Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Technology of Pre-treatment and Finishing

(TXL-241)
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About the Course

This subject aims to provide you with comprehensive lessons in textile finishing and prepare you
with knowledge and understanding of principles and technology of textile chemical finishing with
emphasis on the mechanism and chemistry underlying of the processes.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• To understand the know-hows of the finishing techniques.
• Apply their knowledge of chemical mechanisms and technologies to select the correct machinery,
processes, processing conditions and technologies to achieve the specific effects required for
different end-uses.
• To minimize and solve technical problems involved in the process.
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References

• Textile Finishing Edited by Derek Heywood, Society of Dyes and

Colourists. 2003
• Chemical Finishing of Textiles, W. D. Schindler and P. J. Hauser, CRC
Press 2004
• Principles of Textile Finsihing, Asim Kumar Roy Choudary,
Woodhead publishing, 2017.
Technology of Colouration - TXL 242

Classification of Textile Processing

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Introduction

Pre- • Removal of impurities

• Make fabric suitable for dyeing and
treatment finishing with good absorbency.

Dyeing & • To impart uniform colour and coloured

pattern on fabric.
Printing

• To make fabric fit for end

use.
Finishing • Impart Functional
Properties
Technology of Colouration - TXL 242

Textile Chemical Processing

Pre-treatment Colouration Textile Finishing

Singeing Dyeing Mechanical
Desizing Printing Sanforising
Scouring Stentering
Calendaring
Bleaching
Chemical
Mercerization
Crease resistant
Water proof
Anti-Pilling
Soft finish
Flame retardant
Etc.
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Key Advantages of Finishing

➢ Improved appearance – Lustre, Whiteness etc.

➢ Improved Feel – handle of fabric and its
softness, suppleness and fullness etc.,
➢ Improved wearing qualities – Anti-crease and
Non-soiling.
➢ Special Properties – Water Proofing, Flame
Proofing etc.
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Other added benefits

➢ Covers faults in the fabric.

➢ Improves fabric weight.

➢ Increase the selling price of the material.

➢ Improves the natural attractiveness.

➢ Improves the serviceability of fabric.

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Which fabric and what finish to choose?

The variations of finishing depend on the following factors

➢ The most important factor, the desirable properties of the material during its use.

➢ The type of fibre and its arrangement in yarn and fabric.

➢ The physical properties of fibres such as swelling capacity and behaviour when

pressure or friction is applied.

➢ The capacity of fibres to absorb chemicals.

➢ The susceptibility of the materials to chemical modification.

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Classification of Finishing Textile

Finishing Physical principles
The finishes applied using • Pressure
• Chemicals • Tension
Chemical Mechanical • Friction
• Temperature

Reactive Deposition Temporary Permanent

• Parchmentising • Calendaring • Raising
• Chlorination of wool • Sanforising
• Flame retardant Temporary Permanent • Milling
• Soil Release
• Stiff finishing • Crease resistant
• Soft Finishing • Waterproof
• Optical Brightening
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Classification of Finishing based on their durability

➢ Temporary Finish
➢ A finish which is not stable and goes off after the first wash and subsequent
washing. – Calendaring, embossing, starching.
➢ Permanent Finish
➢ A finish which is remains unaffected through all conditions of wearing and
washing treatments. – Sanforizing, Mechanical Milling, Resin Finishing,
Water/ flame proof finish.
➢ Semi-Permanent Finish
➢ A finish which is remains unaffected few washes and goes off afterwards.-
Stiff finish, schreiner calendaring, water repellent, Anti-microbial.
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Mechanical Finishing

• Calendaring
• Emerizing
• Raising
• Shearing
• Shrink Proofing/ Sanforizing
• Weft straightening
• Heat Setting
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Calendaring
• A flat, compact and polished fabric is produced The objectives of normal calendaring is to
• Flatten yarns, compress fabric and reduce
by passing open width fabric between two
thickness.
adjacent rollers (one soft (bowl) and other hard
• To close interlacements in fabric and improve
roller) under pressure. opacity.
• To impart a lustrous, smooth feel to the
• Suitable for calendaring cotton, linen, rayon and
fabric.
silk materials, synthetic fabrics (under
• To reduce air permeability by changing
temperature). porosity of fabric.
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Calendaring
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Engineering Aspects of Calendar

