Towards Sustainable Jeans Production: Experimental Evaluation of a Denim Fabric to Abrasion Resistance by Dry Fabric-to-Fabric Rubbing

Abstract Initially renowned for its durability and utility in work clothing, denim fabric has now gained global popularity and is mass-produced worldwide. Unfortunately, despite their widespread use, some denim products lack long-term wear resistance and become textile waste within a short period, deepening environmental pollution. To fight against textile waste and transition to sustainable production methods, stricter regulations regarding the quality of manufactured textile products need to be implemented. The most used test method for evaluation of abrasion resistance applies Martindale tester according to DIN EN ISO 12947-1:2007 and ASTM D4966-22, where a special abradant fabric is used. A more realistic assessment of the abrasion resistance of trouser fabrics, for example, is achieved by performing fabric-to-fabric rubbing. In the paper, these two test methods are performed using 2 types of denim fabrics. One is made of 100% cotton, while the other contains 98% cotton and 2% elastane. Both denim structures showed approximately the same abrasion resistance by fabric-to-fabric rubbing, up to about 80,000 cycles, while the difference between the cycles in the standard test reached about 2 times (18000 and 42000 cycles respectively). The end point of testing was evaluated by the appearance of 2 or more broken threads. The mass and colour loss were also measured as well as the changes in the thickness and air permeability.