Fabric And Garment Finishing

Protective Fabric Finishes

National Institute Of Fashion Technology

By:Ankesh DevBhavyaa Gupta

What is Protective Wear/Finish

• Safety and protective textiles refer to garments and other fabric-related items designed to protect the wearer from harsh environmental effects that may result in injury or death

• Safety and protective textiles are designed to protect people working in the industry from one or more of the following hazards: – EXTREME HEAT AND FIRE – EXTREME COLD – HARMFUL CHEMICALS AND GASES – BACTERIAL / VIRAL ENVIRONMENT

Classification

Fire Retardant Finish

Anti-Microbial Finish

Anti-Mildew Finish

Insect-Repellent Finish

Anti-Static Finish

Thermo-cat Finish

Snocool Finish

Bullet Proof

Fire Retardant

Textiles consist of highly ignitable materials and are the primary source of ignition. They contribute to rapid fire spread; however, reduction of ignitability can be obtained by

1. Reducing the Oxygen content of the fibre

2. Increasing the Moisture content of the fibre.

Continued…

• A fabric is susceptible to fire because of its LOI(Limit OxygenIndex)

• To make the fabric flame resistant we have to reduce the oxygen content.

• The Oxygen content is reduced by using Flame retardents.

• Various Flame retardents are:– Ammonium salts and organic– Nitrogenous compounds, like amine; b) organic halogenated

compounds; c) salts containing– High quantities of crystallisation water.

Procedures of Flame Resistance

• Coating Theory• Gas theory• Thermal theory• Chemical Theory

Difference between Flame resistant and Flame retardant….????

Applications

• Fire suits• In defense for tents, ropes, baggage and bags• In industry for workers uniform• Also used in curtains, hangings and decorative

materials.

Anti-Microbial Finish

• Microbes are the tiniest creatures which are not visible to the naked eye.

• These microbes include:– Bacteria– Fungi– Viruses– Algae

• These micro-organism not only harm the fabrics by inducing pungent smells and by degrading the fabric properties but more over cause diseases to the humans.

Necessity of Anti-Microbial Finish

• To avoid cross infection by pathogenic micro-organisms;

• To control the infestation by microbes;• To arrest metabolism in microbes in

order to reduce the formation odour • To safeguard the textile products from

staining, discolouration and quality deterioration.

Application Of Anti-Microbial

• The antimicrobial agents can be applied to the textile substrates by exhaust, pad-dry-cure, coating, spray and foam techniques.

• The substances can also be applied by directly adding into the fibre spinning dope.

• It is claimed that the commercial agents can be applied online during the dyeing and finishing operations.

Type Of Anti-Microbials

• Oxidizing agents such as aldehydes, halogens and proxy compounds attack the cell membrane, get into the cytoplasm and affect the enzymes of the microorganisms.

• Coagulants, primarily alcohols irreversibly denature the protein structures.

• Redical formers like halogens, isothiazones and peroxo compounds are highly reactive due to the presence of free electrons compounds virtually react with all organic structures in particular oxidizing thiols in amino acids. Even at the lowest level of concentrations, these substances pose particular risk to nucleic acids by triggering mutations and dimerization.

• One of the most durable type of antimicrobial products is based on a diphenyl ether (bis-phenyl) derivative known as either 2, 4, 4'-trichloro-2‘ hydroxy dipenyl ether or 5-chloro-2-(2, 4-dichlorophenoxyl) phenol.

• Triclosan products have been used for more than 25 years in hospitals and personal care products such as antimicrobial soap, toothpaste and deodorants.

• Triclosan inhibits growth of microorganisms by using a electro chemical mode of action to penetrate and disrupt their cell walls. When the cell walls are penetrated, leakage of metabolites occurs and other cell functions are disabled, thereby preventing the organism from functioning or reproducing.

Triclosan Structure

Natural Anti-Microbials

• Chitosan is an effective natural antimicrobial agent derived from Chitin.

• Chitosan is a major component in crustacean shells.• Fibres made from Chitosan is also available in the market

place.• Natural herbal products can be used for antimicrobial finishes

since, there is a tremendous source of medicinal plants with antimicrobial composition to be the effective candidates in bringing out herbal textiles.

Chitin-A look..!!

Fibrous Chitin

Application….

• Initially, the primary objective of the finish was to protect textiles from being affected by microbes particularly fungi. Uniforms, tents, defence textiles and technical textiles, such as, geo-textiles have therefore all been finished using antimicrobial agents.

• Later, the home textiles, such as, curtains coverings, and bath mats came with antimicrobial finish.

• The application of the finish is now extended to textiles used for outdoor, healthcare sector, Undergarments, sports and leisure.

Anti-Static Finish

• During the process of spinning and weaving there is a lot of rubbing and hence it generates a static charge.

• This static charge thus developed in hydrophobic fibers, may not only cause the fabrics to tear but in rare cases cause shocks to humans.

Solution..

• By reducing the static charge

• By increasing the fabric conductivity

• By making the fibers more hydrophilic.

Anti-Static Agents

• Silicon Emulsion• PE Emulsion• PE Glycol• Poly-ammonium quaternary salts• Acrylic Polymers

Thermocat finish

• A finishing agent for producing heat retaining effect.

• This type of finishing when applied to the fabric keeps it warm.

• Produces heat retaining effect due to infrared radiation owing to its porosity.

• Especially suitable for 100% cellulose and its blends.

Application

• This Finish is used where there is need to retain heat and the surrounding environment is very cold like in the polar regions or can be worn in winters in cold countries.

Snocool Finish

• This type of finish is used at places where there is a need to feel cool and the surrounding temperature is comparatively hot.

• The Snocool finish uses the concept of moisture management.

• It enhances the process of sweat absorption.• The sweat is evenly distributed in the fabric.• Thus it requires less time for the sweat to evaporate

and it gives a cooling effect to the wearer as the sweat evaporates.

Mechanism of Snocool fabrics

Application

• It’s major application is in Sports wear where immediate evaporation of sweat is required so as to reduce discomfort and to impart comfort

Insect Repellent Finish

The term “insect repellent” doesn’t accurately reflect how these materials work. They don’t actually repel insects, but rather block the receptors that mosquitoes, gnats, punkies, no-see-ums and other insects use to detect appropriate hosts for them to bite.

Types of Insect-Repellants

• DEET is an acronym for the long technical name: N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide .

• Picaridin • Citronella• An ANTIMO MGL a menthoglycol is a natural insect repellent active

ingredient, derived from lemon eucalyptus, which is a natural and renewable source.

• Testing of Antimos MGL with a moderately aggressive cage population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes resulted in no bites up to at least 4 hours.

UV Protective fabrics

• The UV Spectrum comprises of 2 rays:– UVA– UVB

• The UVA is of larger wavelength and penetrates the skin deeply and causes ageing.

• The UVB is of shorter wavelength and penetrates the superficial layers of the skin and causes carcinoma.

U.V. Protectives

• UV Protection depends upon– The type of fibre– Type of weave

• UV protection in fabrics can be incorporated into the yarn, using Unifi’s Mynx UV, or it can be applied to the surface of the fabric as a finish

• This provided the fabric with 95% of UV Protection.

Application

• Children Wear• Outdoor apparel• Active-wear (i.e. tennis, golf, and running

apparel)• Swimwear.