Suitable fabric for men´s jeans

For this blog about the suitable fabric for men’s jeans we have chosen a dark blue denim. We will talk about the history of denim, the technical construction, the properties and the care for this fabric. 

History

Denim fabric was used in the uniforms of the U.S. Navy. Levi Strauss used the fabric to create jeans by putting rivets on stress points of workman’s waist high overalls in order to supply gold miners with strong clothes that did not tear during the mining in 1880.

The word Denim comes from the name of a sturdy fabric called serge, originally made in Nîmes, France, by the Andre family. Denim was originally called serge de Nîmes, it was then shortened to Denim.

Technical Construction

The fabric we’ve chosen is made of 100% cotton. Cotton is natural fibre which is made by the cotton plant. It is often used in clothing, because of its comfort. Cotton is also used in Denim fabric, but not only for its comfort.

Denim is usually constructed in a twill weave. You can recognize a twill by the diagonal lines, which can run to both sides. The used fabric is a 2/1 twill, which means that one warp is woven over 2 wefts. Therefore you see a dominance of warps. Why is a twill weave so common for denim? Soil and stains are less noticeable on the uneven surface of twills than on smooth surfaces, such as plain weaves. Thus, twills are often used for sturdy work clothing. 

 The peculiarity of denim is a blue warp and white weft. The warp is often dyed with indigo, which is a natural dye that gives an intense blue color and is significant for the jeans. So the fabric is yarn-died. Both yarns have a Z-twist. The warp is thicker than the weft.

To show the usability of the denim for a men´s jeans we tested the fabric. The test of the tear strength shows that the fabric tears at very high weight. The chosen fabric had a 20,45 N. The fabric is tested in the weft direction. The strength is even higher in the warp direction, because the warp yarns are thicker and stronger. So the fabric can be used for a jeans, because this strength is suitable for a jeans that needs to be strong.

 

Furthermore we tested the wear resistance. The Martindale-machine rubs the fabric 5000 times against a woolen fabric. Afterwards you can see the change of the fabric.On the fabrics are nearly no pills and there are also no holes in it. So the denim is really robust and is therefore perfect for a men´s jeans.

Denim often loses its color, which makes it seem old very fast. Therefore we tested the colour fastness to washing and the colour fastness to rubbing. We washed the denim with a piece of multifibre fabric to show which fibres take on the denim-blue. Cotton did not adopt the colour. But fibres like acetat, polyamid and polyacryl adopted the colour. This indicates that denim should not be washed together with textiles of these fibres. The care of denim will be discussed later. The colour fastness to rubbing shows that the fabric loses its colour when a wet cotton fabric-piece rubbing on it.

 

The weight of the fabric is 418 grams per square meter. (418X 0.0352739619=14,745 ounce per 1.1959900463 yard) Most blue jeans are made from medium weight denim at 12 to 16 ounces per yard. This fabric is 12,4 ounce per yard so it indicates a light-weight denim, which is not as strong as other denim fabrics with a higher ounce per yard.

Properties of the fabric

Denim fabric has a range of specific qualities that make it an excellent, hard-wearing garment fabric. The durability of cotton is the most desirable property of denim fabric. Cotton is comfortable next to skin, since the fibres are very fine and soft.

Most denim fabrics will last for years with proper care and laundering. As with most woven fabrics, denim will not fray if the fabric is sliced lengthwise, but will shred if it is cut along the width. In order to avoid fraying, it should be cut along the length. Denim also has a relatively low elasticity which keeps it from stretching while the cotton fibers are being put to work.

The thermal insulation is not so good like in other materials, which is suitable for working clothes when workers work in warm environments. Cotton is considered a breathable fabric, due to the highly porous nature of its fibers. Cotton fabric can absorb up to 27 times its weight in water.  This makes cotton clothing comfortable, because it absorbs sweat, keeping the fabric off the skin. This characteristic makes denim clothes more comfortable in hot weather, despite their heavy weight. Cotton is also the only fiber that strenths when it is wet, at least 20% of the strength when it is dry. This property is good for cleaning, particular for working clothes. It can withstand higher temperatures than most fabrics which makes it ideal for ironing, probably this property is not as important for working clothes as washing.

Cotton has some disadvantages which makes it not a good fabric for other uses. It shrinks and wrinkles easily, which makes it unsuitable for professional clothing. Its tendency to soak up water also makes it a poor choice for exercise and sports clothing. Cotton is more suitable for jeans than for the other garments.

Care of denim fabric

One of the chief benefits of cotton fabric is its ease of care. When it comes to working clothes it can be washed thoroughly to keep them clean. When it comes to more fashionable jeans the washing should be careful to keep the color and the newness. Cotton can be washed at a fairly high temperature (higher than the care instruction says), but this is not recommended for denim. Any good detergent can be used to wash cotton, but when it comes to the jeans, there shouldn’t be bleach in it and preferably a detergent for dark clothing. A higher heat setting is needed in the dryer to dry cotton. Cotton will take much longer to dry than less absorbent fibers. To keep the jeans’ appearance look as new as possible it shouldn’t be tumble dried. To keep the color of the jeans as long as possible the jeans shouldn’t be washed frequently. It really depends on the use of the jeans how the jeans should be washed.