| New improvements on finishes often give increased comfort and functionality to satisfy consumers’ needs whenever they work and play. |
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| New finishes have been developed for applications in sportswear and daily wear. |
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When consumers purchase apparel, their initial reactions to a garment are to evaluate the style, design, colour and fit as well as assessing the handle of the fabric. Now the global consumer increasingly is looking for functional finishes that will enhance the garment performance and comfort during wear. Consumers are also looking for sports and active ear that will continue to smell fresh during wear, and can be washed easily at low temperatures e.g. 30°C.
While it is possible to build in functionality into manufactured fibres during fibre production, the widespread use of natural fibres in blends with synthetic fibres has meant that an easier processing route is to apply functional finishes that are appropriate for the end-use to fabrics and garments at the last stage of wet processing.
Building in functionality at the last stage of the fabric / garment wet processing chain is more cost-effective for textile wet processing units and with appropriate branding / labelling confers greater retailer / consumer appeal. The ability to apply high performance functional finishes to consumer apparel fabrics thus increases the versatility of the textile finisher and increases their ability to remain competitive in securing business in different apparel market sectors amidst the current global downturn.
DyStar introduced a new generation silicone softener termed Evo Soft SXN, which is based upon unique chemistry that can confer durable softness upon textiles containing natural fibres. Evo Soft SXN provides a durable soft handle on natural fibre materials because of the nature of the chemical interaction between the softener and the fibre. As a result the softness of handle is maintained through multiple wash / wear cycles, even when washing at temperatures as high as 85°C. This significantly-enhanced wash durability removes the need for any subsequent application of softeners after garment washing, with clear benefits upon the environment. Evo Soft SXN ensures easy ironing performance and its high durability to washing is important to garments intended for corporate wear, business outfits and military apparel.
Workplace needs fulfilled
A number of end uses of garments lie in protecting the wearer against wet weather, especially where significant physical activity is involved, as well as providing comfort during wear.
DyStar have introduced their novel Eco Dry Finish, an innovative high-performance finish combining in the one fabric an outer surface that exhibits water and oil repellency together with an inner surface that provides a moisture-transfer system ensuring optimal comfort during wear.
Hence, the fabric is provided with a hydrophobic outer coating that repels water and oil, in addition to a hydrophilic inner surface that promotes the wicking of exuded perspiration from the skin to the fabric surface to aid moisture evaporation. The high performance of DyStar’s Eco Dry Finish is claimed to be superior to existing finishes in this area and clearly has many potential applications in a broad spectrum of apparel end uses such as sportswear, shirting fabrics, outdoor clothing, military outfits and business wear.
New finishes capture sportswear market opportunities
New finishes have been developed for applications in sportswear and daily wear |
Fabrics containing elastane are widely used in apparel in which their stretch-recovery properties are important for comfort and aesthetic performance, e.g. socks, hosiery, swimwear, sportswear and womenswear. However, the wet processing of elastane-containing fabrics has some technical complexities that are reflected in the higher cost of such finished fabrics. An alternative approach has been developed by Devan-PPT that offers a low cost route to stretch fabrics. It developed a polymer-based finish applicable for all fibres possessing imparting permanent stretch properties. This patented formulation can be applied by padding or exhaustion and contains silicone to confer a soft handle. Temperatures up to 180°C do not give rise to any yellowing. This versatile polymer system has been shown to be permanent to 20 washes and provides soft handle and hydrophilic properties that are highly desirable in sportswear.
A recent development by DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise has been the introduction of their DuPont Capstone products for textile finishes that are based upon short chain molecules that cannot break down to PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) in the environment. DuPont Capstone products are marketed by Huntsman Textile Effects under the product designation Oleophobol CP. Oleophobol CP-R is a stain-release finish and Oleophobol CP-S is an oil- and water repellent finish for synthetic fabrics.
