Objective Evaluation of Luster (Gloss 60 degrees) of Different Indian Wools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Luster for a fiber/fabric system is a phenomenon to the reflectance of incident light to the surface, addressed as its shine or gloss. Presently, objective evaluation of the shine for straight hair (human hair) can be quantified through Goniophotometer, and for a smooth plane and curved surfaces, the Gloss meter was used. Due to non-availability of suitable instrumental assistance, the wool luster is subjectively evaluated to determine wool quality. In the present study, the estimation of surface shines of multiple curved surfaces of crimped wool fibers has been explored in terms of gloss 60° values on gloss meter. The methodology for the wool sample preparation and its mounting on newly designed and developed platform was standardized for luster measurement using gloss meter. Wool samples of different grades/sheep breed viz. Carpet- Magra, Chokla and New Zealand, Apparel- Bharat Merino and Coarse -Malpura breed were selected for the present study. Thirty samples of wool from each breed were used for evaluating the luster. The average Gloss 60° values for Malpura, Magra, Chokla, Bharat Merino, and New Zealand wool was 2.30, 2.71, 2.43, 2.76, and 2.88, respectively. The differences in Gloss 60° values of different wool was found significantly (P < .01) different. The measured Gloss values had shown a good relation (R = .78) with subjectively assessed luster rank.