Challenge and change in wool dyeing and finishing

摘要

Wool dyeing and finishing faces many challenges. The philosophical approach to research and development has been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Imagination, creativity and lateral thinking are now urgently required to overcome the challenges posed by the environmental demands on wet processing and also to service the current and future needs of consumers for innovation and high added-value in higher quality wool-based products. Some approaches that could lead to progress in wool pretreatment, dyeing, total easy-care wool and insect-resist treatment are discussed in this review and some alternative strategies proposed. In this review no attempt has been made to document the many papers that have charted wool dyeing and finishing developments in recent years. Instead, a more philosophical approach has been adopted to what needs to be done now and in the future. The more important areas have been selected where new thinking and new research and development are clearly needed to progress the future of wool in the textile and clothing industries. Inevitably, some hard choices have had to be made, but it is hoped that overall this paper will prove valuable in stimulating others to devise novel approaches to some of the more intractable wool dyeing and finishing problems that need to be resolved.