WET PROCESSING: EXPLAINED COMPLETELY (PART 1)
by : Rahul Sharma
WET PROCESSING:
Compared to the olden days when a large proportion of yarns and fabrics was sold in the grey state, today's tread demands well processed and finished yarns and fabrics to meet the different requirements. The significance of the role of auxiliaries in the different fields of the textile industry is described as follows :
1.Desizing : New and unconventional desizing agents have been discovered. They have served to shorten and at the same time effectivity increase the efficiency of desizing. The mentionable products here are i) High Temperatures Enzymes and ii) chemicals such as sodium bromite.
2. Scouring : Scouring is done for removing the natural and man-made impurities introduced into the yarn or fabric at some stage of manufacturing. The use of selected auxiliaries helps considerably in reducing the scouring time and also enhances the scouring effect without noticeably degrading the material under treatment. The latest developments have seen the rapid growth of synthetic detergents and the equally rapid decline of the common detergents such as soap, Turkey Red oil etc.
3. Bleaching : The bleaching action is rendered more efficient by the use of certain aiding chemicals such as wetting, emulsifying and solvent chemicals. The use of certain chemicals is found to be beneficial in preventing damage to the fabric as in the case of nylon where the use of oxalic acid, is very useful when bleaching with hydrogen peroxide,. Similarly the use of chelating agents is found to be useful in cotton bleaching for preventing catalytic damage from metallic impurities.
