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1 ESSENCE - International Journal for Environmental Rehabilitation and Conservation Volume VIII: Special Edition: 1: 17 [6-11] [ISSN ] [ Development of Khadi Apparels of Bharat Merino wool/acrylic Fabric and their Consumer Acceptability Sharma, Prashansha and Pant, Suman Received: May 3, 16 Accepted: June 18, 17 Online: August, 17 Abstract Present study has explored the development of fine quality woolen khadi apparelby blending Indian crossbred wool with acrylic fiber. Bharat Merino wool (BM) was used in the study. Khadi system; hand spinning and hand weaving was used to construct twill woven fabrics in various combination of both the fibers. Evaluation of properties indicated that BM: A is most suitable ratio for fabric development. Prototypes of jackets and shawls were developed and their acceptability respondents. was assessed by hundred Prototypes were found fashionable and highly in terms of cost of fabric, aesthetic appeal and willingness to wear. Keywords: Bharat Merino acrylic Khadi jacket shawl acceptability For Correspondence: : Faculty of Home Science, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan prashansa.sharma11@gmail.com Introduction Khadi is a hand-spun and hand-woven Indiann fabric. It is associated with freedom movement of Gandhi ji. Initiationn of Khadi was a practical attemptt to give livelihood to the villagers who do work with their hands so as to demolish the poverty and lift up the values of the people of Indian villages. Khadi is a popular fabric for its superior property of comfort and uniquenesss of texture. Initially, alll the fibers used in Khadisector r were obtained from natural sources. But later, with the advancement in each and every area, Khadi sector also stepped forward with the ncreasing needs of the market. In order to add features like durability, crease retentionn in handspunn and hand woven Khadi fabrics, polyester fiber was also introduced in Khadi fabric. These are termed as Polyvastra and Poly wool fabrics. They carry almost all the features of Khadi, with only difference being that they also contain man-made fibers. Weaving with hand loom gives Khadi fabrics maximum comfort as it allows maximum air to pass through and soothes the body better than any other fabric. Natural hairiness of Khadi fabrics adds insulation properties in them, so can be used in cooler climates. It 6

2 makes woolen Khadi apparel more insulative as compared to mill-made woolen apparels. Although having high insulative property, Khadi made up of Indian wool fiber has some drawbacks too. It is bulky, heavy in weight and harsh to the skin so it makes the wearer uncomfortable. Secondly, shrinkage is also a drawback in woolen Khadi. Due to these demerits Khadi fabrics made of Indian wool are not in demand as much as they should be. To meet the requirement of apparels, fine quality Merino wool is imported from Australia and New Zealand and isused in khadi sector. This increases cost of the product (Vision, 5). Bharat Merino wool is finer, softer and longer compared to other varieties of wool produced in India (Ammayappan, 7). A need was felt by investigator to explore the possibility of utilization of Bharat Merino wool in blends with synthetic fiber in khadi sector for apparels. An attempt was made to blend acrylic fiber with Indian wool, as it possesses wool like characteristics having thermal insulative property (Miraftab, ). It was expected that addition of acrylic fiber will not affect warmth property of wool and will also decrease cost of the product. Wool/acrylic apparels may fulfill the need for durable, comfortable, easily dyeable, shrink resistant, cost effective woolens. An endeavor was made to develop apparels for cool climate and to evaluate their acceptability. Materials and Methods Bharat merino wool and acrylic fibre have been used for the study. Bharat merino wool was purchased from CSWRI, Avikanagar, Rajasthan. Acrylic in cut staple form was purchased from Ludhiana, Punjab. Preparation of samples Khadi spinning system was used to prepare blended as well as pure yarns. Blending was done in Mahadev woolen mills, Sunder Nagar, Himachal Pradesh. Bharat merino wool was blended with acrylic fiber in four ratios, viz. A:BM, 33A:67BM, 52A:48BM, 67A:33BM. 1% Bharat Merino yarn was also prepared for base reference. Pure acrylic yarn could not be prepared due to hand spinning system used. Hand spinning on Amber Charkha was done to prepare two ply yarns. Weaving of fabric samples of cm width in twill weave was done on handloom at Khadi Aashram, Chandvaji, Jaipur. Various properties of fiber, yarn and fabrics were determined to find out most suitable ratio for the end use product development. Product development For product development, BM: A was selected as it proved to be most suitable ratio in terms of appearance, texture, softness and mechanical properties. Six prototypes for winter wear; four jackets and two shawls were developed. The age group was selected as adult ladies and gents and size was chosen as medium. Plate 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the apparels developed from Bharat Merino/acrylic blend fabric. Cost calculation Approximate cost of yarn and fabric manufacturing including blending, carding, hand-spinning, handloom weaving was calculated. Calculation was done with the help of Owner/Manager, Mahadev woolen mills, Sunder Nagar, Himachal Pradesh and Khadi Ashram, Chandvaji, Jaipur. 7

