| Biopolishing refers to the finishing technique of cellulase treatment of a cellulosic fabric, whether a natural or regenerated cellulose, to improve softness and to reduce pilling. The process has been utilized by several sectors of the textile industry, but has yet to be evaluated for hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics. These fabrics can be harsh and often have visible jet streaks on the surface. Traditionally, hydroentangled fabrics are used in disposable applications. The biopolishing treatment offers the potential to improve the appearance and aesthetics of these fabrics, so that they may be used for new, nondisposable applications, such as apparel.; With no previous work completed on the effects of biopolishing hydroentangled cellulosic nonwovens, the main goal of this research is to determine if hydroentangled cellulosic fabrics are suitable for biopolishing treatment and will yield promising results. This investigation examines several parameters that impact the resultant properties, such as fabric composition and state, treatment time, and enzyme concentration. Fabric composition varies from 100% cotton, 60/40 cotton/polyester, and 100% Tencel. The state of the fabrics, whether dyed or in a greige state is also examined. Establishing a treatment protocol is of significant interest. Thus, this investigation examines treatment durations varying from 30 to 180 minutes and enzyme concentrations varying from 0.5 to 3.0% o.w.f. It was found that while the treatment yields a softer, more drapable fabric with reduced pilling, a reduction in physical strength and basis weight was also observed after treatment. The cotton/polyester and the tencel fabrics appear to retain more of their initial physical characteristics than the 100% cotton fabrics. Differences in the substrate compositions and structure account for these results. By examining the resultant properties of all the fabrics, such as flexural rigidity and tensile strength, this research was used to generate a multi-linear model to be used in the prediction of fabric properties following treatment. These models displayed good coefficients of determination for the fabrics used in this investigation. Additionally using these models, a treatment protocol, can be determined utilizing the resultant properties of interest. |
