Effect of weft-knitted spacer structures to reduce sweat patch visibility in athleisure wear fabrics

Abstract

In the evolving market of athleisure wear, consumers seek garments that blend performance, style, and comfort. Activities ranging from high-intensity workouts to casual lounging can lead to the formation of sweat patches on garments, detracting from their aesthetic appeal. These patches often result due to an imbalance in the sweat evaporation and absorption rates. To address this issue, a novel approach has been introduced that utilizes an optimized yarn combination and innovative knitted structures, integrating effective moisture management with water repellency within the same fabric. Specifically, weft-knitted spacer fabric structures have been developed to facilitate sweat evaporation from targeted areas of the fabric. Variations of the primary structure were fine-tuned to enhance sweat patch visibility reduction. The results obtained by MMT (Moisture Management Tester) revealed a notable difference between the developed fabric variations. As maximum wetted radius being the most crucial attribute to measure the sweat patch visibility reduction, only one fabric sample out of the variations provide the desired results with the wetted radius being 10mm while obtaining a grade of 2. Consequently, with a low wetting time and high spreading speeds the structure demonstrates a favorable behavior in terms of wearer comfort.