Oleophobol CP, marketed by Huntsman, offers multiple benefits to users |
Oleophobol CP-R can be applied to cotton, synthetic fibres and blends to facilitate the easy removal of both water- and oil-based stains from garments during laundering. Oleophobol CP-S has been engineered for application to synthetic fibres and their blends and thus any spills on a garment can be blotted up quickly with a dry absorbent cloth. Fabrics treated with Oleophobol CP-R or Oleophobol CP-S offer high performance combined with durability to washing whilst retaining high levels of breathability and comfort during wear.
Polyester fabrics can generate high levels of static that can lead to garments clinging to the body or to electrical discharges particularly when doffing the garment. In some industries e.g. electronics, static-prone garments are undesirable and antistatic finishes are required to overcome such problems. Sarex (India) has introduced their Fabfeel Conc finish, which is a specially developed product designed to decrease static generation in polyester fabrics. Fabfeel Conc imparts a hydrophilic nature to the polyester fabric surface which it is claimed also promotes improved levels of comfort during garment wear.
More comfort with commercialised moisture management
Moisture management properties are now an important value-added performance criterion for consumer apparel, especially for garments based on synthetic fibres such as polyester and polyamide.
Sarex (India) launched three new hydrophilising agents for such fibres namely Sarasoil X, Coolcot Dry and Geotex HPA that offer consumer apparel benefits. All three products are applicable by conventional methods, such as padding and drying at temperatures in the range 150-180°C.
Sarasoil X and Coolcot Dry exhibit improved hydrophilicity and spreading of drops on polyester fabrics while Sarasoil X also enhances the anti-soiling properties. As a result the application of Sarasoil X to polyester and polyester blend fabrics provides increased wicking of moisture combined with ease of removal of fatty / oily soils.
Geotex HPA offers enhanced wicking properties on polyester, polyamide and blends combined with durability to repeated domestic laundering conditions. Synthetic fibre fabrics finished with Sarasoil X, Coolcot Dry and Geotex HPA thus allow moisture to be rapidly transported to the fabric surface to provide a cooling effect and greater comfort in wear. Such properties are particularly useful for sportswear, underwear, uniforms, workwear, as well as medical and technical fabrics.
Digital printing: bucking the recession
At a digital textile conference organized by FESPA this May, speakers presented newly developed solutions of the digital inkjet printing industry to create new markets, new applications and new business opportunities.
The 30-billion square meters of global annual fabric print production some two thirds was printed in Asian countries, notably in China (30%), India (17.5%) and other Asian countries (18.8%). Digital printing was growing but was still only around 0.5-1% of the total fabric printed. The possibility of using digital inkjet printing instead of rotary screen was now attracting more interest. Increasingly, pigment inks would grow in importance in textile inkjet printing because the fabric did not require special pretreatments.
High quality printing opens up new opportunities
Enrico Grasselli from J-Teck3 of Italy introduced at the conference the patented J-Teck3 EPS (Equalising Printing System) in which the fabric is first inkjet printed with a liquid, EPS clear, which then acts as a driving force to enable subsequent colours to penetrate through the fabric to obtain the same printed appearance on both sides of the fabric. Related software controlling the application of EPS clear can be used with all RIP (raster image processing) software.
Josef Osl from J Zimmer of Austria presented the Chromajet and the new Colaris digital inkjet printer that used Seiko print heads. Designed for continuous fabric printing on fabrics up to 1800mm width, the Colaris is a compact machine with a touch screen print server and suitable for printing home textiles, flags, banners, automotive fabrics and fashion apparel.
Lack of through print in flags and scarves was still a problem, but Stork Digital Imaging of The Netherlands had patented and was experimenting with software-controlled microscopic distribution of chemicals by standard inkjet heads in order to control both ink penetration and ink spread very closely. By applying a spreading fluid, it was possible to control these parameters and avoid banding (i.e. horizontal stripes in the image in the direction of movement of the printheads) in the final image, according to Jos Notermans from the company. |
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