WO1991012363A1

WO1991012363A1 - Treating fabric to retard flammability

Info

Publication number: WO1991012363A1
Application number: PCT/US1990/000855
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert A. Miller
Original assignee: J E Morgan Knitting Mills Inc
Current assignee: J E Morgan Knitting Mills Inc
Priority date: 1990-02-15
Filing date: 1990-02-15
Publication date: 1991-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1992-08-15

Abstract

A method and apparatus for treating tubular knit fleece fabrics in which the fabric is treated as a continuous length in tubular form. The knitted tube is first pre-shrunk and then napped. With the napped surface outermost, the fabric is saturated with liquid and the saturated fabric is flattened and compressed to express free liquid from the tube, and is fed through a two-stage dryer. In the initial stage, the fabric is air-dried to a moisture content of substantially less than 40 %. Before introducing the fabric into the second stage of the dryer, the moisture content is raised, for example in a moist steam atmosphere, to substantially 40 %. The final drying is performed in multiple steps to assure uniform treatment of the fabric throughout its length to ultimately reduce the moisture content in the fabric to less than 8 %. The illustrated combination of apparatus for accomplishing the fabric treatment includes a napper (41) for raising the fibers on one surface of the fabric, a padding apparatus (61) for the flattening of the fabric while saturated, a drum-type air dryer (71) for air-drying the fabric in the first stage, a steam chest (81) intermediate stage in advance of the final dryer stage, and a tumble-type compartmentalized continuous length dryer (91) in the final stage.

Description

TREATING FABRIC TO RETARD FLAMMABI ITY

The present invention relates to the treatment of fabrics having a raised-fiber surface to retard flammability/ and has particular application to the treatment of fleece fabrics which are knitted with cellulosic yarns.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior to the present invention in the United States/ knitted leece.wearing apparel has not been fabricated of 100% cotton because of the inherent flammability of the cotton fleece fabric. The application of chemical flame retardants to the cotton fabric has not been a satisfactory solution because of the adverse effect of the chemical treatment upon the texture or hand of the fabric/ and the likelihood of allergic reaction by the wearer to the chemical treatment. For this reason/ most fleece wearing apparel is made from fibers which do not exhibit the flammability of cotton/ either as the sole component of the yarn forming the fabric/ or else blended with cotton to form a blended yarn having the desired resistance to flammability.

Cotton is the preferred fiber for fabrication of clothing/ particularly clothing which is worn next to the skin. The need to introduce blends of other fibers when making fleece fabrics increases the cost of manufacture of the clothing and/or detracts from the comfort experienced by the wearers of the clothing.

Requests from retailers and marketing personnel in the United States for all-cotton fleece products have been refused on the basis that such fabrics cannot be made to satisfy the standards of the U.S. Consumer ^• Product Safety Commission/ as provided by the Flammable Fabrics Act. SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention provides a novel method and a combination of apparatus which provides treatment to a cellulosic fabric having a raised-fiber surface to retard its flammability.

The method of the present invention specifically contemplates the treatment of a continuous length of tubular knit cotton fleece fabric in which the fabric is first napped while in a relatively dry condition and is thereafter saturated with moisture and compressed in open width and then subjected to drying in two stages with moisture control of the fabric during the final drying stage/ all under controlled conditions of fabric relaxation which avoids stretching the fabric which might otherwise adversely affect the shrinkage character of the fabric.

The present invention is particularly applicable to three-thread fleece fabrics made of 100% cotton which have previously been preshrunk in accordance with the method set forth in my co-pending U.S. patent application Serial No. 07/373,103, filed June 28, 1989, now U.S. Patent No. . The treatment disclosed in this patent reduces the residual shrinkage of the cotton fabric to less than 10%, normally within the range of 5-8%. The treatment of the fleece fabric after napping retards the flammability of the fabric sufficiently to meet the standards of the U.S. Flammable Fabrics Act, administered by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission when tested according to the procedures set forth in 16 CFR Part 1610. Three-thread fleece fabrics are conventionally napped on one side to produce a fleece side/ and the other side is not napped to provide a jersey side. During napping/ the fleece side is exposed/ and when treated by the present invention/ the fabric is everted to expose the jersey side.

The method of the present invention contemplates the treatment of a continuous length of tubular knit fabric by subjecting the fabric to napping and then saturating the fabric with liquid and compressing the saturated fabric to extract a substantial percentage of the free liquid and thereafter drying the moist fabric in two stages/ preferably with moisture control prior to and during the final drying stage/ all under controlled conditions of fabric relaxation.

