Reduction in Pilling Tendency of Polyester and Polyester-Cotton Blend Fabrics

摘要

One of the short comings of cloth containing polyester fibers is the formation of pills during wear. Control of parameters related to fibers, yarns and fabric construction helps to some extent to reduce pilling. Experiments conducted at ATIRA have proved that following treatments during wet processing are beneficial in reducing the tendency to pill formation; (a) singeing, (b) heat setting, (c) steaming, (d) treatments with polyethylene glycol, glycerol, diethylene glycol, sorbitol, silicone, thermosetting resin and polyvinyl acetate, (e) treatment with 0.5% caustic soda solution, (f) application of thermosetting resin with either polyethylene glycol, diethylene glycol or silicone and (g) application of a mixture of silicone with acrylic based resin or with sorbitol. Implementation of the above in four large scale trials has also shown that (a) singeing before or after carbonizing, (b) caustic treatment after carbonizing, and (c) addition of sorbitol along with silicone during finishing reduce pilling tendency of carbonized fabrics.