STUDY OF THE EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS IN BIOSCOURING TREATMENT OF COTTON-HEMP BLENDED FABRICS

Abstract

The main objective of the pretreatments applied in textile industry is to remove all native impurities present in the natural fibers. The nature and quantity of noncellulosic compounds present in hemp and cotton fibers is variable. These have hydrophobic characteristics which negatively influence the fabrics hydrophilicity. Depending on their nature these can be eliminate by a simple wash procedure or if we think at those of chemical nature more advance methods need to be performed. In the study, the result obtained after applying a bioscouring treatment on 50 % of hemp-50 % of cotton blended fabrics are presented. The aim of the procedure was the elimination of physical and chemical compounds presented in the fabric for the improving of its technological characteristics. A pectinolytic commercial product (Beisol PRO) was used, varying its concentration. The reaction bath contained phosfate buffer solution of 0.1 M and pH 8, 2 g/L complexing agent (EDTA) and 0.5 % surfactant (Denimcol Wash RGN). The bioscouring treatments were performed using a central, rotatable second order compound program with two independent variables: Beisol PRO concentration (between 1-3 % o.w.f) and exposure time (15-55 minutes) at 55℃. The liquid to faric ratio was 20:1. The following parameters were determined: weight loss, hydrophilicity, calcium content, whiteness and yellowness index. The obtained results underline the efficiency of the considered method. The pectinolytic procedure applied on the hemp-cotton materials has contributed to pectin hydrolysis and optimum removal of undesired impurities with minimum fabrics degradation.

Keywords

• cotton-hemp material
• enzymatic treatment
• pectinolytic commercial product
• calcium quantity