The saturated fabric is flattened while saturated with free and bound liquid so that it may thereafter be subjected to extraction in an open tubular width to remove the free liquid. The fabric is then submitted to a first stage of air drying in open tubular width and a second stage of tumble drying in open tubular width/ preferably with a positive control of the moisture content of the fabric as it enters the tumble drying stage and throughout the tumble drying stage of the two-stage drying operation.

In the preferred embodiment/ in the tumble drying stage of the operation/ the fabric is introduced into the tumble dryer with the fleece side facing in/ at approximately 40% moisture content. The heat and moisture content of the drying medium is controlled throughout the drying operation so as to reduce the moisture content of the fabric in controlled steps as the fabric advances through the tumble drying operation/ so that it is discharged at a moisture conent of approximately 5%. This operation avoids the introduction of fabric or yarn elongation during the treatment/ and minimize the residual shrinkage of the fabric being treated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects of the invention are more fully set forth hereinafter in the following description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings/ wherein: Fig. 1 is a diagram of the processing steps embodied in the method of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a napper used for the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the padder in which the fabric tube is flattened and saturated with liquid and then squeeze-dried;

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the first stage of the drying;

Fig. 5 is a view of apparatus intermediate the first and second stages of the drawing for controlling the moisture content of the fabric and specifically for uniformly restoring the fabric to a 40% moisture content; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the tumble dryer with a portion magnified to illustrate the tumbling effect achieved in the apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is directed to a method for treating fleece fabrics to retard their flammability, and the method is particularly adapted to the treatment of knit fabrics in open width after they have been napped to produce a fleece on at least one side of the fabric. Conventionally/ the fabric from the knitting machines is scoured/ bleached/ or otherwise subjected to cleansing operation to remove any wax or lubricants applied during the previous operations in which the fibers are formed into yarn and the yarns are formed into fabrics. The fabric may be dyed in conjunction with the cleansing operation. Following the scouring and/or drying of the fabric/ it is dried so that it may be introduced through a napping operation in a dried state. A highly desirable procedure for washing and drying the fabric is described in my pending U.S. patent application/ Serial No. 07/373/103/ now U.S. Patent No. , which is effective to treat cotton fabrics to reduce their residual shrinkage to the range of 5-8%. The entire disclosure of this patent application is incorporated herein by reference. Without further treatment, the fabric coming from the napping operation exhibits a pile of raised fibers on the napped surface which is normally subject to flash ignition when subjected to flammability testing. The process of the present invention retards the flammability of the fabric. Preferably prior to the napping operation/ the fabric is preshrunk to provide a lofty hand. Thus, the first step in the process/ as illustrated in Fig. 1/ is to evert the fabric to expose the loop side of the fabric (which will later be napped) / unless the fabric already has its loop side exposed. The fabric may then be dyed. The fabric is then subjected to pre-shrinking/ desirably performed in accordance with the teaching of my patent which consists of the steps of saturating the fabric from the knitting machine or dye beck in open width and subjecting it to a series of similar operations in each of which the fabric is first consolidated and transported in a flow of liquid and thereafter is allowed to open and be agitated and relaxed while in a liquid bath. After such multiple treatments/ the fabric is transported without stretching to a padding operation where it is flattened in open width and sprayed without stretching/ whereupon it is squeezed-dried in open width to reduce the moisture content to the range of 40% to 60%. The fabric is then fed into a dryer where the moisture content is reduced to approximately 20%. The fabric is in relaxed condition while in the hot air dryer and is discharged into a steam chamber where it is humidified with water mist and steam to approximately 40% moisture content for feeding into a tumble dryer where it is tumbled without stretching under controlled changing conditions to a final moisture content in the range of 5-8%. The controlled conditions are provided by incremental changes in the relative humidity and temperature conditions of the air circulated in each section of the dryer through which the material passes. The fabric emerges from the operations in a dry pre-shrunk condition/ and exhibits a soft and lofty hand.

The dried material is then passed through a conventional napping machine such as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2. In the present case/ the napper 41 abrades the loop side of the fabric to produce a raised-fiber pile or fleece on the abraded surface. The fleece produced from the napping machine is characterized by fractured yarns and fibers which stand up from the surface of the fabric to provide a fleece on the napped surface of the fabric. Depending upon the construction of the knitted fabric which is passed through the napping operation/ the fleece may vary in thickness from a thin felt-like layer of a few millimeters to a thicker pile-like layer of several millimeters. Without further treatment/ the fractured yarns and fibers of the napped surface tend to promote flash ignition of the cellulosic fibers which stand up from the surface.

The fabric 20c is then everted/ i.e. turned inside out/ to expose the jersey side of the fabric tube and to position the fleece side innermost. To this end/ the fabric tube is separated into convenient lengths for effecting the everting operation. After the everting operation/ the lengths may be connected together to provide continuous treatment of the interconnected tubes. In the next operation/ the everted fabric tube, indicated at 20f in Fig. 3/ is flattened and opened to its full width without stretching, although some degree of transverse stretching must occur in order to achieve the full opening of the fabric tube. During the flattening/ the fabric is saturated with liquid and/ if desired/ a fabric softener is added/ so as to facilitate the flattening of the fabric with minimum application of stress. The flattened fabric is then put through apparatus to express free moisture from the fabric. The moisture content of the fabric exiting the apparatus may be in the range of 40% to 60%. In the present case/ the apparatus comprises a padder 61 with squeeze rolls/ such as shown in Fig. 3. The rate of feed of the fabric through the squeeze rolls is coordinated with the rate of travel of the feed rolls to avoid application of longitudinal stress to the fabric as it is squeezed. The squeezing of the fabric first assures penetration of the liquid into the body of the fabric and into the yarns and fabrics fractured in the napping operation/ and thereafter effects a consolidation of the fibers which is believed to contribute to the retardation of the flammability of the napped fabric after completion of the treatment.

By extracting the excess moisture from the fabric_/ the weight of the free moisture is removed from the fabric so that it may be fed into the next stage/ the hot air drying stage/ in a compacted state. The hot air drying is accomplished between a pair of foraminous conveyors/ such as shown at 71 in Fig. 4, which support the fabric as it is subjected to the hot air in a fashion to assure freedom to contract and shrink at the same time to remove a large percentage of the moisture content to a condition of dryness where the moisture content is substantially less than 40%/ for example approximately 20%. The dried fabric is then fed into a tumble dryer through a humidifying apparatus/ such as shown at 81 in Fig. 5, which stabilizes the moisture content of the fabric to approximately 40%/ which has been found to be appropriate for achieving maximum effectiveness of fabric treatment in the tumble drying operation/ such as shown at 91 in Fig. 6.

In the tumble drying operation/ the fabric is carried on a conveyor and is subjected to forceful jets of air which cause the fabric to impinge against an overlying baffle. In the present instance/ as described more fully hereinafter/ the tumble dryer is compartmentalized into sequential sections and the heat and moisture content of the air supplied to each section is precisely controlled to obtain a moderate reduction in the moisture content of the fabric tube from the initial 40% moisture content at the entrance end of the tumble dryer to a final moisture content in the neighborhood of 5-8%.. By gradually reducing the moisture content/ the residual stresses in the fabric are released and relieved so that the fabric exiting from the tumble dryer may be collected in a fully relaxed state and is not subject to internal stresses which might affect its flammability.

In the treatment of the fabric/ the preshrunk fabric from the first step is passed through a napping machine 41 which may be one of various types presently available in the industry. The fabric 20b from the preshrinking operation is fed under a feed roll 42 and the exposed surface is subjected to abrasion by hooks and needles mounted on planetary worker rolls 43 and 44 over which the fabric is passed in taut condition so as to nap the outer surface of the tubular knit fabric. The preshrunk tubular fabric 20b exposes its outside backing surface to the worker rolls 43 and 44. In a three-thread fleece fabric/ the outer face yarn forming the jersey side is on the inside of the tube and the backing yarn forming loops is exposed to the hooks and needles which lift the loops of backing yarn and fracture them to provide the fleece surface. As the tubular fabric traverses multiple worker rolls, the tube revolves about its longitudinal axis so that the entire exposed surface of the tube is subjected to the napping operation and emerges at 20c.

