ABSTRACT
Chemical processing of textiles is a vast subject dealing with application of various chemicals and processes for both natural and synthetic textiles in fibre, yarn and fabric forms encompassing preparatory processes, dyeing, printing and finishing activities. Man-made fibres do not have any natural impurities in them, but generally contain added impurities, which are basically chemical additives such as spin finish, anti-static finish, lubricants and weaving sizes added to facilitate subsequent processes. Singeing is the process of removal of surface-protruding fibres from the fabric. Apart from natural impurities, added impurities such as starch size are present in cotton fabrics, which have to be removed in preparatory processes. Disintegrating the pectin-based impurity matrix results in lower amount of wax on the cotton surface and subsequently in improved water absorbency of the fabric, which supports the hypothesis of chemical linkage between pectin and waxes.
