Seeking alternative textile resources from the perspective of recycled blankets

Blankets, one of the most important textile products, constitute a traditional product group with a wide range of uses. Blankets which are produced from different types of fibres and yarns, with different patterns and constructions are preferred by the customers for many purposes such as warmth and protection and it is possible to manufacture different types of blankets like in various sizes. The rapid increase in consumer demands in recent years has led manufacturers to look for new sustainable resources in addition to natural resources. For this reason, in the last few decades academic interest focused on sustainability studies like manufacturing recycled textile materials and determination of their properties. Nowadays, pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled fibres and yarns are utilized up to a certain degree in many product groups such as carpets, blankets, socks, denims, etc. Investigation of dimensional stability, weight loss, and colour changes of blanket manufactured from recycled yarns under repeated washing conditions was the aim of this study. For this purpose, firstly, dimensional changes after five washing cycles were determined. Gradually, weight loss with repeated washings were measured. And finally, changes in colour of blanket after repeated washing cycles were calculated by colour difference value (ΔE) considering CIE lab coordinate values (lightness, greenness-redness, and blueness-yellowness). Besides, this study shed a light on the manufacture of sustainable textile materials.