The napped fabric is then separated into convenient lengths so that it may be everted and then passed to a padder with its fleece side innermost and its jersey side exposed/ for example apparatus shown at 61 in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3/ the fabric 20f is fed through a padder which is operated at a rate to avoid application of longitudinal tension to the fabric tube. The fabric tube is fed over a floating shoe 63 which is positioned between counter-rotating rolls 64 which advance the fabric over the shoe at a rate which does not stretch it longitudinally. Beyond the shoe/ the fabric at 20g is sprayed with a liquid by a spray manifold 65 to fully saturate the fabric in advance of the squeeze rolls 66 which deposit the fabric on a slow moving conveyor 67 in overlapping folds for ultimate depositing in a carrier 68 (not shown in Fig. 3). The squeeze rolls 66 extract the free water from the fabric and compact the upstanding fibers produced in the napping operation against the body of the fabric tube/ so that the fabric deposited on the conveyor 67 is saturated/ but without substantial free water therein. The saturation of the fabric and subsequent squeezing tends to eliminate any free lint which might otherwise be entwined among the upstanding fibers on the napped surface. The tubular fabric in the carrier 68 is flattened so that the fabric consists of the two layers of the tube in open tubular width. The carrier 68 transfers the fabric to the entrance end of an air dryer 71/ as shown in Fig. 4. The fabric is withdrawn from the carrier 68 as shown at 20h and is deposited on the lower belt 73 of the air dryer. A hold-down belt 74 overlies the belt 73 and travels concurrently with the belt 73 to advance the fabric loosely deposited on the belt through the air dryer housing in which air is impinged against the fabric on the carrier belt 73 from both sides and is discharged laterally so as to evaporate moisture contained in the fabric.

The air dryer 71 is designed to receive a plurality of flattened tubes side by side so as to treat the tubes concurrently and reduce their moisture content to the range of 20-40%, preferably drying the tubes to about 20% moisture content. The conveyors 73 and 74 deposit the fabric tubes on a cooling belt 75. The apparatus shown in Fig. 4 is a dryer made in Switzerland by Santex AG which has been modified at the entrance and exit ends.

From the cooling belt 75/ the^* dried fabric at 20j is fed into a steam chest 81 on a foraminous conveyor

82 (Fig. 5). The tube 20j is deposited on the conveyor in loose folds and is carried through the steam chest

81 where it is subjected to steam and water sprays at

83 which are designed to stabilize the moisture content of the fabric exiting the steam chamber at 20k at a uniform moisture content of approximately 40% moisture content. The sprays 83 are very very fine so as to create a mist enveloping the fabric on the top and bottom. Steam coils 85 within the chest 81 generate a steam atmosphere which restores the moisture content of the fabric to the desired level. In this condition/ the fabric from the steam chamber at 20k is deposited on a perforated tray conveyor 92 of a tumble dryer apparatus 91.

The fabric 20k is deposited in overlapping folds on the conveyor 92 so that the fabric is free to be tumbled on the conveyor as it is conveyed through the several sections of the tumble dryer 91. The tumble dryer 91 has a plurality of sections through which the conveyor 92 carried the fabric. In each section of the dryer 91/ as shown in the enlarged portion of Fig. 8_/ jets of air are directed upwardly through the conveyor to impinge against the underside of the fabric 20m reposed on the conveyor 92. Overlying the path of the conveyor there is a saw-tooth perforated baffle plate 93 which is sufficiently close to the conveyor 92 that the air jets directed upwardly through the conveyor cause the fabric 20m to impinge against the undersurface of the baffles 93 and the saw-tooth configurations of the baffles bounce the fabric down against the conveyor 92 so as to effect a tumbling action on the fabric as it is conveyed through the dryer in a continuous length. The repeated impacts of the jersey side of the fabric 20(m) against the baffles is believed to impart a soft felting action upon the fleece side of the fabrtic/ which is effective to retard the flammability of the fabric exiting from the dryer 91 at 20(p).

Each section of the dryer has the humidity and temperature in the air jets controlled so that the drying effect of each section is likewise controlled to provide a low gradient in the drying effect as the fabric tube is conveyed through the successive sections. As a result/ the dryer achieves a uniform gradual drying of the several fabric tubes traveling through the dryer side-by-side. Since the fabric tubes entering the dryer are uniformly stabilized at a 40% moisture content/ the fabric tubes exiting the dryer are uniformly dried to the desired final moisture content of less than 8% for subsequent operations. The fabric exiting the dryer at 20p retains the fully pre-shrunk characteristics which result from the pre-shrinking operation of the first step in the process and which have been found desirable for fabrication into garments for direct distribution and sale. _ϊ

