title: In vitro assessment of ultraviolet protection of coloured cotton knitted fabrics with different structures under stretched and wet conditions.
abstract: Clothing provides intrinsic ultraviolet (UV) protection that can be improved by colouration. However, the daily wearing condition can undermine the UV protection of coloured clothing wherein garments are stretched by body movement and/or wetted by perspiration of wearers. Knitwear is an indispensable clothing in summer, but its UV protection against wearing conditions lacks extensive study especially in a fabric structural approach. This article aimed at narrowing the research gap by focusing on the UV protection against stretch and wetness provided by various knitted fabric constructions incorporating the knit, tuck and miss stitches. The results show that the black knitted fabrics exhibit a significant reduction in the UV protection factor by 53% on average at a 10% stretch level. Knitted fabrics with miss stitches retained good UV protection even when the fabrics were stretched by 20% of its original dimensions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: W Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China jimmy.lam@polyu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: J K C
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Postle
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D003368:Gossypium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D011481:Protective Clothing; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D012621:Seasons; D013784:Textiles / Q000032:analysis* / Q000528:radiation effects; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays