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Sci Tech
New clothes
Why do new clothes not absorb water as easily as old ones?
S. Vignesh
Chennai
Answer 1: Many chemicals are applied onto or deposited in textile materials and retained there either by mechanical deposition and held therein by physical forces for chemical reaction, thereby having durability of various degrees towashing, drycleaning, exposure to sunlight, perspiration, heat and the like during the use of the finished fabrics.
For example, some of the chemicals like stiffening agents, softeners, weighting materials, antiseptics, water-proofing agents, water-repellents, flame-retardants, crease resisting and cross linking agents, soil release agents, antistatic agents, wool shrink resisting agents, fluorochemical repellents and anti pilling agents are used based on the end use of the clothes.
These reduce the water absorbing nature of new clothes. While old ones are already washed several times, the agents applied to the clothes maybe washed away. So the old clothes absorb water more easily than new ones.
P.Darmaraj
Factory Manager
Gangotri Textiles Ltd.
(Wet Processing Unit)
Perunthurai, Tamil Nadu
Answer 2: Fabrics before being made into garments pass through several process sequences like bleaching, dyeing, finishing, pre-shrink and the like.
To improve the aesthetic appearances, fabrics are normally finished with chemical softeners to improve feel, handle, suppleness and bounce of the garments.
These chemical softeners are also added to improve the ease of sewability, otherwise needle holes may appear along the stitches.
These chemical softeners are of two types (hydrophobic and hydrophilic). Commonly all dyers used to prefer hydrophobic softeners because it was cheaper.
These hydrophobic softeners, while applying, are superficially deposited on the surface of the fabrics and will not allow the garments to absorb water.
But these softeners are not permanent and could be washed away during subsequent laundering of the garments.
The older garments may not have these softeners after five to six laundering cycles and hence will absorb water quickly compared to new ones.
S. Jeyaraman
Manager, Dyeing Division
Cethar Industries Limited
Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu
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