Dimensional stability of cotton fabric treated with sericin and citric acid to laundering

Abstract

Cotton fabrics were treated with sericin and citric acid solution (SC) to improve resistance to wrinkles and limit dimensional changes in cotton fabrics. The cotton fabrics were subjected to crease recovery and a series of washing and drying cycles in a household washing machine, and examined for dimensional changes. An SC treated blouse was subjected to home laundering to evaluate its durability when washed. An untreated cotton fabric (control) blouse and a blouse prepared for easy-care processing (EC) were also used for comparison. The SC treated cotton fabric exhibited high crease recovery and elastic recovery percentage by extension than the control cotton fabrics. The SC treated cotton fabrics had shrunk less than the control cotton fabrics after ten washings. Although the dimensions of the EC blouse changed less than those of the EC blouse, it was thought that the SC treated blouse was synthetically equal to the EC blouse. (*: To whom correspondence should be addressed, E mail: [e-mail])