Mercerized cotton fiber is known for high moisture regain and high capacity for absorption. We, therefore, studied the absorbency characteristics of the mercerized cotton fibers. Mercerization and bleaching was done both in industrial plants and also in the SRRC laboratories. Effectiveness of mercerization was verified to be excellent by each of the following tests: (1) X-ray diffraction, (2) HVI fiber length, micronaire and % elongation at break tests (3) Wet retentive value (wrv) test on centrifugation, (4) % moisture determination, and (5) by the direct color dyeing test. In this paper we discussed the absorbent characteristics of the needlepunched fabrics from the following fibers:

(a) Bleached, card-finished cotton (control) (b) Mercerized, bleached, card-finished cotton (c, d) Form W of fibers in (a) and (b)