Chemistry of the Textiles Industry

Textiles are whitened by the bleaching process. This process is generally applied to grey goods to finish them as white or to fabrics to prepare them for dyeing to pastel shades. Bleaching is a refurbishing step for modern textiles and a conservation/restoration procedure for historic textiles. The bleaching process removes natural colorants, water-borne stains, and oil-borne soils. Throughout history, ubiquitous bleaching practices were carried out in direct sunlight because it became apparent that the sun had a catalytic effect. In the past, bleaching agents had been identified as indigenous acids, bases, and mineral salts. They were applied as soaks and sours to achieve high whiteness levels. Up until the eighteenth century it was common practice to bleach linens and cottons in the sun and woolens in the fumes of burning sulfur. These relatively primitive bleaching practices were not only cumbersome and arduously slow, but required extensive acreage. It was not until the introduction of chlorine-based materials in the late eighteenth century that bleaching became facile. In the late 1920s, hydrogen peroxide became the most prevalent bleach. Since that time, hydrogen peroxide continues to be the prominent bleaching agent for natural fibers and blends with synthetic fibers. Synthetic fibers generally require little bleaching except for size removal, where necessary.

Fire takes a steady toll of both human life and property. The results are often tragic and in many cases (at least potentially) avoidable. The problem has many components which can be summarized as follows.

The manufacture and marketing of household laundry products constitutes a large, profitable and highly competitive business. In 1990 the ‘world’ market for these products (excluding China and the former USSR) was estimated to be about 16 million tonnes per annum with a value of approximately £15 billion (Karsa, 1990). More recently, the European market alone was stated to be worth £6 billion and the US market $10 billion (Markus, 1994). Substantial investment in research and development is essential for the major manufacturers, if they are to maintain, or improve, their individual positions in this competitive market. It is therefore not surprising that much research investment has been directed towards gaining a fundamental understanding of detergency processes, with a view to developing products with improved cleaning performance. As a consequence there are numerous publications, including several up-to-date textbooks, which deal comprehensively with aspects of surfactant science relating to the theory and technology of detergency (Cutler and Davis, 1972, Cutler and Davis, 1975, Cutler and Davis, 1981; Cutler and Kissa, 1987).

Amino resin finishing commenced in the early 1920s when Tootal Broadhurst Lee took patents out on the manufacture of simple urea—formaldehyde resins for the production of crease-resistant fabrics (Foulds et al., 1926). Those original patents also included phenol formaldehyde as well as urea; the phenol formaldehyde could be discounted due to its colour. But Tootal Broadhurst Lee commercialised on their patent and built up a world wide licensing organisation where companies licensed the process, and when they produced the required standards of crease resistance and tensile strength were granted the Tebilized (Registered Trade Mark) label.

The inherent ability of wool to shrink, or felt, during wet finishing has been used to good advantage for generations to produce a huge variety of products, ranging from woollen spun knitted and woven goods to felts for use either in hat manufacture or as coverings for snooker tables. Whilst this property divides for endless property development potential, it does constitute a major disadvantage in terms of end-product performance, and impacts considerably on the care labelling associated with wool products. Consequently, products made from wool which has not been subjected to chemical treatment may only be labelled as being suitable for either dry cleaning or hand washing.

Coated and laminated textiles usually consist of a textile substrate, which will typically be a woven, knitted or non-woven textile fabric, which has been combined with a thin, flexible film of a natural or synthetic polymeric substance.

Scouring is probably the single most important process in the wet processing of textile materials. Effective scouring is essential for the subsequent processing of any textile substrate, regardless of type. In early textile processing, soap, often in combination with soda (sodium carbonate) was the universal agent for cleaning textile substrates. In many cases its use persists to this day, particularly for the processing of natural fibres where its gentle action is of some benefit. However, the majority of cleaning now employs manufactured detergents, specially formulated for particular purposes and applications.

Current concern over environmental issues is reaching fever pitch to the extent that it affects most of the working population to some degree, even in financial and banking circles. In particular, the level of emphasis given to the environmental agenda in school curricula in many countries of the Western World is predicted to produce a new generation of consumers and employees with a considerably heightened level of awareness over environmental matters. This will inevitably fuel consumer demand and influence national and international political agenda, producing a general demand on industry and commerce to deliver ever-improving environmental performance (Elkington, 1990; Good Housekeeping, 1990).