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Abstract
Durable press (DP) or easy care finishing is almost always used for cotton fabrics or textiles with a high content of cellulosic fibers. This finish provides resistance against shrinkage and improved wet and dry wrinkle recovery to cellulosic textiles. Inhibition of easy movement of the cellulose chains by crosslinking with resins/polymers is the mechanism of a DP finish. Initially, derivatives of urea such as urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde resins were used. Environmental concerns and the potential danger of formaldehyde led to the introduction of formaldehyde-free finishes. Among them, polycarboxylic acids such as 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acids and citric acids are the most promising chemicals. To enhance the flexibility, tensile strength and whiteness of the easy care finished textiles, novel finishing agents have been recently considered; for example, ionic crosslinking, polyamino carboxylic acids and non-ionic poly- urethane, as well as employing nano-materials as the catalyst or co-catalyst. The possible application of the easy care treatment with other functional finishes, mainly antimicrobial, flame retardancy and water-oil repellency, has been also been focused upon.
Keywords
Durable press, finishing, cotton, crosslinking, N-methylol compounds, formaldehyde-free compounds
Cotton fibers are the most important fibers in the appa- rel industry, since they can readily absorb moisture and cotton-made clothes are the most comfortable gar- ments. Despite the numerous advantages, there are also some disadvantages, such as easy wrinkling of fabric in practical applications.1,2 Crushing during use and care (such as washing) cause wrinkles. Water absorption during washing leads to the movement of the molecular chains of cellulose in amorphous and intermediate (non-crystalline) regions. The new arrangement of the cellulose molecules is fixed by the hydrogen bonds between the adjacent hydrogen groups.3 As a result, inhibiting the movement of cellu- lose chains is the appropriate way to overcome the problem. This goal is obtainable by crosslinking of the cellulose chains with resins/polymers.4,5 The cross- linkers used are also known as easy care or durable press (DP) finishing agents, which can be basically divided into two main groups: formaldehyde-based chemicals and formaldehyde-free compounds. The for- maldehyde-based chemicals, as the oldest crosslinkers, has been briefly discussed in the first part of this review and the rest is dedicated to the formaldehyde-free com- pounds, mainly polycarboxylic acids, the recent pro- gresses in these compounds, and their application...