Development of lotus and cool finishes and models for fabric comfort characteristics

Abstract

Cool finished fabrics are meant to be used for the purpose of apparel and also technical textiles. Unlike the finishing of cotton fabrics by hydrophilic poly vinyl acetate (PVA), a hydrophilic emulsified polyester resin softener in addition to PVA was used to impart soft handle and cool touch. Higher thermal insulation value (TIV), higher moisture transport coupled with soft handle are responsible for cool touch in the finished fabric.The finish that gives these comfort characteristics is known as the cool finish. Nano Lotus finish is a fluoro carbon type of fluoro alkyl emulsion acclaimed by researchers as a finishing agent successful to impart lotus effect . The combined effects of cool finish and lotus finish are obtained by using a silicone based softener in conjunction with hydrophilic poly vinyl acetate (PVA) and also dimethyl dihydroxy ethylene urea (DMDHEU) based cross linking agent. This type of formulation of finish, produced in the finished fabric soft feel, water/ oil repellency and highest thermal insulation value (TIV) due to silicone softener. The finish that gives these multifunctional characteristics is known as Lotus plus Cool finish. The research focus of the present work was embarked on the comprehensive evaluation of fabric handle and comfort using 3T Values and further industrial and commercial implementation through the use of computerized and statistical models. Thus, for a comprehensive evaluation of handle and comfort characteristics of apparel fabric, statistical and computerized regression models are of primary importance for automatic grading and ranking of the fabric quality.