No abstract

Abstract:Environmental concerns related to perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA) led to a re-examination of the methods for imparting stain resistance and stain repellency to textiles. Non-PFOA fluoropolymer finishes have been formed on cotton knits by admicellar polymerization, a surface analogue of emulsion polymerization. Fabric samples were characterized by a drop test, contact angle measurements, SEM, elemental analysis and durability studies. Stain resistance and stain release properties were assessed by reflectance and AATCC tests with results comparing favorably with swatches from commercially available garments. Admicellar polymerization enabled the formation of durable finishes that exhibited high performance in stain resistance and stain repellency.

The development of a single-bath, exhaust treatment for shrink-resisting wool is described. The process involves dispersing a solvent solution containing a fully-reactive cycloaliphatic diisocyanate monomer and cationic emulsifying agent into water, exhausting the monomer on fabric at low temperature, and then adding a polyamine to form, in situ, a wash-fast polyurea finish on the fiber surfaces. Following polymerization, the fabric is scoured, rinsed, neutralized, and tumble-dried. In its present state of development, the process seems most suitable for treating knitwear; however, it also exhibits a potential for dyebeck application to woven fabrics. Effective shrinkage control is obtained on both clear-worsted and wash-finished knit constructions with tightness factor ranging from 9.0 to 17.3.

No abstract