CA1266353A

CA1266353A - Method of producing a random faded effect on cloth or made-up garments, and the end-product obtained by implementation of such a method

Info

Publication number: CA1266353A
Application number: CA000521238A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Francesco Ricci
Original assignee: Golden Trade SRL
Current assignee: Golden Trade SRL
Priority date: 1986-03-28
Filing date: 1986-10-23
Publication date: 1990-03-06
Anticipated expiration: 2007-03-06
Also published as: NO923488D0; GR3000254T3; FI864574A0; IT8603376A0; DE238779T1; FI864574A; ATE48663T1; DK539286D0; DE3667511D1; IL80675A; DK539286A; FI81843C; NO923488L; DK161773C; DK161773B; IT1215001B; GR880300021T1; FI81843B; IL80675A0

Abstract

ABSTRACT of the DISCLOSURE

In the method disclosed, cloth to be faded is brought into dry contact with pumice granules that are impregnated with a chemical bleaching agent such as a hypochlorite; the action takes place in a conventional process machine, the drum of which is rotated for a preset duration.

Description

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METHOD o.f PRODUCING a RANDOM FADED EFFECT
on CLOTH or MADE-UP GARMENTS, and the END-PRODUCT OBTAINED by IMPLEMENTATION of SUCH
a METHOD
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The invention relates to a method of produc-ing a random faded effect on cloth, whether bulk fabric or made-up garments, and to the end-product obtainable by means of its implementation.

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2 ~ 3~;;3 There is constant effort expended in certain fields of the present-day clothing industry, on the creation of a "used", or faded look, a trend which is most noticeable in the case of garments fashioned 05 from denim cloth.
The effect is produced in most instances by employing s,alts of hypochlorous acid, that is, hypo-chlorites. The salt most commonly used is sodium hypochlorite, made either by passing chlorine into sodium hydroxide solution, or by subjecting sodium chloride to electrolysis. Hypochlorites in solution (generally at between 0.2 and 0.5%) are widely used as bleaching agents, particularly in the texttle industry, as the strong oxidizing properties of the C10-anion provide a powerful whitener.
Hypochlorite solutions, in their familiar forms of Javelle water, proprietory household bleach and disinfectant products etc., are similarly in widespread use as laundering aids both in the trade -.
. 20 and domestically. Such substances permit of produc-ing a uniform bleachlng action on fabrics and gar-ments~ the end-result of which will be more or less discernable according to its duration.
Subsequently, the trend has been toward a look featuring random faded effects.

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3 ~ 53 One such manifestation of this trend is the practice of stone-washing -i.e. immersing cloth in water containing no other substance than pumice. The efFect it is sought to produce on denim treated by 05 this method is one of natural fading, a "used" look characterized by the contrast between light and dark areas; in m,ade-up garments however, the effect tends to appear on and around the seams only, whereas the color of the remaining fabric remains substantially uniform.
Attempts have been made to produce a more authentic look, using the same stone-washing method and adding sodium hypochlorite. Whilst it is true that advantageous cuts in process time have been en-abled by adopting such an expedient, the end-result is much the same as that of the original stone-wash, with the fade confined to the sèams of the garment.
Accordingly, the object of the method dis-closed is that of producing a random faded effect on fabrics or made-up items of clothing, the essential feature of which is the appearance of a plurality of ;rregular patches that vary in intenslty of color shading and are distributed in a non-uniform manner over the entire expanse of the cloth, or garment.

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12~353 SUMMARY of the INVENTION

