Fabric Finishing Process and Treatment

After fabrics are dyed and/or printed in a process house, specific treatments can be
given to impart and/or enhance fabric performance characteristics.

Controlling Fabric Shrinkage

• Yarns are under constant tension during the weaving or knitting process. They will
always try to shrink back to their natural state.
• Fabrics are therefore treated to minimize subsequent shrinkage. This is done by
various processes such as cold and hot water immersion, steaming, mechanical
compression by passing fabric through rollers, and – especially for wool - chemical
and resin treatments.
• Sanforization is a process of treatment used mainly for woven cotton fabrics and
also other textiles made from natural or chemical fibres. It is a method of shrinking
and fixing the woven cloth in both length and width, which ensures the fabric will
shrink no more than 5% after it is washed for the first time, as opposed to a potential
10% for un-sanforized fabrics. The machine used is called Zero-Zero pre-shrinking
machine.
• For knitted fabric, a compacting machine – or compactor - is used. This accepts
fabric in all knit structures in both open width & tubular forms. The machine controls
shrinkage, sets the grain line, controls fabric gsm and gives the fabric a lofty hand-
feel. The process is called compaction.
• Even after the fabrics are pre-shrunk using the above processes, they will still
shrink further on laundering. This is called residual shrinkage. The industry
commonly accepts a residual shrinkage of 3% X 3% for woven fabrics, and 5% X 5%
for knit fabrics.

Mercerizing

• Used for cotton and linen, mercerizing causes the flat, twisted, ribbon-like fibers to
swell into a cylindrical or oval shape and contract in length.
• The fiber becomes very lustrous (almost silk-like), its strength increases about
20%, and its dye pickup is greatly improved. At times a low concentration
mercerizing is done solely for the improved dye pickup.
• The process consists of passing the fabric through a cold 15-20% solution of
caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), then stretching it on a tenter frame, where hot
water sprays remove the caustic.
• Both yarn and fabric can be mercerized. Cotton sewing threads are always
mercerized for strength.
• Today chino pants are in demand – these are made from cotton twill that has been
pre-shrunk and mercerized.

Nap Fabric

• Napping is a finishing process applied to one or both sides of a woven or knitted

fabric, which raises the fiber ends to the surface of the fabric. The process is also
called brushing.
• The fabric is passed under a roller which has fine steel or ceramic wires with small
hooks at the end which pull up the fibers. All the raised fibers will lie in one
direction. These raised fiber ends can then be clipped (sheared), flattened or left
erect. A surface texture is created & the fabric becomes softer, dulls in color, and
provides warmth by trapping air for insulation.
• A napped fabric will appear to be of different shades when viewed from different
angles.
• It is very important to cut the garment panels with the naps going in one direction
only. If a velvet gown is not cut with all the pattern pieces going in the same
direction, the dress will look like it was made with two different colored fabrics.
Examples of napped fabrics are flannel, serge, sweatshirt fleece, suede cloth,
brushed denim, lamb’s wool, and synthetic suedes.
• Napping will generally weaken the fabric. Napping can hide fabric and construction
imperfections, and stains can be removed more readily from the surface. If
a sueded (or peached) surface is required, fabrics are given a sanding by passing
them through emery covered rollers.
How to Determine Direction of Nap?
To determine the direction of the nap, prior to layout and cutting, one should run the
hand over the surface of the fabric parallel to the selvage. The fabric feels smooth
when it is stroked with the nap and rough when stroked against the nap.

Pile Fabric

• Pile fabrics are woven (or knitted) with an extra set of yarns to produce a pile on
one or both sides of the fabric, which creates their raised surface.
• Towels, carpets, rugs & velour, are made by interlacing a secondary yarn through
the woven cloth, creating a pile.
• Pile fabrics are often loosely referred to as napped – but this is incorrect because
they have not undergone a finishing process to make them true napped fabrics.
• Some pile fabrics may require a subsequent nap process like shearing (cutting) or
brushing.
• Some pile fabrics with a nap are: velvet, velveteen, corduroy, fleece, fake fur,
boucle, and chenille.

