Articular cartilage degeneration diseases such as osteoarthritis become increasingly prevalent, as a result of the ageing population. New technologies to treat osteoarthritis are currently investigated, such as a regenerative implant made from textile materials infiltrated with a hydrogel. Hydrogels are widely used for tissue regeneration purposes, however, they are not strong enough to withstand the load-bearing forces that are applied at the surface of cartilage. Therefore, spacer fabrics are infiltrated to restrict the swelling of hydrogels. This study aims to research the e↵ect of pile yarn on the swelling restriction capacity of a reinforcing hydrogel and the relation between mechanical properties. A poly 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (pHEMA) hydrogel was used to create a plain hydrogel and three hydrospacers with di↵erent spacer fabrics: polycaprolactone (PCL) PCL, PCL poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB) and PCL polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), in which the last term represents the pile yarns. The hydrospacers swelled less in weight compared to the plain hydrogel. Furthermore, non-restricting e↵ects of the hydrospacers were found in the swelling ratio in height and the fixed charge density (FCD). Also no relation between the mechanical properties and the restricting hydrogel was found, since there were no significant differences in peak and equilibrium stress and the aggregate modulus.