Key Parameters affecting Calendaring
• Moisture Content
Types
• Temperature
• Friction
• Pressure
• Schreiner
• Soft Bowl composition (wool/cotton/linen
• Embossing
paper)
• Hard roller composition (Chilled iron, coarse-
grained cast-iron roll)
• Number and arrangement of bowl
• Speed of the machine
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Friction Calendaring

The standard three-bowl heavy friction calender consists of

Chilled Iron

➢ steam-heated chilled iron bowl on top Soft Bowl

➢ Fibre/soft bowl in the middle Grained iron bowl

➢ close-grained cast iron bowl at the bottom

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Friction Calendaring
• For friction or glazing finishes top and bottom bowls run in differential
surface speeds needed for the friction effect.
• Smooth metal bowl run faster upto 3x than the softer composition bowl.
• The fabric enters the nip and tends to stick to the softer bowl
• The faster-moving metal bowl then imparts a glaze or highly lustrous
surface to the fabric.
• The cloth handle can become quite papery and thin.
Caution
Home Textile – Chintz
• In Chintz finish of cotton incorrect fabric presentation into machine can
lead to poor handle that cannot be corrected.
• More damage is caused by low moisture content.
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Schreiner calendaring

• Papery thin handle problem of friction calendaring is solved by

“Schreiner” calendars.

• Fabric is passed through the nip between the heated engraved

metal roller fine lines and a filled/ soft bowl. Filled/ soft bowl is not
positively driven and rotates in
contact with metal bowl
• The line impressions are transferred to the fabric to create high

sheen effect by reflect light differently.

• Produced, mainly on sateen fabrics and also called as silk finish.

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Schreiner calendaring

• Engravings of up to 500 lines per inch at an angle of 20° to

the weft.
• Plain fabrics are also given an imitation schreiner finish using
a bowl with only 150 to 200 lines per inch.
• Engraving is either a V-shape or a U-shape
• V-shapes give more sparkle of light reflection and reduce
fabric tensile strength.
• U-shape give normal calendar glaze. • Moisture content 9–15 % for cotton,
(greater than standard regain)
• Temperature – 120–160 °C;
Darker the colour of a fabric sample the better it shows the • nip pressure – 3.5–5.0 Bar;
lustre compared to white colour • speed : 2–10 m min–1
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Embossing calendaring

• The embossing calendar usually consists of two bowls; the

top metal bowl is engraved with a suitable pattern and the
softer composition bowl has a surface that will accept the
embossing pattern.
• The filled bowl has to be first impressed with a specific,
deeper, reversed version of the design on the steel roller.
• Filled bowl is positively driven at the same peripheral speed,
so that the impression remains in register.

Originally, these calenders were used to produce • Thermoplastic synthetic fibers - the
temperature of the embossing roll exceeds
imitation leather cloth and book cloths.
the heat‐set temperature of the fibers.
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Case Studies

Case study 1
Case Study 2
Case Study 3
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Emerizing
• Emerizing also known as sueding or sanding
• A fabric is passed over one or more rotating emery/sandpaper -
covered rollers to abrade and impart a soft luxurious handle.
• After emerising very low pile/ short fibres protruding from the
fabric surface are produced.
• The handle will differ according to the type of fibre(s) present, the
fibre linear density and the intensity of the emerising action on the
fabric.
• Softness can be greatly enhanced by using fine microfibres (<1
dtex) together with chemical softening agents to give a peach-skin
finish.
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Advantages and Problems in Emerizing

Advantages
• Better Warmth to wearer
• Fabric becomes softer in hand smoother to feel
• Increase durability of fabric.
• Covers minute areas between interlacing.

Cautions
• Emerizing of microfibre fabrics should be carried out prior to dyeing to avoid unevenness, and
especially stripiness after dyeing.
• A further problem arises from the coloured dust generated.
• Emerizing at grey fabric stage will help to remove the dust in subsequent dyeing and rinsing
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Types of Emerizing Machines

Multi-roller Emerizing Single Roller Emerizing

Rollers rotated in
a clockwise or
anticlockwise direction

• Flexible and versatile, wide variety of fabric • Fabrics with terry loops on the face is
structures presented to suede roller.
• More productive than single-roller emerising. • Fabric styles where the fabric surface
• Velvet-like, very short pile or nap fabrics must be effectively shaved to produce a
polished or burnished effect
Speed: 15–25 m min–1 Speed: 7-10 m min–1
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Parameter Influencing Emerizing Process

• First roller run in the counter direction to the fabric passage to
First Roller
exert mechanical action against the weft threads lifting the surface.

