GB1035359A - Woven stretchable cellulosic fabrics and method of forming the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A fabric, suitable, for example, for the production of garments, sheets and mattress ticking comprises a woven fabric which is stretchable within a range of 15-50% in one direction, the yarns in this direction being essentially cellulosic and being yarns which, prior to imparting stretch properties to the fabric, were non-stretchable and had a twist multiple of 3.5 to 7, and is resiliently maintained in a normal non-stretched condition by an applied thermosetting resin or cross-linking reactant which also appreciably enhances the stretch recovery of the fabric. The fabric may be produced by treating a fabric woven from cotton or viscose rayon in a plain or sateen weave with a contracting and swelling agent, e.g. caustic soda, the fabric having been woven with spacing between the yarns sufficient to allow the fabric to contract in one direction when treated with the contracting and swelling agent, imparting crimp to the yarns in this direction. Alternatively the fabric may be reduced in one dimension by mechanical treatment which causes the yarns of one group to be moved closer together to impart crimp to the yarns running in the opposite direction. The caustic treatment may be combined with a scouring and bleaching process comprising treating the fabric with sodium hydroxide at a concentration of 26 DEG Tw. at 95 DEG -105 DEG F., steaming it in a J-tube at 200 DEG -220 DEG F., washing, scouring with 4% aqueous caustic soda, ageing for 1 hour in a J-tube, saturating with an alkaline peroxide bleach solution, again ageing and then washing. The fabric is then treated with the thermosetting resin or cross-linking reactant, e.g. triazone-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde resins, epichlorohydrine formaldehyde and divinyl sulphane. The resin bath may also contain a catalyst for the resin, a cationic softening agent and polyvinyl acetate.