Fabrics Scouring

Features Low foaming suitable for processes where high agitation or shear can present foaming problems high alkali and salt stability scours fabric or yarns of oils, waxes, and pectin without redeposition Properties Lt. yel. vise, liq. sol. in cold water pH 9 Use Level 0.5-1.0 g/l (batch) 24 g/l (continuous)... 

Uses Emuisifier, detergent, wetting agent, dispersant for desizing, dyeing, scouring fabrics resin finish penetrant emuisifier for wooi iubricants Properties APHA 150 ci. to si. hazy iiq., aromatic odor soi, in water dens, 8,7 ib/ gai sp.gr. 1.055-1.065 cioud pt. 158-165 (1%) flash pt, 427-445 F pH 7,0 1,0 (10%) 99% min. soiids Valdet AC-40 [Air Prods ]... 

Nonwoven wipe categories include products for babies and adults, the food service and electronics industries, medical and clean room appHcations, industrial cleaning, computer diskettes, and household products such as dusters, tea towels, shoe cleaning cloths, towelettes, and hand towels. Nonwoven fabrics are used to filter air, water, petroleum (qv), food, and beverages. Nonwovens loaded with abrasives, cleansers, or finishes can be found in a variety of products used by many industries and in many homes to scour or poHsh. Also, a majority of garments designed to protect industrial workers and consumers from hazardous environments are made from nonwoven fabrics. 

Over time, finish components tend to separate and migrate within the fiber and throughout the yam package. With nylon, the ionic emulsifiers and antistats tend toward the core of the fiber whereas the hydrocarbon lubricants remain on the surface. It is, therefore, essential to scour yams and fabrics at neutral to basic pH to reemulsify the lubricant and remove the finish emulsifier prior to dyeiag. In formulating any new finish, environmental issues such as biodegradabihty, water and air pollution must be considered (137). 

Textiles. Sorbitol sequesters iron and copper ions in strongly alkaline textile bleaching or scouring solutions (see Textiles). In compositions for conferring permanent wash-and-wear properties on cotton fabrics, sorbitol is a scavenger for unreacted formaldehyde (252) and a plasticizer in sod-resistant and sod-release finishes (253). 

In woolen spinning there are no highly efficient mechanical methods to remove VM. Generally, very clean scoured wool, combed wools, or carbonized wool must be used as inputs, or fabrics must be carbonized. 

Fig. 8. Internal volume (FQ that is accessible to sugars as functions of the cotton molecular diameters (33). (a) Batting A, greige , scoured—bleached , caustic mercerized H, Hquid ammonia treated, (b) Fabric 0> scoured—bleached V> cross-linked.

With knitted fabrics it is necessary to remove the knitting oils by either alkaH treatment or solvents. Where water-immiscible oils have been used and the fabric is to be hot dyed (80°C or above), a minimum scour to remove dirt and stains can be sufficient, the rest of the oil being removed during the dyeing process. 

Polyamides (nylons) are thermoplastic fibers that retain their form produced by heat treatment. They are usually given an alkaline scour and then heat-set. The heat-setting treatment is conducted at ca 10°C above the subsequent wet processiag steps this ensures good form retention after processiag. Woven fabrics are usually heat-set on a contact heat-setting machine and nylon tricot is generally heat-set on a tenter frame or ia steam chambers. 

Scouring may be conducted on jigs, boil-off machines, or kettles, depending on fabric weight, constmction, and crease tendency ia the rope form. A combination of a synthetic detergent and soda ash is usually used and scouring is conducted at 85—100°C. Certain nylon blends may require less stringent conditions and the use of less alkaline builders, such as tetrasodium pyrophosphate. 

Preparation for Dyeing. A hot alkaline scour with a synthetic surfactant and with 1% soda ash or caustic soda is used to remove size, lubricants, and oils. Sodium hypochlorite is sometimes included in the alkaline scouring bath when bleaching is requked. After bleaching, the polyester fabric is given a bisulfite rinse and, when requked, a further scouring in a formulated oxahc acid bath to remove mst stains and mill dkt which is resistant to alkaline scouring. 

Other fibers blended with polyesters in numerous blended fabrics requke alternative methods of preparation. Generally, the scouring and bleaching procedures used for these blends are those employed for the primary component of the blended fiber or for the component that most influences aesthetic appearance. 

Cellulose Diacetate. When preparing cellulose diacetate for dyeing, strong alkahes must be avoided in the scouring of acetate because the surface of the cellulose acetate would be saponified by such treatment. Many fabrics tend to crease and therefore requke open-width handling. Scouring is frequendy carried out on a jig or beam using 1.0 g/L of surfactant and 0.5—1.0 g/L tetrasodium pyrophosphate for 30 min at 70—80°C. 

Trichloroethylene is an excellent extraction solvent for greases, oils, fats, waxes, and tars and is used by the textile processing industry to scour cotton, wool, and other fabrics (lARC 1979 Kuney 1986 Verschueren 1983). The textile industry also uses trichloroethylene as a solvent in waterless dying and finishing operations (McNeill 1979). As a general solvent or as a component of solvent blends, trichloroethylene is used with adhesives, lubricants, paints, varnishes, paint strippers, pesticides, and cold metal cleaners (Hawley 1981 lARC 1979 McNeill 1979). 

Further problems may arise from the possible effects of residual cyclodextrins on subsequent processes. For example, as described above, a cyclodextrin can be used to remove residual surfactants from a fabric after scouring, yet it is possible that any residual cyclodextrin could itself interfere with subsequent coloration or finishing processes to the same extent as the surfactants that have been eliminated. 

Polyamide and polyester fibres are generally scoured using an alkyl poly(oxyethylene) sulphate and sodium carbonate. Some polyester qualities are subjected to a causticisation treatment with sodium hydroxide in the presence of a cationic surfactant to give a lighter fabric with a silkier handle [154,156]. This treatment involves etching (localised saponification) of the polyester surface and is broadly analogous to the S-finish used on triacetate fibres. The process has attracted considerable interest in recent years but its... 

The above recommendations are for caustic scoured or peroxide desized fabrics. For fabrics not so treated, the amounts of caustic and peroxide should be increased by 50% [143]... 

Aftertreatment with detergent (2-5 g/1) and sodium carbonate (2-5 g/1) often enhances whiteness and may improve fabric absorbency, particularly if the goods have not been scoured before bleaching. Antichlor treatment is unnecessary for white goods but may be required before coloration. A convenient antichlor treatment involves combining the detergent aftertreatment with sodium perborate, percarbonate or thiosulphate [143]. Traditional reductive antichlors such as sodium bisulphite are not recommended, since their residues can be just as troublesome as chlorite residues. 

In a recent detailed evaluation of Cl Fluorescent Brightener 393 on polyester, this product was incorporated into the polymer melt. The prebrightened fibre was blended with cotton and fabric knitted from these yarns was scoured and bleached. It was demonstrated... 

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