• Journal of Fashion Business
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.16-27
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of chemical finishes on performance characteristics of microfiber blend fabrics. A 60% polyester microfiber /40% cotton blend woven fabric was finished by ten chemicals: three silicone softeners, one fluorochemical, and their mixtures. Performance characteristics examined were fabric hand attributes. Fabric hand was evaluated by instrumental measures using Kawabata KES-F system instruments. Silicone-only finishes did not change the bending properties significantly from those of the control fabric. The fluorochemical-only finish made the fabric stiffer and crisper. When the two chemicals were mixed they tended to offset this adversary effect. Most of the chemical finishes made the surface finer and smoother. Fluorochemical-only finish improved fabric strength. Likewise, dimethylpolysiloxane silicone improved fabric strength. Amino-functional hydrophilic and diamino-functional silicone softeners, on the other hand, reduced fabric strength. However, when mixed with the fluorochemical, the adversary effect was diminished.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.3 no.5
• /
• pp.486-491
• /
• 2001

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of chemical finishes on performance characteristics of microfiber blend fabrics. A 60% polyester microfiber/40% cotton blend woven fabric was finished by ten chemicals: three silicone softeners, one fluorochemical, and their mixtures. Performance characteristics examined were abrasion resistance, and oil/water repellency. Chemical finishes containing dimethylpolysiloxane silicone performed better in fabric abrasion resistance than other chemicals. The correlation between abrasion wear and instrumental measures of fabric hand indicated that the breaking strength loss by abrasion related negatively to the coefficient of friction. This implied that the finished fabrics with lower surface frictional coefficient (slipperier) had higher breaking strength loss by abrasion. The microfiber structure of polyester did not appear to help in oil/water repellency due to the larger surface areas of the microfibers. The fluorochemical finished fabric had the most significant improvement on oil/water repellency. The silicone-only finishes, however, did not improve oil/water repellency. When mixed with the fluorochemical, silicone finishes showed improved oil/water repellency.

• Fibers and Polymers
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.174-178
• /
• 2002

A plasma treatment using saturated $CF_4$ gas was employed to improve the resistance of polypropylene fabrics to water wetting. The fabrics were significantly fluorinated even within a short treatment time of 30 seconds. The result of contact angle measurement indicated that such highly hydrophobic surface was considerably durable even after 150 days of aging.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.125-133
• /
• 1993

This study was to investigate the application of foam finishing technology (FFT) for the silicone finishing of cotton fabrics and the tluorochemical finishing of polyester fabrics. The repellency properties, soil resistance properties and selected physical properties were demonstrated and compared the foam finishing with the conventional padding application. Amino-funetional silicone prorided better durability than epoxy-functional silicone and conventional reactive silicone after three launderings. Foam finishing fabrics improved stiffness but showed lower or equivalent water and oil repellency properties, soil resistance properties, tearing strength and abrasion resistance than those of the fabrics treated by conventional padding process. But, it was evident that the foam application of silicone and fluorochemical finishes to the fabrics were feasible.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
• /
• v.10 no.5
• /
• pp.24-31
• /
• 1998

The effects of DMDHEU alone and DMDHEU/Fluorochemical(FC) combined treatment on the physical properties of 75％/25％ cotton/polyester(CP) blended fabrics were investigated. FC water repellent and DMDHEU durable press finishes were applied in combination to CP fabrics to provide good water repellency as well as great durable press(DP) performance. The physical properties of the fabrics were evaluated by wrinkle recovery angle(WRA), DP performance, contact angle, demand wettability, and water repellency. The durable press/water repellent finished(DP/WR) CP fabrics show considerably improved WRA and DP performance. The DP/WR finishes do not change the water contact angie of polyester fibers significantly, while the DP finishes increase it. Both DP and DP/WR finishes increase the contact angle of cotton fibers. The water uptake amount increases in the following order : DP/WR cotton, DP/WR CP＜DP cotton, DP CP ＜ Control CP, Control cotton. The water uptake amount increases in the following order DP/WR CP, DP/WR cotton ＜DP cotton ＜DP CP＜Control CP, Control cotton. Considerable improvements for water repellency are imparted to the CP fabrics treated with DP/WR, and the level of improvement is not significantly different from that of the DP/WR cotton fabrics. These results lead to the conclusion that DP/YVR treatments a single pad bath on CP are effective finishes for improving both DP performance and water repellency.