Fabrics made of a polyester cotton blend are exactly what they

sound like, made from fibers of both the natural cotton and the synthetic
polyester. While both fibers have pros and cons, a blend is often used in
garments to give the consumer the benefits of both.

POLYESTER
Polyester is a manmade polymer material. It is made from coal, air, water
and petroleum products. Polyester is a strong fiber that keeps its shape and
therefore resists wrinkling. The fiber does not withstand medium to high
temperatures and melts and burns at the same time, therefore ironing
polyester must be done at a cool temperature, if at all. Threads of polyester
last for a long time and wear well, so are used for many garments and
sewing projects. Polyester does not shrink like its natural counterpart and
holds dye extremely well, a good thing for textile artists, but bad for stain-
removal from polyester items. Polyester was extremely popular in the 1950s
but since then is used more as a blend than the main fiber used for garments
or fabric.

COTTON
Cotton is an all-natural fiber made from the pod of a cotton plant. It is the
principal fiber used in making the world's clothing. Cotton is known for being
light, cool, comfortable and absorbent. Many people describe cotton as a
fabric that "breathes." It is also easy to dye and to clean, though dyes do not
hold as fast to natural fibers as to the synthetic fibers of polyester. Cotton
can withstand high temperatures, but does wrinkle easily and shrinks with
washing.

BLEND BENEFITS
A polyester cotton blend can be versatile, as it most likely retains the
coolness and lightness of the cotton fiber, but also adds the strength,
durability and wrinkle-resistance of polyester. A polyester cotton blend
should only shrink slightly in comparison to a garment or fabric that is 100
percent cotton. This blend is often preferred by at-home sewers and quilters
as it is extremely easy to sew.
BLEND CONS
Adding polyester to cotton can cause unattractive pilling of the fabric and
make the fabric not withstand high temperatures as well. Many people prefer
pure cotton to a polyester blend cotton in clothing that they need to breathe,
as the blend does not breathe or stay as cool as pure cotton.

USES
Polyester cotton blend is mostly used in the garment industry to make
clothing that people want to be able to wash and wear without having to iron
and that will be tougher than a 100 percent cotton blend and withstand more
washing. Many home sewers prefer polyester cotton blends as it is more
forgiving and easy to sew than pure cotton, as it wrinkles and shrinks less.

WET PROCESSING
PRETREATMENTS:
Thorough pretreatment of the cotton component of polyester cotton (P/C) fabric is essential
for proper dyeing, printing or finishing as it improves absorption of dye liquor and other
chemicals by water.

The following two sequences of pretreatment processes are usually carried out on
commercial scale processing of polyester cotton fabrics.

SEQUENCE I:
1. Singeing

2. Desizing

3. Scouring

4. Bleaching

5. Mercerizing or Causticizing

6. Drying

7. Heat setting

For p/c fabric above sequence is more commonly used because it is cheaper (one drying
only)

SEQUENCE II:
1. Desizing

2. Drying
 3. Heat setting

4. Singeing

5. Scouring

6. Bleaching

7. Mercerizing or Causticizing

8. Drying

This sequence gives better results as after the removal of sizing material the fibers become
in raised form on the surface of the fabric and are completely removed during the process of
singeing.

DYEING OF POLYESTER COTTON BY EXHAUST

PROCESS
Dyeing can be carried out by using disperse-direct , disperse-reactive, disperse-Vat and
disperse-sulphur dyes by following methods

ONE BATH ONE STAGE EXHAUST PROCESS

In this process both fibers are dyed simultaneously in the same liquor, this method is
suitable for:

 Disperse-Direct Dyes

ONE BATH TWO STAGE EXHAUST PROCESS

In this process both fibers are dyed in the same liquor but in two stages either polyester or
cotton is dyed at first and then the remaining component is dyed in the same liquor, this
method is suitable for:

 Disperse-Direct Dyes

 Disperse-Reactive Dyes

 Disperse-Vat Dyes

 Disperse-Sulphur Dyes

TWO BATH TWO STAGE EXHAUST PROCESS

In this process both fibers are dyed separately in seprate liquor in two stages either
polyester or cotton is dyed at first and then the remaining component is dyed, this method
is suitable for:

 Disperse-Direct Dyes

 Disperse-Reactive Dyes
  Disperse-Vat Dyes

 Disperse-Sulphur Dyes

DYEING OF POLYESTER COTTON BY CONTINUOUS

PROCESS
Continuous dyeing of p/c fabric generally carried out by:

 Disperse-Vat Dyes or Disperse-Sulphur Dyes

Continuous dyeing of p/c fabric is also carried out by PIGMENTS