• Second roller operates in the same direction as the fabric passage,

which emerizes the weft thread. Second Roller

• Third roller runs in the opposite direction to intensify the process

and the following rollers run in the same direction as the cloth to

produce the nap.

Because of the abrasive action on the fabric, care is required to ensure that the loss in fabric
strength is not excessive.
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Parameter Influencing Emerizing Process

The emerised or sueded effect obtained is dependent upon the degree of mechanical action

on the fabric and controlled by

• the number of rollers in operation

• the direction of rotation of the rollers (that is, with or against the fabric)

• the fabric tension

• the fabric wrapping angle on the rollers

• the fabric speed

• the grade of abrasive grit used in the emery-paper-covered rollers

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Fabric Properties
Fabric Construction
• The weft yarns contribute the most towards surface fibre development and Long weft floats can be
utilized to enhance surface fibre development
• Thus, a tight fabric construction in a plain weave will be much more difficult to suede or emerise than
a 2/1 or 3/1 twill.
• Microfilament based fabrics have low resilience to mechanical action, and the handle is softer after
emerising.
Fabric Tension
• The tension should be controlled at a pre-set level and any changes in fabric length should not lead to
tension changes on the machine.
• Care must be taken in emerizing knitted fabrics which are generally more dimensionally unstable
compare with woven fabrics.
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Abrasives and emery grades

• The use of a relatively coarse grade (grain or grit size) of 80–100 produces a dense, Emery Strip

long pile.
• Light-weight ladies’ Outerwear fabrics of 100–180 g m–2 are sueded with a grain
size of 280–320 to produce a short, dense nap.
• With the finer microfibres of polyester and nylon, the grain size is increased to
400–600 for emerising.
• Higher grain size 600–800 exert a polishing action rather than an emerising action
on the fabric
Caution
• If the abrasion is too fine, then enough heat may be generated in synthetic fibre
fabrics to induce fusing and harshening of the fabric,
• while too coarse an abrasive grade could tear or rip a fabric unevenly.
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RAISING
• Fibre raising involve the use of wires or brushes which catch yarns in the

textile structure and pull individual fibres partly from the yarn structure.

• The resulting fabric is warmer, softer and more comfortable.

• In staple fibres fabrics, pulling out a layer of fibres from the structure of a

fabric to form a pile.

• Raised loop fabrics are used for nightwear or bed sheets.

• In the case of filament yarns, loops in the fabric structure are stretched by

the raising action but are not usually broken.

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Raising Process
Raised Fabric

Emerized/ Sueded Fabric

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Raising Machine

• Both pile and counter-pile rollers arranged depending on

direction of the points in which the wires are bent to
fabric direction.
• A typical raising machine is fitted with alternating
twenty-four rollers, 12 pile and 12 counter pile.
• Relative speeds of rollers together with that of the cloth
govern the raising effect.
• Fabric may require several passes through the machine
to obtain the desired effect.

Caution: If the roller peripheral speed is equal to the cloth speed,

no raising takes place, and this is the ‘no-raise’ condition.
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Processing Conditions of Raising

• Variations in temperature and humidity conditions can affect the raising effect. Cotton

is usually processed in a warm, dry condition.

• If the pile action is much greater than the counter pile, the cloth may tend to cling to

the pile rollers. The machine should be reset to a more balanced action.

• Uneven raising should be corrected by re-grinding or replacing the wire.

• Streaky or patchy raising may be due to traces of finishing agents.

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Processing Conditions of Raising

The raising effect is assessed by its influence on properties such as:

(1) tensile strength;

(2) abrasion resistance;

(3) air permeability;

(4) thickness;

(5) thermal insulation;

(6) flammability and surface flash (cellulosics).

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Case Studies

Case Study 1

Case Study 2
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Shrinkage

• The term ‘shrinkage’ can simply be defined as a change in the dimensions (width/length) of a fabric or garment.

• The shrinkage, which can occur in fabrics and garments usually results from a relaxation of the stresses and strains

created in various process.

• Woven fabrics are much more stable than knitted fabrics and do not react to stresses as severely.

TYPES of SHRINKAGE

• Construction shrinkage – During Weaving/ Knitting

• Processing shrinkage – During Wet Processing

• Elastic Shrinkage – When Fabric Allowed to Relax

• Drying Shrinkage – Deswelling during drying operations

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Width Control

Stenter is the only drying machine that provides adjustment and

setting of fabric width during drying.