The stated object is realized by implement-ation of the method disclosed, which comprises the steps of bleaching the cloth in dry state, utiliz-ing granules of pumice or similar material impreg-05 nated with,a fluid having powerful bleaching pro-perties and tumbling granules and clokh together in a rotating drum such that close contact is brought about between the two, then recovering the granules following rotation of the drum for a set duration, and neutralizing any residual bleaching agent held in the cloth by washing and drying.
According to the invention, the sequence of operations in Which the granu1es are recovered and the residual bleaching agent neutralized may be im-p1emented either as stated, or in reverse order.
Utilizing granulated pumice of sufficient roughness with a texture such as will permit high absorption of a powerful bleaching agent (e.g. hypo-, .
: ~ chlorite), and runnlng the mach1ne dry for a yiven period of time commens:urate with ~he type of appear-ance and the strength of the cloth required, one : p~oduces a dual fading action- mechanical, inasmuch as~the coarse surface of the pumice granules performs : ~
. ~: . :. , i35i3 02 a rubbing action on the fibres of the cloth; and 03 chemical, produced by the bleaching agent with which the `~04 granules are impregnated.
05 ~ccording to the method disclosed, bleaching 06 occurs only on those areas of the cloth in contact with ~07 the pumice granules, and one thus obtains a random faced 08 effect over the entire expanse of the cloth in process, 09 whether in bulk or made up already into garments.
An embodiment of the invention is a method of 11 producing a random faded effect on cloth fabric or a ~12 made-up garment which is in a wet or dry condition 13 comprising: (a) disposing the fabric or garment which is ~14 in the wet or dry condition in a chamber in dry contact lS with granules of a coarse, permeahle material, the 16 granules having been impregnated with a bleaching agent;
~17 (b) bleaching the cloth or garment in a dry state by 18 dry-tumbling the fabric or garment and granules together 19 for a period of time sufficient to randomly fade the ~20 fabric or garment; and (c) separating the faded fabric 21 or garment from the granules.
22 Another embodiment of the invention is a method 23 of producing a random faded effect on cloth or a made-up ~24 garment which is in a wet or dry condition comprising .25 : the steps of: (a) impregnating granules of a coarse, '26 permeable material having a high absorption '~

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01 5a 02 characteristic with a bleaching agent; (b) placing the 03 impregnated granules and the cloth or garment, the cloth 04 or garment being in a wet or dry condition, together in 05 a rotatable drum; (c) bleaching the cloth or garment in 06 a dry state by dry-tumbling the cloth or garment and the 07 granules together by rotating the drum for a period of 08 time to produce a random faded effect on the cloth or 09 garment; ~d) recovering or disposing of the granules following their separation from the randomly faded cloth 11 or garment; and (e) neutralizing any residual bleaching 12 agent held in the cloth or garment.
13 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TE~E DRAWINGS
14 The invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with the aid of the accompanying 16 drawings, in which:
17 Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall 18 fading process, comprising the steps of the method 19 disclosed, and steps which might precede those of the ~20 method;
21 Fig. 2 is the side view of equipment utilized in 22 the method's implementation, seen in a first typical 23 operation position;
24 Fig. 3 is a perspective of the equipment Illustrated in Fig. 2, seen in a second typical 26 operation position;

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' 6 ~ 53 fig ~ is further a side view of the equipment illus-trated in fig 2, seen in a third typical operating position;
fig 5 shows a different embodiment of the equipment 05 illustrated in figs 2, 3 and 4, seen in one of the three operating positions;
fig 6 shows, the equipment of fig 5 in a further op-erating position;
figs 7 and 8 are examples of the effects produced on denim fabric by adoption of the method disclosed, illustrating an expanse of cloth without seams, and with seams, respectively.

DESCRIPTIQN of the PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

' In terms of fundamental concepts, it can be :~
asserted safely that the artificial fading of cloth has been accomplished conventionally hitherto by ad-opting chemically aggressive and, where pumice has been used, mechanically aggressive production media.
~: What is more, the chemlcally aggressive effects as : produced, say, by sodium hypochlorite, have remained within certain limits by:reason of the fact that the : chemical must necessarily be diluted in ~he water with which the process machine is filled.

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5i3 By contrast, the method disclosed envisages a combined chemically and mechanically aggressive action the results of which are highly effective.
Before being subjected to the fading pro-05 cess proper, cloth may undergo conventional treat-ment as indicated in fig 1, whether as bulk fabric pure and si~ple, or already made up into garments.
A denotes pressing, B denotes softening by being put to soak in hot water (50...60 C), and C denotes drying; all three operations would be carried out using standard production media. The fourth stage, denoted D, is divided substantially into three steps Dl, D2 and D3, and it is these that constitute the essential subject matter of the disclosure.
In step D1, granules 2 of a permeable sub-stance are impregnated with a power.ul bleaching agent; the granules are coarse, and wlll ensure a particularly high rate of absorption provided that the bleaching agent is liquid. Step D2 1ndicates placing of t~he bleach-impregnated granules 2 in the rotating drum la of the process machine 1, which :
will be run dry for a glven period of time that is dep~endent in practice~upo~n the mechanical properties of the cloth and the desired fade effect, (approxim-ately 5 minutes, in the applicant's experience).

