Abstract
As an alternative to free-formaldehyde crease resistant finish of cotton, a formulation of UV sensitive silicone oligomer and photoinitiator was applied to uncrosslinked and crosslinked cotton with low level of DMDHEU using UV curing. While UV irradiation of cotton decreased wrinkle recovery angle (WRA), UV curing of UV 9300 on both uncrosslinked and crosslinked cotton increased the WRA with increasing application level and this improvement was durable to washing. The abrasion resistance of the fabric treated with UV cured polymer was unaffected. Also this treatment increased the water repellency of fabric. UV 9300 treatment produced decreases in shear stiffness (G), shear hysteresis (2HG5), and bending hysteresis (2HB) at low application levels with an overall improvement in handle. Among three different application methods, padding technique produced the best enhancement in the wrinkle recovery of crosslinked cotton with least impact on the handle.