ABSTRACT

One of the major objectives of US textile industry is to process waste and low-grade materials into economically viable consumer products. The utilization of the large quantities of waste polyester fibers annually generated by clothing and home furnishing industries could be very beneficial economically and more importantly, environmentally. It is well known that under ambient conditions it takes a long time for synthetic fibers such as polyester to degrade, thus creating significant environmental problems. The development of new consumer products such as low-cost, semi-disposable, nonwoven thermal blankets that could be made from various blends of waste polyester fibers and greige cotton would benefit both the environment and the economy. Many of the nonwoven blankets currently available on the market do not have soft, comfortable hand and most of them are intended for dry-cleaning only. The goal of this research was to study the basic thermal insulation properties of nonwoven blanket materials made from reprocessed PET/cotton.