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8 ~ 353 Step D2 being completed, one has i~plement-ation of step D3, which is that of recovering the granules 2, or alternatively, disposing of them.
The granules 2 may be obtained from common 05 pumice, and a medium possessing powerful bleaching properties might be ordinary sodium hypochlorite, though the,field of choice is by no means limited to these two substances. For instance, the granules 2 could be formed from a coarse paper-based material, and thus dissolved once its mechanical and chemical action has been performed, either by flood~ng the self-same drum of the process machine 1 with water once the fading cycle is terminated, or transferring the contents Qf the drum to another mach,ine instal-led in line with the process machine. Adopting this particular expedient, the granules can be disposed of rather than recovered, though clearly enough, the adoption of pumice renders recovery desirable since the granules can be newly impregnated with a fresh supply of bleaching agent and re-used in subsequent .
cycles of treatment.
310ck E in fig 1 denotes a further stage in which residual traces~ of the bleaching agent held in the cloth (sodium hypochtorite, or whatever~ are ; 25 ~ ~neutralized; this would be brought about, utilizing .

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--` 9 ~L~6635~ -hydrogen peroxide for instance, by a normal wash-soak-and-dry sequence.
Practical experiment has revealed that when a suitable quantity of coarse, bleach-impregnated 05 granules, say, pumice stones, are placed in the rot-ary process machine during stage D, the combination of a singul.arly high capacity for mechanical and chemical aggression, coupled with the dry and random contact brought about between cloth and stones, is such as to permit of obtaining sharp differences in color shading at the areas where contact occurs. At all events, the overall faded effect produced on the fabric or the made-up garment appears non-uniform, irregular.
The method dlsclosed can be implemented by means of a machine 1 with a rotatiny drum, that may be tilted forward (see fig 4~ to the end of dumping the cloth or garments 3 from its loading hatch 11, and is used in conJunction with an item of auxiliary equipment that occupies at l-east three stations: a first denoted 4, at which granules 2 are collected and impregnated~ a second denoted 5, from which the impregnated granu1es 2 are discharged into the drum . ~
la, and a third~denoted 6, serving for recovery or ::
~-s 25 disposal of the granules 2 following each cycle.

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1 ~ 2 Çi~353 The three stations, which in effect are the typical operating configurations assumed by the machine and the equipment, are illustrated in figs 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
05 The equipment consists substantially in a simple structure compr1sing a bin 7 having an open~
top 8 and a~ least one side 9 set at a raked angle.
In a preferred embodiment, the bin 7 will be fitted with nozzles lO from which sodium hypochlorite con-tained, say, in a tank-and pump unit 20 fitted to the bin, can be sprayed at the granules. The bin 7 moves from a first, lowered position in which the machine l stands upright (the first station 4 illus-trated in fig 2) to a second, raised posit;on (the second station 5 illustrated in figs 3 and 6) in which the structure is rotated so that the raked side 9 of the bin is angled downward and toward the hatch ll of the machine in order that the granules 2 may be discharged into the drum la containing the ` 2~ cloth or garments 3 to be faded.
;~ ~ From the second position, the bin 7 is once ~; again lowered to the th1rd and last position (see ~ : ~figs 4 and 5), in which the machine l is tilted for-ward to the end of dumping the faded cloth and, if - 25 appropriate, the granules 2.
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~ ~ .. . " . - , 35;3 Rotational movement of the bin 7 is produced by a conventional actuator 13, which in the embodim-ent illustrated is a fluid power cylinder.
In the event of the granu1es 2 being recov-OS ered, and thus requiring separation from the cloth, the equipment will comprise a ridd'le 12, hinged to the frame o.f the process machine 1 and operated by the actuator 13. In a preferred embodiment, the rid-dle 12 can be attached both to one side of the bin 7 and across its open top 8 (see figs 3 and 4~. With the side OT the bin 7 hooked over the riddle 12, the riddle itself serves to support the bin 7, with its charge of granules 2, during impregnation and upward rotation toward the second, or discharge position (see fig 3) from where the granu'les will ultimately roll down through the hatch 11 of the machine 1 and into the rotating drum la. With the riddle 12 then positioned over the open top 8 of the bin (fig 4), one is provlded with a grille through which granules separated from the cloth or garments 3, post cycle, can dro~ into the bin. These same granules will then .

