Abstract
The effect of crosslinking on hand of the cellulase treated Tencel fabrics was investigated. Tencel fabrics were crosslinked with DMDHEU, mechanically prefibrillated, hydrolyzed by cellulase, and treated with softener. The treated fabrics were characterized by add-on, weight loss, DP rating, WRA, strength, SEM analysis and hand measurement. As DMDHEU concentration increased, weight loss of DMDHEU/cellulase treated fabrics decreased. However, cellulase treatment decreased DP properties and strength retention. Less fibrils were observed in the cellulase treated fabrics after DMDHEU treatment than the cellulase treated ones. It was confirmed that crosslinking with DMDHEU treatment was effective to control fibrillation. At 5% of DMDHEU concentration, DMDHEU/cellulase treated fabrics showed softer, smoother and bulkier hand compared with other treated fabrics. Among mechanical properties, bending and shearing properties were decreased progressively through DMDHEU, cellulase, and softener treatment. DMDHEU treatment contributed to impart resilience, cellulase treatment to bulkiness and softener treatment to smoothness. As the treatment of DMDHEU, cellulase, and softener progressed NUMREI, FUKURAMI, and THV increased with the exception of KOSHI.