THE BEHAVIOUR OF RESIN-FINISHED COTTON TOWARDS CAUSTIC SODA SOLUTION

Abstract

When cotton fabrics with crease-resistant finish are subjected to the prolonged action of 20% caustic soda, the dry crease-recovery and water-retention properties imparted by the finish disappear almost completely, whereas the wet crease-recovery is hardly affected at all by this treatment. Determination of the caustic soda uptake shows that conversion to alkali cellulose occurs at a higher concentration of caustic soda when the cotton fabric has been finished, but that the ‘preferential absorption’, as it is called, remains the same for concentrations up to 10% and again beyond 24%.