The
Bunte salt-terminated polyether (BSTP)-based treatment has been developed
for the chlorine-free shrink-resist treatment of wool fibers and fabrics.
However, the effect of BSTP treatment on the physicomechanical and
chemical properties of wool fabrics has not been thoroughly investigated.
In this work, wool fabrics were treated with a commercially available
BSTP at various concentrations by the pad-dry-cure process. The effect
of BSTP coatings on the dyeability, shrink resistance, mechanical
properties, wettability, hydrophilicity, and yellowness of the treated
wool fabrics was systematically evaluated. It was found that the shrinkage
of the treated wool fabrics considerably decreased with an increase
in the BSTP concentration. On the other hand, the tensile strength,
elongation at break, and surface hydrophilicity highly increased with
an increase in the BSTP concentration. The tensile strength of the
treated fabric was better than the tensile strength shown by the blank-treated
fabric even at the lowest investigated concentration of BSTP (60 g/L).
The bending rigidity as well as the bending modulus of wool fabric
also decreased with an increase in the applied concentration of BSTP.
The treatment showed very little effect on the yellowness and whiteness
indices of wool fabric. The stain resistance against C.I. Acid Red
40 of the treated wool fabrics increased with an increase in the applied
concentrations of BSTP. However, against red wine, the stain resistance
decreased at lower concentrations of BSTP but showed a little effect
for the higher concentrations. The coating of wool fabrics with the
BSTP not only reduced the shrinkage of the fabrics but also increased
their hydrophilicity and also the stain resistance against acid dye-based
stain but also negatively affected their dyeability and stain resistance
against red wine, especially at lower BSTP concentrations.