Shearing

• Is the removal of protruding ends of threads, knots, and hairs from the surface of a
fabric, and making the length of the pile very even to improve the fabric’s visual
appearance andhand-feel.
• Both woven and knitted fabrics can undergo shearing. The process is carried out
on shearing machines.

Bio-polishing

Bio-polishing or enzyme washing removes the protruding fibers of a fabric through

the action of an enzyme.

Calendaring

Calendaring makes one or both surfaces of the fabric smooth and shiny. The fabric
is passed to through hot, fast-moving stainless steel cylinders that polish the surface
and make the fabric smoother and more lustrous. Fabrics that go through the
calendaring process feel thin, glossy and papery.

Crease-Resist finish

Crease-Resist finish or "wash-and-wear" or "wrinkle-free" or “permanent press”

finishes are achieved by the addition of a chemical resin finish.

Fabric Wicking

• Moisture-wicking fabric is used in workout clothing and sportswear because the

material pulls moisture away from the skin. It is also used to make casual and
business clothes for use in hot and humid conditions.
There are two major factors that make a wicking fabric work:
1. Capillary action
2. Water Repulsion.
• All wicking materials use capillary action to pull moisture away. Sweat dissipates
throughout the material. Areas with a lot of moisture will 'bleed' the liquid to other
less moist areas.
• To further aid the 'wicking' process, the fibers are coated with a water-
repellent e.g. Gore-tex. The sweat tends to bead up to the fabric surface instead of
being absorbed into the fibers.

Soil Release Finish

All fibers get soiled but most of them can be washed clean with detergents, soap &
water which penetrates to the fiber. However, problems can arise with fabrics which
are hydrophobic and oleophilic (oil attracting) – e.g. polyester.
Fluorocarbon and nanotechnology are the commonly used soil release finish in the
textile industry. Read more.......

Anti-pilling finish

• Anti-pilling finish alleviates pilling, which is the formation of unsightly balls of fiber
forming on the surface of spun-yarn fabrics, especially when they contain synthetics.
• Synthetic fibers are more readily brought to the surface of a fabric due to their
smooth surface and circular cross-section, and due to their higher tensile strength
and abrasion resistance. The anti-pilling fabric finish greatly reduces this problem.

Anti-static finish

• Anti-static finish prevents dust from clinging to the fabric, and this also gives a good
soil release action.
• The US company NANOTEX has developed nano-technology for 5 key textile
technology segments:
1. Stain repellence & stain resistance
2. Moisture management
3. odour control
4. Static elimination
5. Wrinkle-free
Anti-bacterial finish
• Clothing and textile materials are carriers of micro-organisms such as pathogenic
bacteria,odour generating bacteria and mould fungi, and also a media for the growth
of these microorganisms.
• Antibacterial fabric resists colonization by bacteria and reduces the risk of
spreading infection and developing unpleasant odours. It can be used in health-care
settings to protect patients and is also used in products like sports clothing and
bedding which are prone to contact with sweat.
• Nanoparticles, particularly silver, are used in some antibacterial fabrics. These can
confer long-lasting protection against unwanted organisms. Upgrade®-silver finish is
an antibacterial finishing technology using active silver ions. The finish is long lasting
andwashes resistant.

UV-protection

• Ultra Violet radiation can lead to acute and chronic reactions and damage, such as
skinaging, sunburn & permanent skin damage.
• Coating the surface of textiles and clothing with nano-particles gives UV blocking
properties. Zinc oxide {ZnO} nano-particles embedded in polymer matrices like
soluble starch can be used and is more stable compared to organic UV blocking
agents.
• Use of a mixture of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide in a 67:33 proportion during
fabric processing is capable of giving a UPF > 50.
• AATCC 183 method defines the UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) rating for a fabric
as the ratio of UV measured without the protection of the fabric compared to the UV
with theprotection of the fabric.