An attempt has been made to develop multifunctional cotton fabric having water-repellent, stain repellent, shrink resistance and quick dry properties using fluorocarbon resin. The hydrophobicity of cotton fabric was determined by carrying out a water-repellency test, taking SEM photographs and measuring the water contact angle. The durability of hydrophobicity of cotton was tested to 20 washes and found satisfactory. The oil-repellency was determined by employing a hydrocarbons resistance test. The air permeability of cotton fabric was also determined, keeping in view the impact on breathability of treated cotton, and was found quite good. The untreated treated cotton fabric was subjected to repeated domestic laundry conditions and shrinkage was measured, which indicated excellent shrink resistance behaviour because of its water-repelling characteristic. This hydrophobicity of cotton also added to its quick dry behaviour, even at low temperature and high relative humidity. The physical properties of treated dyed cotton fabric samples were compared with untreated cotton and no significant changes were observed in colour fastness to washing, rubbing, perspiration light. The tensile and tear strength showed good retention even at higher concentration of fluorocarbon resin. This work is of great industrial importance for textile products used in home textiles. The textile industry can gain more export earnings by doing multiple value addition using the same chemical. The work reported in the literature is about using fluorocarbons and developing water and oil-repellent fabrics. In the present work, apart from water and oil-repellency, shrink resistance and quick dry behaviour of cotton textile has also been established, using the same fluorocarbon, because of the hydrophobicity imparted to the cotton.
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