Easy-care and durable

press finishes of
cellulosics
 Introduction
• Cellulose fibres and especially cotton are still the most important kind of
fibres, because of their numerous advantages. One of their main
disadvantages, wrinkling after washing is overcome by a very important
and special kind of finish.
• easy-care, minimum care, easy-to-iron, no-iron, wash and wear, crease
resistant, durable press, permanent press, shrink proof, wrinkle resistant
and wrinkle free are another names for this type of finishes
• Technical description would be ‘cellulosic antiswelling’ or ‘cellulosic
crosslinking’ finishes.
• Easy-care and durable press finishes are generally applied to cellulose and
cellulose blend fabrics
 primary effects of the easy-care
and durable press finish on cellulosic
fibres
• Reduction in swelling and shrinkage
• Improved wet and dry wrinkle recovery
• Smoothness of appearance after drying
• Retention of intentional creases and pleats
• The total crease recovery angle (CRA), that is the
sum of the crease recovery angles of the warp
and the fill directions of the fabric, increases from
about 150° to about 300°.
• Fabric shrinkage of less than 5% can usually be
achieved.
 DISADVANTAGE
• An unavoidable side effect of the cellulosic crosslinking
finishes is a reduction in the elasticity and flexibility of the
cellulose fibres.
• This produces a considerable decrease in abrasion
resistance and tear and tensile strengths on natural
cellulose
• A rule of thumb states that an increase in the wrinkle
recovery angle of 10° corresponds to a loss in abrasion and
tear strength of about 7 %.
• The dry tear strength of regenerated cellulose fibres
decreases only slightly with a crosslinking finish
• But the wet tear strength actually increases because of the
strongly reduced swelling.
 MECHANISM OF EASY CARE FINISH
• The primary cause of the shrinkage of cellulosic fibres is the fact
that these fibres can readily absorb moisture.
• This absorbed moisture facilitates internal polymer chain
movements in the amorphous fibre areas.
• It disturbs the internal hydrogen bonding between these polymer
chains
• When moisture absorbed cellulosic fibre is stressed, the internal
polymer chains of the amorphous areas are free to move to relieve
that stress
• Hydrogen bonds can reform between the polymer chains in their
shifted positions, in effect locking in the new configuration. a newly
formed wrinkle or crease will remain until additional processes
(ironing for example) apply adequate moisture and mechanical
forces to overcome the internal forces.
• The swelling of cellulosic fibres by moisture
can be reduced by the application of self
crosslinking urea or melamine products as
well as by products that mainly crosslink with
cellulose molecules
• Without such a crosslinking finish, cellulose
fibres can take up more than 10 % of their
weight in water. As the fibres swell, the fabric
must crease and shrink to relieve the internal
stresses caused by the swelling.
 Chemistry of easy-care and durable
press
•
finishes
The end of the 1920s saw the introduction of formaldehyde
condensation products for the durable press finishing of
fabrics made of viscose, linen or cotton. Initially mainly
urea–formaldehyde products were used, soon followed by
melamine– formaldehyde compounds.
• In 1947 dimethylolethylene urea products began to appear
• During the 1960s and 1970s, concern about formaldehyde
• encouraged development of cellulose crosslinking finishes
with low free formaldehyde levels. Continued research has
provided products with very low free formaldehyde content
as well as products that are completely formaldehyde free.
Formaldehyde-containing products
Urea–formaldehyde (U/F)
• These reactions are equilibrium reactions with
significant concentrations of the starting compounds.
These equilibria are the reasons for the high content of
free and easily released formaldehyde found with U/F
products.
• Because of their high reactivity, unmodified U/F finish
baths must be used within a few hours.
• The high stiffness and firmness of the U/F finish can be
important for rayon fabrics which often are considered
too limp when compared with cotton. The U/F finish
gives the best elastic resilience
The main properties of U/F products are:
• DMU is highly reactive; finish baths have to be
used in a few hours
• Low durability to laundering High chlorine
retention
• High content and release of formaldehyde
• Very high elastic resilience.
Melamine–formaldehyde (M/F)
The main properties of M/F products are:
• Better stability to hydrolysis and better
washing durability than U/F products
• Relatively high formaldehyde content and
release
• Fewer problems with chlorine retention than
U/F products
• More dimensional stability and stiffness (also
for nylon and polyester).