Scope of Sustainable Pretreatment of Cotton Knit Fabric Avoiding Major Chemicals

Abstract

The present effort attempted to avoid basic chemicals, namely NaOH and H2O2 in scouring and bleaching of cotton knit fabric in order to reduce the chemical load and processing cycles without compromise of dyeing performance. Single jersey single lacoste cotton knit fabrics treated with detergent and wetting agent at 120°C temperature for 20 minutes revealed 5.8% weight loss. FTIR graphical data validated the weakening and moving out of characteristic bands of wax and pectin-based cotton impurities in the region of 1740–1200 cm−1. The color differences of 1.5% and 1% dyed samples confirmed pass value (CMC ΔE ≤ 1) when treated at 105°C temperature for 20 minutes. The grading for color fastness to wash, perspiration, rubbing and light was 4–5 to 5. No deterioration in strength and morphological changes were experienced for the treated samples.

Keywords

• scouring and bleaching without naoh and h2o2
• 105°c temperature
• 20 min duration
• cmc ∆e
• color fastness
• cotton