Study On The Soft Finishing And Properties Of Hemp Fabrics

With the enhancement of heath caring consciousness and environmental protection,fabrics made of natural fibers have been the object which the people like hold again.Especially,hemp products has been one of the hot topics on the textile market for its unique performance.In recent years,applications of hemp products in military,civilian and industry is drawing people’s more attention. As hemp’s poor drawbacks like short fiber,more coarse and bad elastic,and thus more study needed to improve the performance.This paper focuses on studying on the soft finishing and properties of hemp fabrics. By investigating the causes of bad softness,enzyme and alkali were used to treat the hemp fabrics.The process was optimized via orthogonal experiments and variance analysis,and the optimal process parameters were founded.In the enzyme treatment,the three variables were enzyme concentration,pH value and finishing temperature.In the alkali treatment,the three variables were alkali concentration,finishing time and temperature.After enzyme treatment and alkali treatment,the influence on the fiber structure properties by the treatments were investigated and compared.The results were founded as follows:after enzyme treatment,the fiber appearance was more smooth,the contaminants amount was reduced,the fiber fineness was smaller,the fibers were separated more,and the crystallinity was decreased;after alkali treatment,the fiber appearance was more smooth than it treated by enzyme,the fiber fineness and crystallinity were smaller than it treated by enzyme.Secondly,the influence on the hemp fabric structure properties by the treatments were investigated and compared.The results were founded as follows:after enzyme treatment,the hemp fabric was thinner,the fabric density was remained much the same,and the grams per square meter were decreased;after alkali treatment,the hemp fabric thin and the grams per square meter were decreased more than it treated by enzyme,and the fabric density was also remained much the same.Thirdly,the influence on the hemp fabric wearing characteristics by the treatments were investigated and compared.The results indicated as follows:viewed from the degree of the fabric soft improvement,the effect of the alkali treatment was better than it’s of the enzyme treatment,and the the properties of moisture regain and breathability were also better than they were after the enzyme treatment.But the properties of resistance to pilling and strength after the enzyme treatment were better than they were after the alkali treatment. Finally,the fabric KES style was investigated and compared.The results indicated as follows:the properties of softness after the alkali treatment were better than it was after the enzyme treatment,and the fabric surface friction was better than it was after the enzyme treatment.But the fabric stretching elasticity and formability after the enzyme treatment were better than they were after the alkali treatment.The study of the enzyme treatment and the alkali treatment for improving hemp fabric softness,and their influence on the hemp fiber and fabric properties will have the direct guiding function to the practical production and further exploitation.