Other functions

1. Heat setting of fabrics made of synthetic fibres and blends.

2. Applying and fixation of several finishing agents.

3. Imparting a particular mechanical finish affecting appearance

and feel, commonly known as stenter finish.

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Width Control
• The speed of stenter ranges from 10 m/min for heavyweight to
100 m/min for lightweight fabrics.
Fabric Entry into Stenter
• The actual speed also depends on the particular operation (e.g.,
drying, heat setting, weft stretching or finishing)
• Temperatures up to 250 oC

Fabric Exit from Stenter

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Why we need weft straightening?

Bowing & Skewing are defects which are created when there is a distortion in weft laid
across the whole with of the fabric.

Weft or filling yarns are displaced from Weft or filling yarns are distorted
a line which needs to be perpendicular means pattern on one side of the fabric
to the selvedge.
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Weft straightening
Bowing – Causes:
• Bowing of 1” to 1.5” is being generated in the fabric at both
selvedges ends due to take up action when the fabric is being
pulled then application of force.
• During all chemical processes fabric has to pass through set of
rollers many times giving rise to bowing.
Skewing – Causes:
• During weaving or processing both fabric selvedge being pushed
by roller with different force that cause edge cause the
movement of weft pattern.
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Weft straightening
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Weft straightening

Expressed as percentage

We can see length distortion at the center and side of fabric

marked as ‘b’ and the total fabric width is being as ‘d’.
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Weft straightening

• weft straightener corrects diagonal or curved distortions.

• The mobile frame carrying the rollers begins to oscillate

horizontally to pull from the center to the corresponding edge to

correct diagonal distortions.

• The other set of rollers has a curved axis apply a force which

gradually increases from the edges to the center to enable curved

distortions to be corrected.
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Shrink-Proofing/ Compacting/ Sanforising/ Zero-Zero

Mr. Sanford L. Cluett

• The fabric pre-shrinking machines, popularly known as

zero–zero and Sanforising ranges.

• Cotton fabric swells and shrinks when the fabric is free

from tension as a result of relaxation of intermolecular

forces.

• To produce finished fabrics and eliminate length shrinkage

For a cotton fabric, shrinkage relates to the
the fabric is subjected to ‘compressive shrinkage’. loss of the length and/or width dimensions.
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Shrink-Proofing/ Compacting/ Sanforising/ Zero-Zero

Fibre swells up to 20% when wet

• Sanforising imparts dimensional stability to cotton

fabrics.

• Fabric shrinkage is reduced by mechanically forcing

• Sanforising enables residual
the structure of the fabric to compress upon itself. shrinkage less than 0.75%.

• However, it is important that after

preshrinking, the fabric should
not be stretched further.
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Principle of Preshrinking Machine

• The fabric F meet the blanket at point P.

• Radius of curvature – PQ > AB

Rubber
• The length of the outer surface of the blanket

between is greater than inner result in blanket

Fabric
extension. P Q > A B.
“Bending the felt blanket around the
• At point C, the distance AB = BC the outer surface of guide roller stretches the surface of the
felt and increases the circumferential
speed correspondingly”.
the blanket will relax and shrink.
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Thickness of Blanket
The thickness of the woolen or rubber blanket/felt determines the longitudinal
contraction of fabric.
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Operation of Preshrinking Machine

• The fabric is dampened with steam
• The width is adjusted by a stretching action with the help of a
small stenter
• The fabric is then held firmly against a heavy woollen blanket,
which is under controlled tension.
• As the tension of the blanket relaxes the fabric shrinks uniformly
in length.
• The fabric is then carried around a heated cylinder where it is
dried.
• A sample is tested again to assure that residual shrinkage on
laundering to be reduced to 0.75% or less.
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Different types of compactors

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Different types of compactors

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Different types of compactors

AATCC 135 and 150, ISO 6330, CAN/CSGB 58 are standards followed.
AATCC 150 – Home laundering

Selvedge Selvedge

• Shrinkage <2-3% is acceptable and >3% is rejected.

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Heat Setting
• Synthetic filaments such as nylon and polyester are extruded as continuous filaments and drawn to
impart strength and stability.
• These fibers are semicrystalline and oriented and exhibit thermal shrinkage when they are heated
to temperatures above the glass transition Tg due to increased molecular vibrations.
• The decrease in length arises mainly from the relaxation of molecular chains.
• Drawn but unset fibres cannot be used for most textile due to lack of dimensional stability. An
unset polyester filament yarn shrinks about 7-10 % when allowed to relax in boiling water.
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Heat Setting

• Due to strain created in spinning, drawing and twisting

process, linkages between the molecular chains or the
crystallites are frozen-in under tension .
• Greater freedom for molecular motion gives the bonds an
opportunity to 'snap' into the sites of least energy (sites
free from stress) to provide strain relief.
• The higher the temperature the more interchain bond
breaks and greater the relaxation.
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Heat Setting
• Heat setting can be achieved by the action of heat in the absence or presence of swelling agents, with or

without tension. In practice, hot water, saturated vapour or dry heat treatments are used.

