Textile finishing includes
processes like bleaching, mercerizing, dying and printing. But it is normally
confined the final stage in the embellishment of the final goods after dying
and printing. Even these introductions of term do not apply to certain
treatments, which are carried out not at the final stage but at the
intermediate stage and even at the manufacturing stage itself.
For an example, delusturing of
rayon, a finishing treatment, is carried out at the manufacturing stage by incorporating
TiO2 in the spinning solution. With few exceptions however the term is used for
processes other than bleaching, dying and printing for improving the
appearance, physical properties and serviceability of the fabrics.
Most of the fabrics require some
kind of finishing treatment or other. A bleached long cloth may not require any
finishing treatment except calendaring. But synthetic fibre fabrics need
treatment like anti-pilling or soil release finish in order to improve their
wear quality.
Therefore apart from conventional
methods of finishing, new methods have been developed to properties and
serviceability of both natural and synthetic fibre fabrics, necessity being the
mother of the innovation. Finishing treatments depend on various factors such
as the nature of the fibres, texture of the fabric, its physical properties, end
use of the material and so on. The finishing operations differ according to the
type of fibre in the fabric and properties to be imparted to it by mechanical
and chemical methods.
Why
Finishing is needed for textiles?
To need of textile
finishing is explained below with few points. Main objects of textile finishing
includes
- To improve the appearance of the fabric that makes it more attractive lustrous by operations like calendaring, shearing, optical whitening etc
- To improve the feel of the fabric by softening, stiffening etc
- To cover faults in the original fabric (e.g. by starch finishing)
- To increase the weight of the cloth, (e.g. by back filling with starch and china clay or by chloride treatment for silk)
- To improve wearing qualities of cloth by making it shrink resistant (e.g. by sanforising cotton cloth or by non-felting wool), crease resistant (by incorporating suitable resins) or free from pills and soiling (by anti pilling and soil release finish)
- To make garments to hold shape and enable them be worn without ironing e.g. by durable finishing
- To impart special properties to the fabric for the specific end uses such as water proofing, flame proofing, moth proofing etc
- To set the texture of certain fabrics and makes others dimensionally stable e.g. by crabbing or potting (wool) and heat setting (synthetic fibre fabrics):
- To produce stronger and more durable fabrics such as seat covers of car by coating, bonding and laminating:
- To produce novelty effect (e.g. organdie fabrics by parchmentising)
Types of possible finishes
- Blends: Softness, limpiness, water repellency, silky feel and bulky
- Canvas: Softness, limpiness, water repellency, and stain resistance
- Cottons: Dry, soft feel, wet feel, and silky feel
- Denims: Bulkiness, soft feel, water repellency, stone wash, softner wash, soft faded look, pumice finish, silky feel, and puckered feel
- Knits: Hydrophilic/hydrophobic, feather touch, comfort feel, stain resistance
- Sewing threads: Lubricity, improved tensile strength and softness
- Terry towels: Excellent water absorbency, soft fluffy feel, stain resistance, non-yellowing finish
- Twills: Limpiness, soft silky feel, bulky heavy feel, water repellency, wrinkle free finish, buttery feel, faded, puckered, bouncy/rubbery, soft, durable finish, stain resistance, and feather touch
Source: This document was prepared under class assignment at
NIFT. Information was collected from various online and off-line sources. This
article is further edited by OCS and published here.