Some Controversial Aspects of Crease Resistance of Cellulosic Fabrics

Abstract

The discovery that synthetic resins could be used to improve the crease recovery of cellulosic fabrics was made on a rather empirical basis more than 25 years ago. Since that time much has been learned about synthetic resins, textile fibers, and their combination in the creaseproofing process. Yet many questions remain unanswered. This paper discusses some of the aspects of the subject that are still controversial: ( A) Differences between cotton and rayon and the rea sons therefor. Factors considered include tensile strength, tear strength, abrasion resistance, permeability of the fibers, resistance to acid hydrolysis. ( B) A brief commentary on attempts to make cotton more like rayon. (C) Mechanism of crease recovery, with emphasis on the ques tion of covalent crosslinking vs. resin formation. (D) Other aspects of crease resistance, em phasizing subjective characteristics such as fabric hand. The discussion throughout is more expositional than argumentative; that is, the problems are explained, with no attempt at resolving them. A few conjectures are made where feasible.