Source: Tekstilna Industija
Abstract
Pre-treatment process of cotton knitted fabrics made from different grade cotton fibers with variable physicochemical properties using a single recipe was investigated to obtain a more comprehensive picture about the reproducibility and repeatability of the process. Single jersey knitted fabrics with different characteristic properties, were subjected to the same pre-treatment processes. This, pre-treatment processes included acid demineralization and one bath scouring, peroxide bleaching and optical brightening. The fabrics made of different grade cotton fibers were monitored for metallic impurities, as well the whiteness index, and colour coordinates during different steps of finishing and washing. The stability of whiteness after the first and fifth washing cycles with detergent for white programme carried out in an industrial washing machine was analyzed by Berger scale and colour coordinates and compared with bleached-thermo stabilized knitted fabric.
The results obtained showed that the pre-treatment process of demineralization followed by one bath scouring, peroxide bleaching and optical brightening is stable giving knitted fabrics with a whiteness index with a variance coefficient less than three in all three different grades of cotton. Knitted fabrics after the first washing cycle have the same whiteness index as before.
The authors are associated with University Sts. "Cyril and Methodius" Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Skopje, Macedonia
Originally published in Tekstilna Industija, December 2010
Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to EAM Confection Štip for founding and providing samples for this study.
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