Comparison of woolen eco-friendly anti-felting treatment with classic anti-felting procedures

Abstract

The development of an eco-friendly anti-felting treatment based on a calcium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide (Ca(ClO)2 + H2O2) system, the so-called MEFT (Mori Eco-friendly Treatment) process, is reported in this paper. This treatment is not new in the processing of wool; however, controlling the temperature and time gives rise to further effectiveness of the system, resulting in excellent anti-felting property, fabric handle, color intensity and whiteness. The relationship of the anti-felting and scale structure of Merino and Corriedale wool fabrics treated with the present system is discussed. Although the anti-felting effect was slightly lower than that of the chlorination treatment based on dichloroisocyanuric acid and NARS (improved new method of the Agricultural Research Service) treatment, the excellent handle characteristics of wool fabrics were retained. The anti-felting property, based on various other oxidative and non-oxidative treatments, was compared and the rank was obtained approximately in the following order: chlorination > NARS = MEFT > plasma > Caroat.