US2562603A

US2562603A - Shrinkproofing of wool

Info

Publication number: US2562603A
Application number: US726449A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Mayne R Coe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1947-02-04
Filing date: 1947-02-04
Publication date: 1951-07-31
Anticipated expiration: 1968-07-31

Description

Patented July 31, 1951 SHRINKPROOFING F WOOL Mayne R. 00c, Jr., Washington, D. C.

No Drawing.

11 Claims.

Application February 4, 1947, Serial No. 726,449

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a process of shrinkproofing wool, fabrics containing wool, and wool yarn and to the products of this process.

The surface of a wool fiber is covered with scales that overlap each other. During the proc- 'ess of washing woolen materials, the scales of adjacent fibers interlock and cause drawing together of the cloth. It is possible to prevent this action by covering the surface of the fiber with a suitable hard material, and also by penetrating underneath the scales and cementing them down; One of the undesirable features of shrinkage control with synthetic and natural resins is the difficulty if not impossibility of getting complete penetration of the fiber. Care must be taken in treating the woolen material with resins to allow enough time for the resin to work into the fibers; otherwise a spotty finish results. In the case of oil solutions and emulsions, the penetration is complete and instantaneous Oils are among the most penetrating substances known and will go into the smallest openings. This makes it possible to give an absolutely uniform finish to the cloth with no possibility of spotting merely by bringing the woolen material momentarily in contact with the drying oil solution or emulsion.

One object of this invention is to provide a quick and economical process of shrink-proofing wool, which process also imparts other advantageous properties, for example, it improves the feel, reduces felting, and increases resistance to abrasion.

In one aspect, my process comprises impregnating woolen cloth or yarn with a dispersion of a conjugated polyolefinic, preferably triolefinic, glyceride conjugated triolefinic drying oil and then heating the impregnated wool to a temperature sufiiciently high to cause the formation of a durable finish. The dispersion may be a 3 percent solution of the drying oil in an oil such as gasoline, or a 3 percent dispersion or emulsion in water. The temperature and duration of heat treatment should not be such as to injure the Wool. 1

To obtain the best and most durable finish, the preferred drying oils are the hard-drying oils, such as tung oil and oiticica oil.

synthetically produced drying oils may be used, such as dehydrated castor oil, the separated drying components of drying oils, for example the elaestearic acids, the glyceride oils that have been catalytically isomerized to form conjugated linkages and to increase their rate of polymerization and. their alkali resistance, modified drying oils obtained by esterification of fat acids with polyhydric alcohols such as pentaerythritol, mannitol,; and sorbitol, and drying oils modified by additionof compounds having conjugated diene or polyene linkages, such as sorbic acid.

Drying oils containing relatively high percentages of total conjugation together with substantial content of conjugated trienes give superior results.

One method of application is todip the woolen cloth or yarn into a dilute, low-viscosity solution, for example 3 percent, of the selected drying 011 in gasoline, or'other volatilizable organic solvent. Accelerators may be added to the solution to shorten the time required for the subsequent polymerization or oxidation to a durable film. For example cobalt or copper linoleate or naphthenate may be employed. Plasticizers may also be added. This shrink-proofing process may be applied to clothes during a dry-cleaning process, by adding the desired amount of drying, oil to the gasoline or other organic cleaning solvent, followed by drying, at to C., for example.

Another mode of application isto apply to the woolen fabric or yarn a dilute (3 percent) suspension of the drying oil in water. Emulsifying agents such as sodium silicate or sodium carbonate, or soap of a drying oil are employed. An accelerator, such as potassium permanganate may be added, in small amount, to hasten the curing step.

The amount of drying oil deposited in the wool may be varied to add any desired weight of the oil. A film having a thickness of the order of .0001 inch or less is suitable. The treatment may be controlled to add from less than one percent (0.5 percent) to about 15 percent of the drying oil by weight based upon the dry weight of the wool.

The heating operation may be carried out in two stages. In the first stage, which may be operated at a lower temperature than the second, the organic solvent is evaporated, or the water is evaporated, where the aqueous suspension has been employed. This drying or solvent evaporation step may be carried'out at'temperatures be low 150? C.,.for example, at 100 C. or lower, at atmospheric or lower pressures, and with or with 3 out the assistance of a current of air or inert gas. The curing stage, that is, the polymerization and oxidation stage is carried out at 100 to 150 C., preferably at 150 C. Higher temperatures are not necessary, but may be used provided thatthe time of exposure is very short, for example, less than one minute. Curing in a current of air is preferred. Atmospheric, or lower or higher pressures may be employed, and an inert gas substituted for air. The hardening may increased. On successive washings, the cloth does not unravel or felt at the edges, and the cloth does not pucker up or decrease materially in length or breadth on washing.

'As an example of the effectiveness of drying oils in shrink-proofing, the following percentages by weight of dried'tung oil on wool cloth strips 5 cm. by 30 cm. were given launderings in a washing machine, using 0.1 percent soap and 0.25 percent sodium carbonate solution at 55 C. and the percentage of shrinkage determined.

Wt. of dried tung oil on Per cent wool cloth, shrinkage per cent As a control, strips of untreated wool cloth were laundered at the same time. These had an average shrinkage of about 30 percent.