• Heat-setting enables shape retention, crease resistance, resilience and elasticity are imparted to the fibres.

The sequence of events that occurs in the thermosetting processes (around 200 oC )

• Weakening of intermolecular bonds and increasing the segmental mobility of structural elements at higher

temperatures

• thermal relaxation

• stabilization of the structure and re-formation of bonds at new places on cooling the yarn.

• The newly formed bonds are more difficult to break and the fibres are dimensionally stable and will not

shrink at approximately 10 °C below the temperature of setting.

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Methods of Heat Setting

• Contact Heat-Setting - Fabric is run in contact with a heated metal surface.

• Steam-Setting is carried out in an autoclave fitted with vacuum pump, at 125-
135 ° C with intermediate evacuation for 60 minutes with saturated steam.
• Sewing threads, polyester garments, nylon fabrics.
• Hydro-setting method - done with hot water in a high temperature liquor
circulating machine at about 130°C. A typical cycle may require 30 min.
• Nylon fabric can be hydro-set in hot water since the swelling action assists in
weakening or breaking intermolecular bonds
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Methods of Heat Setting

• Heat-setting using Stenter frame – Fabric speed ranges from 10-45 m/min
with a maximum setting time in the setting zone 30 sec at temperature
ranging from 175 to 250 °C depending upon the thickness and type of the
material.
• Suitable for all kinds of fabrics
• Infrared Setting - the absorbed infrared energy 1-4 µm produced by infra-
red burners, is redistributed within the structure of the fibre to cause
disruption of H-bonds and Van der Waals' forces binding the molecules
together and rearrangement themselves into positions of lowest energy
(least stress). Temperatures - 100 -120 °C.
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Effect of Heat Setting in Shrinkage

Maximum Shrinkage

The higher the temperature to which

the yarn or fabric is exposed, the
higher the resultant shrinkage over
the temperature range of 100-200 oC
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Influence of Heat Setting in Mechanical Properties

• In general, the tension in the yarn at first increases

but temperatures over about 180 oC it decreases
steeply.

• The shrinkage of unset polyester fabric at 175 oC is

about 15% as compared to 1% for the same fabric
set at 220 oC.
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Influence of Heat Setting before dyeing

• The initial decrease in the uptake suggests that new
small and imperfect crystals are formed and
amorphous volume per crystal decreases when the
fiber is exposed to 180-220 oC.

• In the later stages of crystallization, the crystallites

grow large and become more ordered, and
relaxation of chain segments happens.

• Thus, at the higher temperature of setting, the

amorphous volume per crystal increases.

Heat setting reduces polyester dye uptake and

increases at high temperature.

Heat set fabrics dye lighter than unset.

Crystallinity Increase
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Other effect of heat setting

• Stiffening is casued due to the formation of continuous film on the fibre

surface and high tension developed during setting. The stiffening effect is lost

if the fabric is further dyed in loose form.

• High setting temperature which creates a degree of stiffness in the fabric does

not recover well from creasing of dry polyester fabrics.

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Other effect of heat setting

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Heat Setting

Upto what temperatures that heat set

fibres can withstand without shrinking?

• The newly formed bonds are more difficult to break and the fibres are dimensionally stable and
will not shrink at approximately 10~ C below the temperature of setting.
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Heat Setting

Heat-setting can be carried out at three different stages in

a processing sequence
i.e. in grey condition; after scouring; after
dyeing/finishing.

What may be the problem if done for bleached goods and

dyeing operations?

• Yellow colour developed cannot be removed any more by bleaching, handle of the cloth may get
altered and there is a risk of colours or optical brighteners be faded somewhat.
After Dyeing
• Sublimation of disperse dyes.
• Post set fabrics show considerable resistance to stripping for colour correction compared with the
same dyeing on unset fabric.
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Heat Setting

What may be the problem heat setting at grey stage?

• Stains present in grey stage may get fixed

• PVA sizing agents dehydrate and create permanent yellowness. Desizing must be done prior to
heat setting.