Trichloro-orthophenylphenol (Triclosan) can be added to the spinning solution of acrylic or acetate fibers for blending with cotton. Triclosan may also be exhausted or thermo fixed to cotton blends containing polyester to impart antimicrobial properties. Chitosan made insoluble by cross linking is effective in neutralizing some odors. Although it is environmentally friendly, the level of the finish required to be effective imparts excessive stiffness to the fabric.Chitosan is a non toxic, bio degradable natural polysaccharide. The only difference between chitosan and Cellulose is the amine group in the position C-2 of chitosan instead of the hydroxyl group in cellulose.

Magnesium hydroperoxy acetate is another environmentally friendly compound, which can be fixed to cotton to impart some antimicrobial properties.

Plasma treatments are gaining popularity in the textile industry due to their numerous advantages over conventional wet processing techniques. Plasma containing fluorocarbon gas changes both the physical and functional characteristics. The plasma treatment fabric does not alter the weight, thickness, stiffness, air permeability, and breaking strength and elongation. Plasma-treated fabric show higher blood and water resistance compared to other treatments and also show a zone of inhibition for Staphylococcus aureus, thus providing a barrier against microbes.

Antimicrobial Activity Tests

There are various methods to demonstrate the efficacy of an anti microbial activity. Tests normally conducted are

• Agar diffusion test
• Challenge test (Quantitative).
• Soil burial test
• Humidity chamber test
• Fouling tests

Agar diffusion testing is a method of testing chemical agents anti-microbial effectiveness by measuring and determining the agents zone of inhibition. In the agar diffusion method, one species of bacteria is uniformly swabbed onto a nutrient agar plate. Chemicals are placed on paper disks. These discs are added to the surface of the agar. During incubation, the chemical diffuses from the disk containing the agent into the surrounding agar. An effective agent will inhibit bacterial growth, and measurements can be made to quantify the size of the zones of inhibition around the disks.

The relative effectiveness of a compound is determined by comparing the diameter of the zone of inhibition with values in a standard table. Agar diffusion test is a preliminary test to detect the diffusive antimicrobial finish. It is not suitable for non diffusive finishes and textile materials other than fabrics. AATCC test 30 -1993, 147 -1993, 174 -1993 and 90 -1982 {Agar diffusion tests – semi quantitative} In the case of Challenge test, AATCC test is 100 -1993. For Fouling and Soil burial tests, ISO 11721-1 – 2001 is being followed.

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