Influence of Milkweed Fiber Length on Textile Product Performance

Farmers and scientists joined forces in the late 1980s to develop milkweed as an alternative crop and source offiber. Efforts continue to develop milkweed floss fiber as an insulative fill material. A major barrier to increased utilization is its tendency to form mats during laundering or drycleaning. This research sought to evaluate the effect of fiber length on matting that occurs during cleaning. Milkweed floss in three lengths (full, half, and quarter), milkweed floss in three lengths blended 50l50 with down, plus 100% down, were used as loose fill in comforter samples. Trained judges rated hand (smoothnesslrQUghness) before and after laundering. Results showed that reducing fiber length produced significantly softer and smoother fill materials prior to and following laundering. Although shortened fibers did not entirely eliminate the matting problem associated with laundering, they did form smaller and less noticeable mats. Nevertheless, blending milkweed fibers with down remains the best way to improve smoothness ratings; reducing fiber length did not reduce matting as much as the blending of down with milkweed fibers. Consequently, milkweed floss used as a loose fill material should always be blended with down and producers should continue to subject milkweed floss to vigorous processing since no product advantage is gained by maintaining maximum fiber length.