Fabric finishing

Another textile use of acryUc polymers is fabric finishing, to impart a desired hand or feel, or to aid soil release, or for permanent-press features. Copolymers of acrylate esters with acryUc or methacrylic acid serve as thickeners for a variety of textile coating formulations (see Textiles, finishing). 

Smooth surfaces are normally estabflshed by calendering, a process which subjects the fabric at the nip point(s) of two or more roUs to the influence of controlled time, temperature, and pressure. When calendering is used as a thermal-bonding process, the roUs are of the same dimension and composition and are independently driven. However, when calendering is used as a fabric finishing operation, the roUs are frequently of different dimensions and composition and are not always independently driven. 

Modified starches may be acid-modified, oxidized, or heat-treated. Acid-modified (thin-boiling) starches are used mainly in textiles as warp sizes and fabric finishes. Here they increase yam strength and abrasion resistance and improve weaving efficiency. Tbin-boiHng starches also have selected appHcations in paper and laundry starch preparations. 

Flame Retardants. The amount of research expended to develop flame-retardant (FR) finishes for cotton and other fabrics has been extremely large in comparison to the total amount of fabrics finished to be flame retardant. The extent of this work can be seen in various reviews (146—148). In the early 1960s, a substantial market for FR children s sleepwear appeared to be developing, and substantial production of fabric occurred. In the case of cotton, the finish was based on tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride (THPC) or the corresponding sulfate (THPS). This chemical was partly neutralized to THPOH, padded on fabric, dried under controlled conditions, and ammoniated. The finish was subsequently oxidized, yielding a product that passed the test for FR performance. This process is widely preferred to the THPOH—NH process. 

Another fire-related problem that has seen some research effort is that of smolder resistance of upholstery and bedding fabrics. Finishing techniques have been developed to make cotton smolder-resistant (152—156), but the use of synthetic barrier fabrics appears to provide a degree of protection. Work also has provided a means of producing cotton fabrics that have both smooth-dry and flame-retardant performance (150,151). In this case, the appHcation of FR treatment should be performed first, and DP treatment should be modified to accommodate the presence of the FR polymer on the fabric. 

Enzymatic desizing is one of the oldest nonfood appHcations of commercial amylases. Another type of enzyme, microbial ceUulases, has developed within the textile iadustry as a tool for fabric finishing, ia particular for denim garment finishing. CeUulases can achieve the fashionable worn look traditionaUy obtained by the abrasive action of pumice stones, ie, stone-washing. 

Stages Basic Chemical Monomers Polymerization Compounding Processing Fabricating Finishing... 

While direct, this method is the most difficult experimentally due to the diminutive nature of fiber diameters and the uncertainty involved with contact angle measurements and hysteresis. The value i ) can also be measured on flat sheets of the fiber material but due to fabric finishes and different surface properties incurred during manufacture, the surface energetics of the sheet and fiber may be very dissimilar. Therefore, the value of co8i i was determined in the following manner from detergency data. The Kubelka-Munk Equation (12-13),... 

Jefferson Chemical Company, Austin, Texas), for the fiber surface analog. This substitution was made since the fabric used in this study had a PEG fabric finish. This fabric finish differed from the Jeffox PEG-300 only in the fact that the former was higher molecular weight and therefore solid, while the latter was a liquid and amenable to SDIT measurement of and Yfs- With these values, the remaining eight surface parameters can be calculated. 

J, W. Bovenkamp and B. V. Lacroix, Fluoroalkyl Siloxanes as Liquid-Repellent Fabric Finishes, Part 3. Report DREO-TN-83-4 (1983). Available from NTIS (CA / >/ 56428S). 

The conceptual breakdown in Fig. 1.9 (27) simply indicates the fact that in compounding, blending, and reactive processing, the base polymer(s) undergo two thermomechanical elementary-step experiences, and that the product of the first are value-added and microstructured pellets, while the second is used primarily for fabricating finished products. The important elementary steps for each experience, and the physical mechanisms that affect them, are different, because of the different objectives in each. 

Such a treatment of fabrics ("finishing") results in improved dimensional... 

Fabric finish soft sheen and feel sometimes soft sheen and feel, but not to the same extent as Chinese silks... 

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