The dried fabric preferably is subjected to a further finishing operation by subjecting it to 15% compaction and/or calendering. In the compacting operation, the fabric is fed through compacting rolls which have a surface speed at the entrance end which is approximately 15% greater than the surface speed at the exit end. This differential speed of the compaction rolls causes the fabric to shorten in the machine direction of the tube and further remove any stresses in the individual stitches making up the knitted tube. During compaction/ the tube passes under an oscillating compacting blade which enables the fabric to contract in length without forming creases or folds. Following compaction/ the fabric may be calendared to assure a smooth external surface finish in the knitted tube. Depending upon the characteristics desired in the finished product/ either the compacting operation or the calendering operation/ or both/ may be omitted. The compacting and calendering steps does not adversely affect the shrink resistance of the fabric/ and the fabric from such operations will be cut up and made into clothing by the normal cut-and-sew techniques.

The fabric coming from these operations is in the form of a tube with the fleece side innermost/ which is the orientation normally present in the fleece-lined garments/ such as sweatshirts/ sportswear and the like. It is noted that the air dryer 71/ the steam chest 81 and the tumble dryer 91 are disposed end-to-end/ and are of a sufficient width to accommodate at least two fabric tubes/ side-by-side. In this way/ if desired/ one side of this apparatus may be used in the pre-shrinking step prior to napping/ and the other side may be used in the treatment steps following napping. When treated according to the present invention/ the flammability of the fabric in the garment is sufficiently low to pass the U.S. government flammability standard for clothing textiles as administered at the present time by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The fleece fabric of the present invention exhibits a soft and lofty hand and additionally exhibits low shrinkage which enhances market acceptance of the clothing products made from the fabric.

While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been herein illustrated and described_/ it is not intended to limit the invention to such disclosure but changes and modifications may be made therein and thereto within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for treating tubular knit fabrics comprising a raised fiber surface of cellulosic yarn the steps of: forming the fabric into an elongated tube with at least one raised-fiber surface; completely saturating the fabric of the tube and arranging said tubular fabric into a flattened tubular shape having only two fabric thicknesses throughout; maintaining said fabric saturated with liquid throughout said arranging step, and then compressing said flattened tube to express free liquid from said tube; feeding said flattened tube into a dryer so as to reduce the moisture Content to a range of 20-40% moisture content; thereafter subjecting the fabric to heat and moisture to stabilize its moisture content in the range of 35-45%; and feeding the continuous length of fabric into a tumble dryer section and causing the fabric to be repeatedly impacted while slack and removed from longitudinal tension/ and while subjected to heat and dry air_# and continuing the treatment in the tumble dryer for a period sufficient to retard the flammability of the fabric.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the liquid of said saturating step includes a fabric softener to enhance the fabric treatment.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said step of stabilizing the moisture content of the fabric in advance of the tumble dryer section comprises the step of depositing the fabric on a conveyor, advancing the conveyor through a closed chamber and spraying a mist of water against the fabric on the conveyor in an atmosphere of steam in the closed chamber to thereby stabilize its moisture content.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the fabric is conveyed on a slotted conveyor in said tumble dryer section and hot and dry air is blown upwardly through said conveyor to lift the fabric up from the conveyor.

5. A method according to claim 4 wherein said slotted conveyor travels below saw-toothed baffle plates fixed adjacent said conveyor so that the lifted fabric impinges against said baffle plates.

6. A method according to claim 1 including the step of lengthwise compacting and tumble-dried fabric tube.

7. A method according to claim 1 including the step of calendering said tumble-dried fabric.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein said elongated tube has a fleece side and a jersey side_/ said fleece side providing said raised-fiber surface_/ said tube being disposed with its fleece side innermost/ and including the step of cutting and sewing said tubular fabric into garments.

9. A method according to claim 1 including the step of disposing said tubular fabric with said raised-fiber surface innermost in advance of said saturating and arranging step.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein said tubular fabric is supplied with its raised-fiber surface outermost and including the step of everting discrete lengths of said supplied fabric to dispose said raised-fiber surface innermost.

