Abstract
To improve the native properties of wool, active formaldehyde liberated from the acidic solution of hexamethylene tetramine was used in nascendi as an effective formalizing reagent of scoured wool. The best condition for the formalization was found to treat the wool with 0.6-1.0% hexamrnethylene tetramine solution, acidified with acetic acid in amount of 1.5 times more than theoretical, at 90°C for 45 minutes (bath ratio 1:100). By this treatment, alkali solubility (untreated 12.3%, treated 1.5%), alkali dissolution velocity, shrinkage control and elastic recovery were greatly improved. But by this modification, resistance to acidic solutions was found to be less improved. The cause of the above modification might exist in the formation of many new methylene cross linkages between the polypeptide chains of keratin molecules, as it has been shown by other previous studies.