Tests were made to determine the length of time necessary .for drying the various oils until they formed a non-washable resinous deposit on the wool fibers. 150 (3. was found to be the best temperature at which to dry. The wool is not embrittled at this temperature and the oils are not decomposed. It was found advantageous to have a circulation of air in the drier. Tung oil could be dried on the cloth satisfactorily in '15 minutes, whereas linseed oil needed one-half hour. The so-ealled semi-drying and non-drying oils took considerably longer periods of time, did not result in a durable :finish, and did not withstand laundering.

Because of the ease of dehydrating the ricinoleic acid present, castor oil when it was treated with dehydrating agents and applied to'the cloth, dried rapidly and gave a shrink-proof finish. This was not true of nondrying oils in general due to the absence of ricinoleic acid or other conjugated olefin structure.

A variety of finishes can be given to the wool by combinations of synthetic or natural resins with drying oils in a solution'or emulsion oflow viscosity and applied in-the usual manner. Alkyl resinsor alkylated melamine formaldehyde resins may be used. 1

The term dispersion employed herein includes emulsions, colloidal suspensions, and molecular suspensions, which are solutions.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Shrink-resistant Wool being wool having an impregnated finish comprising a heat-cured substance of the group consisting of conjugated triolefinic drying oils and conjugated triolefinic drying oil acids, the finish having a thickness less than .0001 inch and constituting no more than 4 percent by weight, based upon the dry weight of the wool.

2. Shrink-resistant wool being wool having an impregnated finish comprising heat-cured tung oil, the finish being less than .0001 inch in thickness and constituting no more than 4 percent by weight, based upon the dry weight of the wool.

3. Shrink-resistant wool being wool having an impregnated finish comprising heat-cured oiticica oil, the finish being less than .0001 inch in thickness and constituting no more than about 4 percent by weight, based upon the dry weight of the wool.

4. A process of reducing the shrinking and felting tendencies of wool which comprises impregnating wool with a dispersion in a volatile diluent of 3 percent or less of a substance of the group consisting of conjugated triolefinic drying 'oils and conjugated triolefinic drying oil acids,

to deposit from about 0.5 percent to about 4 percent by'weight of the cured substance, based upon the dry weight of the wool, and curing by heating the impregnated wool in a current of air at about to C. to form a durable, laundering resistant, shrink resistant, and felt resistant wool product having a finish of said heat cured substances less than .0001 inch in thickness.

5. A process of reducing the shrinking tendency of wool comprising impregnating wool with a dilute'dispersion of a substance of the group consisting of conjugated triolefinic drying oils and conjugated triolefinic drying oil acids, to deposit no more than about 4 percent by weight of the cured substance, based upon the dry weight of the wool,and to form a finish less than .0001 inch in thickness, and curing by heating the impregnated wool, the wool being maintained at a temperature above 100 C. and below the deterioration temperature of the wool.

6. The process of claim 5 in which the temperature is about 150 C.

7. A process of reducing the shrinking tendency of wool which comprises impregnating wool with a dispersion of about 3% or less of tung oil in a volatile diluent to deposit'no more than about 4 percent by weight of cured tung oil, based upon the dry weight of the wool, and to form a cured finish less than .0001 inch in thickness, and ouring the impregnated wool by heating in a current of air at a temperature above 100 C. and below the deterioration temperature of the wool.

-8. The process-of claim 7 in which the temperature is about 150 C.

9. A process of reducing the shrinking tendency of wool which comprises impregnating wool with a dispersion of about 3% or less of oiticica oil in a volatile diluent to deposit no more than about 4 percent by weight of cured oiticica oil, based upon the dry weight of the wool, and to form a cured finish less than .0001 inch in thickness, and curing the impregnated wool by heating ina current of air at a temperature above 100 C. and below the deterioration temperature of the wool. I a

5 r 6 10. The process of claim 4 in which the (115- UNITED STATES PATENTS persion is an aqueous emulsion. 7 Number Na 11. The process of claim 4 in which the (115- 933,598 s; $3 version is in an Organic 1,973,99s Schlack et a1 Sept. 18, 1934 MAYNE JRK 6 2,022,490 Charch Nov. 26, 1995 REFERENCES CITED 2,201 991 Edgar et a1 May 21, 1940 The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Claims

4. A PROCESS OF REDUCING THE SHRINKING AND FELTING TENDENCIES OF WOOL WHICH COMPRISES IMPREGNATING WOOL WITH A DISPERSION IN A VOLATILE DILUENT OF 3 PERCENT OR LESS OF A SUBSTANCE OF THE GROUP CONSISTING OF CONJUGATED TRIOLOFINIC DRYING OILS AND CONJUGATED TRIOLEFINIC DRYING OIL ACIDS TO DEPOSIT FROM ABOUT 0.5 PERCENT TO ABOUT 5 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF THE CURED SUBSTANCE, BASED UPON THE DRY WEIGHT OF THE WOOL, AND CURING BY HEATING THE IMPREGNATED WOOL IN A CURRENT OF AIR AT ABOUT 100* TO 150* C. TO FORM A DURBLE, LAUMDERING RESITANT, SHRINK RESISTANT, AND FELT RESISTANT WOOL PRODUCT HAVING A FINISH OF SAID HEAT CURED SUBSTANCES LESS THAN .0001 INCH IN THICKNESS.