3 Acceptability evaluation of developed products Overall acceptability of developed products was assessed in terms of aesthetic appeal, cost, acceptability to wear, fashion-rightness. Hundred respondents were chosen from Department of Home Science and Design Institute, Banasthali Vidyapith. These included P.G. students and faculty members. Prototypes were draped on dummy for proper and easy evaluation by respondents. Five point rating scale was used for visual assessment as given below. Rank 5 is considered as the highest and 1 as lowest score. Data was converted into percentage for each rating so that degree of preference might be obtained. Rating scale for aesthetic appeal and fashion rightness Excellent Good Average Below average Poor Rating scale for acceptability to wear and cost Highly Moderately Somewhat Acceptable Result and Discussion Least Not Cost of : BM/Acrylic blended Khadi fabric Fibre Price Rs/kg Bharat merino 25/- Acrylic 1/- Table 1: Raw material cost Cost of BM: A fabrics was calculated and compared with pure Bharat Merino fabric and pure Australian Merino fabric. Cost was calculated by adding raw material cost + yarn manufacturing cost + weaving charges. It is given in Table 1 and 2. Table 1 and Table 2 show that BM: A yarn and fabric were found more economical as compared to BM1 and pure Australian Merino yarn and fabrics. Fiber ratio Cost of yarn/kg Raw material cost+ labour cost Cost of fabric per mt Yarn cost+ labour cost (weaving charges) BM: A Rs532 Rs137/mt BM1 Rs57 Rs142/mt AM1 Rs1525 Rs261/mt Table 2: Comparison of cost of yarn and fabric among BM:A, 1% Bharat merino (BM), 1% Australian merino (AM) Result of acceptability evaluation of developed Products Acceptability is operationalized as mental readiness to adopt developed prototypes of garments. Liking or disliking for any product is a subjective characteristic and its evaluation is affected by personal preferences and psychological experience. However, assessment of acceptability is important in context of mass production of the product. BM:A fabric was selected to construct prototypes. Two prototypes of shawls and four prototypes of jackets were developed. Those were then shown to the respondents and evaluated in terms of aesthetic appeal, fabric cost, willingness to purchase and fashion-rightness. Five point rating scale was used for rating. Data was converted into percentage form for each rating so that degree of preference might be obtained. Results are presented in Figure 1, 2, 3 and 4. 8

4 % Responses Figure 3 shows that 888 % respondents have given excellent rating to fashion-rightness while 12 % respondents have given good rating. Thus the developed prototypes are found fashionable and trendy by 1 % respondents. Acceptance to wear Fig. 1: Wearing acceptance of developed apparel Figure 1 shows that 1 % respondentss are ready to wear developed prototypes. 68 % responses are of highly and 32 % responses are of moderately. % Responses % Response Fig. 2: Rating of prototypes in terms of aesthetic appeal Figure 2 shows that 84 % respondents have given excellent rating to aesthetic appeal and 16 % respondentss have given good rating. Thus the developed prototypes are found aesthetically pleasing by all the respondents. % Response 84 Exellent 1 16 Good Average Below average Aesthetic appeal 88 Fig. 3: Rating of prototypes in terms of fashion rightness 12 Fashion rightness Poor Acceptability of cost Fig. 4: Acceptance for the cost of developed fabric Figure 4 shows that cost of the products has been found highly by 68 % responses and moderately by 32 % responses. It can be said that 1 % respondents are willing to purchase the prototypes on the basis of cost. Conclusion It can be concluded that manufacturing cost of BM: A blendedd fabric is lower than 1% Bharat merino and 1% Australian Merino wool khadi fabrics. In terms of assessment of prototypes, maximumm responses are of excellent rating and in terms of cost of fabric, aesthetic appeal, willingness to wear and fashion rightness. The present work was carried out to utilize finer quality Indian wool in khadi sector. To make woolen khadi durable and economical, 9

5 acrylic fiber was blended with wool fiber. The outcome of the study suggests that wool/acrylic blend apparels can be developed in khadi sector for winter wear. -3 % Acrylic fiber can be used to impart property benefit to blend. 1

6 References Miraftab, M. (): Technical fibers. In A R Horrocks and S. C Anand (Eds). Handbok of technical textile (pp. 28), England: Woodhead publishing limited. Vision 5 (15): Vision 5 document. Central Wool and Sheep Research Institute, Avikanagar, Indian council of Agricultural Research Ammayappan, L. (7): Study on improvement in aesthetic properties of woolen products by different chemical finishes (doctoral thesis). Anna University, India. 11