~ be re-impregnated with sodium hypochlorite and used .
; in the next cycle. It wlll be seen that the hatch 11 of the machine 1 lS provi'ded with surrounds 21 to assist passage of the granules and the cloth.

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Figs 5 and 6 show an alternative embodiment of the equipment which is designed to reduce manning requirements. The bin 7 remains permananently as-sociated with the actuator 13, whilst the riddle 12, .
05 instead of becoming separated totally from the bin, simply slides in relation to the open top 8 from a first position, in which the bin is uncovered, to a second position in which it fully occupies the open top; the first, clearly enough, is that in which the open top 8 of the bin 7 remains unobstructed and the granules 2 are afforded passage into the machine 1, whereas the second is that assumed for the purpose of recovering the granules 2 separated from c10th or garments 3 dumped by the machine on completion of lS the 'ading process.

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Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A method of producing a random faded effect on cloth or a made-up garment which is in a wet or dry condition comprising the steps of:
(a) impregnating granules of a coarse, permeable material having a high absorption characteristic with a bleaching agent;
(b) placing the impregnated granules and the cloth or garment, said cloth or garment being in a wet or dry condition, together in a rotatable drum;
(c) bleaching said cloth or garment in a dry state by dry-tumbling the cloth or garment and the granules together by rotating the drum for a period of time to produce a random faded effect on the cloth or garment;
(d) recovering or disposing of the granules following their separation from the randomly faded cloth or garment; and (e) neutralizing any residual bleaching agent held in the cloth or garment.

2. Method as in claim 1, wherein the granules are pumice, and the bleaching agent is a hypochlorite in solution.

3. Method as in claim 1, wherein the granules are a coarse paper-based material, and the bleaching agent is a hypochlorite in solution.

4. Method as in claim 1, wherein the period of time during which the granules and the cloth or garment are tumbled together is commensurate with the strength and the desired appearance of the faded cloth or garment, and wherein the granules produce a dual fading action that is a mechanical action due to the haphazard and abrasive contact between the coarse surface of the granules and the fibers of the cloth or garment, and a chemical action by reason of the contact between the cloth or garment and the bleaching agent with which the granules are impregnated, the dual fading action creating a visual effect of irregular patches or areas of dissimilar color shading distributed at random over the entire expanse of the treated cloth or garment.

5. A cloth or garment obtained by the method of claim 1, wherein the cloth or garment has non-uniform, irregular patches or areas of dissimilar color shading.

6. A method of producing a random faded effect on cloth fabric or a made-up garment which is in a wet or dry condition comprising:
(a) disposing the fabric or garment which is in said wet or dry condition in a chamber in dry contact with granules of a coarse, permeable material, said granules having been impregnated with a bleaching agent;
(b) bleaching said cloth or garment in a dry state by dry-tumbling said fabric or garment and granules together for a period of time sufficient to randomly fade the fabric or garment; and (c) separating the faded fabric or garment from the granules.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:
(d) removing residual bleaching agent contained in the fabric or garment.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the removal is effected during a wash cycle.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the removal comprises neutralizing said residual bleaching agent with a neutralizing agent.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein said granules comprise pumice stones.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein said bleaching agent is a hypochlorite.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said hypochlorite is sodium hypochlorite.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein said fabric or garment is initially in a dry condition.

14. The faded made-up garment produced by the method of claim 6.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein said hypochlorite is sodium hypochlorite.

16. The method of claim 3, wherein said hypochlorite is sodium hypochlorite.

17. The method of claim 6, wherein said bleaching agent is a liquid.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein said hypochlorite is in solution.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein said cloth or made-up garment is initially in a dry condition.

20. A faded cloth fabric produced by the method of

claim 6.