11. A method for treating tubular knit cotton fabrics having a loop side and a jersey side comprising the steps of: disposing said tubular fabric with the loop side outermost; preshrinking said tubular fabric; napping said preshrunk fabric to convert said loop side to a raised-fiber surface; everting discrete lengths of said napped fabric to disposed said raised-fiber surface innermost; forming the fabric into an elongated tube with at least one raised-fiber surface; completely saturating the fabric of the tube and arranging said tubular fabric into a flattened tubular shape having only two fabric thicknesses throughout; maintaining said fabric saturated with liquid throughout said arranging step, and then compressing said flattened tube to express free liquid from said tube; feeding said flattened tube into a dryer so as to reduce the moisture content to a range of 20-40% moisture content; thereafter subjecting the fabric to heat and moisture to stabilize its moisture content in the range of 35-45%; and feeding the continuous length of fabric into a tumble dryer section and causing the fabric to be repeatedly impacted while slack and removed from longitudinal tension, and while subjected to heat and dry air/ and continuing the treatment in the tumble dryer for a period sufficient to retard the flammability of the fabric.

12. A method according to claim 11 wherein said fabric is an elongated tube/ and said preshrinking step is performed by the steps of: continuously feeding the tube lengthwise into a first bath of liquid/ and retaining each part of the tube in the bath of liquid for a sufficient length of time to completely saturate the fabric of the tube; continuously withdrawing the tube from said first bath and feeding it longitudinally into a sequence of elongated baths by having entrances and exits at their opposite ends positively feeding the tube into each bath at its entrance end/ maintaining said tube immersed in said bath throughout its length/ withdrawing said fabric from the opposite end of each bath section by continuously withdrawing the fabric vertically from the discharge end and transferring it/ without substantial stretching to the entrance end of the next bath section for positive feeding of the fabric into the next bath section; controlling the feed and discharge of the fabric to avoid longitudinal stress on the tube during its travel through each bath section/ assuring longitudinal compression or slackening of the fabric in its travel through each section; thereafter arranging said length of tubular fabric into a flattened tubular shape having only two fabric thicknesses throughout; maintaining said fabric saturated with liquid throughout said arranging step; feeding said flattened tube into a dryer so as to reduce the moisture content to a range of 20-40% moisture content; thereafter subjecting the fabric to heat and moisture to stabilize its moisture content in the range of 35-45%; and feeding the continuous length of fabric into a tumble dryer section and causing the fabric to be repeatedly impacted while slack and removed from longitudinal tension/ and while subjected to heat and dry air and continuing the treatment in the tumble dryer for a period to reduce the residual shrinkage of the fabric to less than 8%.

13. Apparatus for treating fabrics comprising at least one surface of cellulosic yarn/ said apparatus comprising in combination: an extracting apparatus operable to receive the fabric to straighten the fabric and flatten it into open-width configuration and having means to saturate the fabric while it is straightened and flattened/ and means to compress the fabric to extract free moisture from said saturated fabric, said apparatus including feed rolls to advance the fabric through the apparatus; an air dryer operable to receive the fabric from said extracting apparatus, said air dryer including means to support and convey the fabric through the dryer and means to discharge dry and hot air against and through the fabric to reduce its moisture content to less than 40%; a steam chest having a foraminous conveyor and misting sprays to receive the fabric from the hot air dryer and to convey the fabric on said conveyor past said sprays while on the conveyor, said steam chest having control means providing a controlled steam atmosphere to stabilize the fabric exiting the steam chest at a moisture content of 40%; and a continuous tumble dryer to receive the stabilized fabric from the steam chest, said tumble dryer including a series of dryer sections with a foraminous conveyor for conveying the fabrics sequentially through said sections, means to deposit the fabric on the conveyor at the entrance end of said tumble dryer in loose folds and means in each section to supply and impinge air against the fabric with a sufficient force to cause the fabric on the conveyor to tumble within each section of said series, and means to control the heat and humidity of the air supplied in each section, to thereby control the dryness of the fabric within each section.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 including a napper in advance of extracting apparatus operable to abrade the cellulosic yarn surface of the fabric to raise fibers therefrom and form a fleece, said napper including a spreader, napping rollers, and means to direct the spread fabric into engagement with napping rollers so as to raise fibers from the cellulosic yarn throughout the exposed surface of the tubular knit fabric.

15. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said air dryer, said steam chest and said continuous tumble dryer are disposed in close end-to-end sequence whereby the air dryer discharges the fabric directly onto the conveyor of said steam chest, and said steam chest conveyor discharges the fabric directly onto the conveyor of the tumble dryer.

16. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the widths of said air dryer, steam chest and tumble dryer are at least twice the width of the open-width fabric whereby they may treat two passes of the fabric side-by-side simultaneously.