the sewing thread was 100% spun polyester (20/2 Nm) keeping other machine parameters constant. Total no. of the samples for this research was 120. The detailed distribution of samples is stated in Table 1.

The produced leg panels were treated by bleach wash, enzyme wash and acid wash using standard recipes. The washing process was accomplished in a sample washing machine (Ngai-shing, Hong Kong).

Treated all denim leg panels were conditioned in 65% RH and 20˚C temperature for 24 hours before testing. Tensile strength (breaking force) was determined by US standard grab test method according to ASTM D5034. Seam strength of samples was measured by TITAN Universal strength tester according to ISO 13935-2:2014. Experiment data of fabric strength (Table 2) and seam strength (Table 3 & Table 4) are given.

Outlook, comfort and fashion of garments can be changed or modified by washing. Different washing processes are used for producing different outlooks of garments. Nowadays, garment washing is a very demanding process. Basically it is a value added process for the value addition; usually it would like to go for different types of process where fabric quality as well as garment quality deteriorates. In this study, three different washing treatments were applied on trousers (leg panels) and the strength change was observed. Though the strength differs with the application of three different washing treatments (bleach, enzyme and acid wash) in this study, it is clear that the strength of fabric and seam is lower for washing treatment than that before washing. The result of this study exhibits that fabric strength loss is higher in case of acid wash and the loss of seam strength is higher in case of enzyme wash. So, it can be said that the change in strength loss of fabric and seam is significant which occurs due to the application of bleach, enzyme and acid wash on garments.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Rashid, M.R. and Rahman, M.F. (2020) Study on Fabric and Seam Strength Loss of Denim Trousers for Different Washing Treatments. Journal of Textile Science and Technology, 6, 114-122. https://doi.org/10.4236/jtst.2020.63009