Conference PaperPDF Available

The effect of household fabric softener on flame resistance of cellulosic fabrics

Authors:

Abstract

Flammability of textile products refers to their burning behaviour, especially ease of ignition and continuous burning after ignition. The main objective of this project is to investigate the effects of fabric softeners on flame resistance of viscose rayon, cotton and linen fabrics. The test conducted in this project was flammability test. The ignition time, the flaming behavior, the duration of flaming, afterglow and the trip-thread test of fabric were evaluated. The standards used for this test was BS 5438-1991. The initial fabric properties after being treated with household fabric softener resulted in increasing value of fabric thickness and fabric weight. However, there was decreasing value of fabric density in all treated fabric. In conclusion, it shows that fabric softeners had a significant influence on the flame resistance property of viscose rayon and cotton fabric. The final results show that the ignition time and duration of afterglow were increased but it was opposite to the duration of flaming which decreased for each types of treated fabric. The final results also indicate that the fabric becomes more flammable after treated with fabric softener.
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! $$$  $ $) '$$ $ 
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$  2) $  !$ 1!" !$ !$
$) #$ !$  $ $!$ !$! 2 #$$
$& !$
2012 IEEE Symposium on Humanities, Science and Engineering Research
978-1-4673-1310-0/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE 759

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$$)$$!!!!$CD%&$!"'$( )
2012 IEEE Symposium on Humanities, Science and Engineering Research
760
0/@?A?'
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2012 IEEE Symposium on Humanities, Science and Engineering Research
761
... During retting process, the fibres might have been coated with the softening agent molecule. Despite softening the fibre and making it feel smooth, soft and flexible by internal lubrication of the fibres, the softening agent will also increase the thickness of the individual fibre (Ruznan et al., 2012). ...
... Meanwhile, the bending length of warp sample retted in softening agent is 2.07 cms while for weft sample is 2.52 cms. Weft sample retted in softening agent has higher bending length due to the softness and flexibility (Ruznan et al., 2012), hence more yarn interlacement can be done during the weaving process. Weft sample retted in water has lower bending length due to coarser yarn and it tends to break easily, making lesser yarn interlacement could be done during weaving. ...
Article
Full-text available
Fibres from banana’s stem are abundantly available in Malaysia. This study focused on the production of woven fabric from banana pseudo stem fibres Yarn made of 100% banana stem and 100% cotton yarn were produced. Two types of retting techniques were conducted, which are water retting and retting using softening agent. The fibres were spun and weaved into plain weave fabric. All specimens were evaluated for yarn twist, yarn evenness, yarn linear density and selected fabric physical properties. The results obtained showed that banana stem fabric treated with softening agent has lower area density and higher thickness. Weft sample retted in softening agent has higher bending length and flexural rigidity than sample retted in water. This might be due to the decrement of yarn’s stiffness, which eases the insertion of yarn during shedding process. Weft sample retted in water has lower bending length due to coarser yarn and tends to break easily. It is found that retting banana stem fibres with softening agent affect the yarn linear density, area density, fabric stiffness properties and flexural rigidity of the fabric.
Article
Full-text available
The processing of textiles to achieve a particular handle is one of the most important aspects of finishing technology. Softeners can improve some properties of textiles, depending on the chemical nature, including soft handle, smoothness, elasticity, hydrophilic, antistatic and soil release properties. They can affect the color and fastness of the dyed textile. In this research project, cotton fabrics were first scoured with nonionic detergent and then dyed with four sulfur dyes of different structures. The colors of the dyed fabrics was yellow, bluish black and bright blue. The dyed fabrics were then treated with anionic, cationic, nonionic, micro and macro silicone softeners. Nonionic, micro and macro silicone softeners decreased the lightness (L*) of all sulfur-dyed samples while anionic and cationic softeners caused only a slight alteration in lightness. The a*, b* and c* values of most dyed samples showed a little change after treatment with softeners except for the color coordinates of the yellow samples, which increased. A considerable increase in the fk values for silicone softener-treated samples was obtained. The washing fastness properties of blue samples decreased while they remained unchanged for other samples. The light fastness properties decreased for all samples after treatment with softeners.
Article
The damage caused to fabric by microbes is summarised and mainly involves moisture and time, and they can also pose threats to human health. Microbe habitats are discussed and include bedding and household textiles and clothing items of various types. The key requirements for antimicrobial fabrics are safety, durability and the preservation of textile properties and processes. Effectiveness is just as important. Durability and production issues are then covered in detail. The majority of antimicrobials work through two fundamentally different mechanisms: as stationary materials and other antimicrobial agents are migratory. These are explained. A crucial element of antimicrobial function is speed - 18 hours applies to many current antimicrobial agents but quicker action would be preferable. The power of the agents is discussed. Testing methods are reviewed relative to current regulatory standards. Environmental issues are included and the problem of superbugs explored, particularly in medical applications. International regulations are covered.
Article
A brief discussion is given on the mechanism by which textile softeners produce their effects. Differences in this respect between silicone softeners and the conventional long chain fatty acid types are pointed out. Also, some of the applications of silicone softeners with respect to cotton are discussed. The results of a study on the effects of silicone and conventional organic softeners on the physical properties of resin treated cottons are given. In this study several well known types of softeners were included in three typical minimum care resin treatments. Their effects on the tear strength, tensile strength, wrinkle recovery. abrasion resistance, and sewing lubrication were noted, with special reference to laundering durability. Based on the products evaluated, the data indicate the silicone softeners increase wrinkle recovery and some of the other physical property values above those imparted by the organics. This increase in efficiency leads to the conclusion that the amount of resin used could be decreased, still giving acceptable wrinkle recovery values and at the same time increasing the rest of the physical property values.
Article
Cationic surfactants have a positively charged nitrogen atom and at least one hydrophobic, long-chain substituent in the molecule. Because of their fabric-softening and antistatic properties, they are used as active materials in fabric-softening agents. Suitable cationic surfactants are mostly quaternary ammonium salts, and to a lesser extent, imidazolinium salts with two long hydrophobic alkyl chains. Alkylated, partly ethoxylated polyamines, amine amides, ester amines and di-quaternary compounds also have recently been used or proposed. Fabric softeners generally are aqueous dispersions of distearyl dimethyl ammonium chloride or tallow alkylated imidazolinium derivatives in concentrations of 1–9%. Concentrated fabric softeners have recently been pushed into the market as double, triple or 10-fold concentrates. Fabric softeners used in the forms of acrosol sprays, pads or sheets, are not used in the washing machine but can be used in the laundry dryer. The combination of laundry detergent and fabric softener is a single product is impaired by anionic surfactants normally contained in laundry detergents because they react with the cationics to form neural salts. With the so-called soft detergents, one attempts to circumvent these difficulties by means of special formulations, e.g., with nonionics or by using definite physical-chemical mechanisms. They represent a compromise with regard to detergency performance and softening effect.
Textile Testing and Analysis
  • B J Collier
  • H H Epps
Textile softeners for home laundering
  • H L Ward
Textile Product Serviceability
  • R S Merkel
Flammable laundry? http://www
  • T Davidson