Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M15/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, with macromolecular compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment
  • D06M15/19—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, with macromolecular compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment with synthetic macromolecular compounds
  • D06M15/37—Macromolecular compounds obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
  • D06M15/39—Aldehyde resins; Ketone resins; Polyacetals
  • D06M15/423—Amino-aldehyde resins
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06M—TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS, FABRICS, FEATHERS OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
  • D06M15/00—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, with macromolecular compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment
  • D06M15/19—Treating fibres, threads, yarns, fabrics, or fibrous goods made from such materials, with macromolecular compounds; Such treatment combined with mechanical treatment with synthetic macromolecular compounds
  • D06M15/37—Macromolecular compounds obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
  • D06M15/643—Macromolecular compounds obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds containing silicon in the main chain

Definitions

• This invention relates to the treatment of wool, and is particularly concerned with a process for improving its resistance to shrinkage.
• a process very widely used for this purpose entails subjecting the wool to an oxidation treatment, usually a chlorination, as with free chlorine or a hypochlorite or dichloroisocyanurate salt; removing unreacted (and potentially very damaging) oxidising agent from the wool fibres, as by passage through a reducing medium such as sodium sulphite solution, followed by a water rinse; and then treating the wool with a synthetic resin to impart a resistance to shrinkage which supplements that given by the oxidation treatment.
• an oxidation treatment usually a chlorination, as with free chlorine or a hypochlorite or dichloroisocyanurate salt
• removing unreacted (and potentially very damaging) oxidising agent from the wool fibres as by passage through a reducing medium such as sodium sulphite solution, followed by a water rinse
• a synthetic resin to impart a resistance to shrinkage which supplements that given by the oxidation treatment.
• the wool is treated with a softening agent to soften the harsh handle which it would otherwise have as a result of the resin treatment; and in due course the treated wool is dried evenly at a moderately raised temperature to ensure that adequate curing of the resin has taken place.
• the process just outlined can be applied to the treatment of wool tops (ie wool fibre before it is spun) as well as to the treatment of yarn and of woollen piece goods and garments.
• the resins most used in the process are those obtained by reaction of epichlorhydrin (a compound having a reactive epoxy group attached to the radical -CH2Cl) with a polyamide whose repeating unit contains basic -NH-or -NH2 groups, as distinct from the non-basic -NH- groups of the amide linkage -CO.NH-.
• a resin is for example that obtained by the reaction of epichlorhydrin with the condensation product of a polyalkylene amine eg triethylene diamine (H2NCH2CH2NHCH2CH2NH2) and adipic acid (HO2C.CH2CH2CH2CH2CO2H).
• colloidal melamine resins are used in the treatment of paper to improve its wet strength, and are obtained by dissolving a partially condensed melamine formaldehyde resin in an acid such as hydrochloric, formic, acetic or lactic acid under controlled conditions, and further diluting with water.
• the solution becomes infinitely miscible with water, and on aging develops a bluish haze.
• the solution contains positively charged colloidal particles of the melamine resin.
• a process for the treatment of wool to improve its resistance to shrinkage by subjecting it first to an oxidation treatment and then to a resin treatment to supplement the shrink resistance imparted by the oxidation treatment, the resin treatment being accompanied or followed by treatment with a softening agent to soften the harsh handle associated with use of the resin, in which process the resin employed is a colloidal melamine resin and the softening agent employed is a silicone polymer.
• the silicone polymer is dispersed in the colloidal melamine resin,ie in the aqueous phase which constitutes the dispersion medium of that system.
• EP-A-80272 is not, however, concerned to avoid effluent problems arising from the presence of -CH2Cl or like groups in the resin conventionally used for wool treatment; nor does it mention the use of a silicone polymer as softening agent, a use which we have found has the advantage over polyethylene softeners of producing in the wool better stabilisation against shrinkage and better non-felting properties during washing.
• the silicone polymer employed as softening agent may be cationic, but is preferably non-ionic. In general the silicone polymer used shows no chemical reactivity towards the colloidal melamine resin.
• An acidic melamine resin solution was produced by mixing the following ingredients in the following proportions by weight.
• the mixture was allowed to stand for 2 hours to develop colloidal properties, and was then diluted with an equal volume of water to give a colloidal melamine resin having a shelf life of more than 6 months.
• the diluted composition (1 part by weight) was further diluted with water (4 parts) and to this mixture was added an aqueous emulsion of a non-ionic polydimethylsiloxane (0.5 parts by weight; silicone content 35% by weight).
• a non-ionic polydimethylsiloxane 0.5 parts by weight; silicone content 35% by weight.
• BC330 silicone release agent sold by Basildon Chemicals under the designation BC330 is very suitable.
• the mixed melamine resin/silicone polymer composition was then applied, from a bath adjusted with acetic acid to pH 5-6, to knitted wool garments which had been conventionally chlorinated with a dichloroisocyanurate salt, treated with antichlor, and rinsed.
• the bath temperature was slowly raised from ambient to 40° C during 10 minutes, and held at that temperature for a further 10 minutes to exhaust the melamine resin and silicone polymer onto the wool. Weight gain was about 1.5% by dry weight of the wool.
• the material was then removed from the bath, hydroextracted and tumble-dried at 60-80° C.
• Example 1 For the treatment of wool tops the procedure of Example 1 was modified as follows.
• the mixed melamine resin/silicone polymer was applied in the 4th bowl of a conventional 5-bowl unit to deposit about 1.5% of solid mixture onto the tops.
• the treated tops were then passed to the 5th bowl, in which a cationic substituted stearamide had been included as additional softener.
• the tops were finally dried at 70-80° C.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)
• Chemical Or Physical Treatment Of Fibers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=10670536

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Citations (2)

• 1990
  • 1990-02-07 GB GB909002680A patent/GB9002680D0/en active Pending
• 1991
  • 1991-01-16 EP EP91200072A patent/EP0441421B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-01-16 DE DE69108588T patent/DE69108588T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-01-17 GB GB9101054A patent/GB2240790B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-01-28 ZA ZA91605A patent/ZA91605B/xx unknown
  • 1991-02-05 NZ NZ237014A patent/NZ237014A/en unknown
  • 1991-02-07 AU AU70866/91A patent/AU630275B2/en not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (2)

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