Effect of Blending Ratio of Fibers on the Properties of Nonwoven Fabrics Based of Alfa Fibers

Natural fibers are nowadays increasingly employed for making nonwoven, replacing the synthetic materials due to economic and environmental considerations. In this setting, we examine the use of Alfa fibers in nonwoven. Extracted Alfa fibers present satisfying mechanical properties that allow them to be used to produce nonwoven textiles materials. Therefore, Alfa fibers are, mainly, blended with cotton, polyester, Tencel and wool. Webs are prepared using cotton or wool cards in regular width. The nonwoven consolidation is made by needle-punching method. The weight, thickness, air permeability, adiathermic capacity and tensile properties are investigated. The results exhibit that the air permeability increases with the increase of Alfa fibers ratio for the nonwoven Alfa blended with short fibers. It decreases in case of Alfa/Wool blend. We can conclude also that the nonwoven Alfa blended with wool fibers have the highest properties values for all the Alfa fibers blends. Data also revealed that the tensile properties are reduced with the increment of Alfa fibers ratio.