Improving the finish of a garment

Both in regard to appearance and functional performance, it is more important than ever to improve the finish of a garment in order to appeal to the modern consumer. Improvement in functional performance of a garment through specialty finishing has led to the development of up-market and niche products in recent times . Developments have taken place in easy care, softening, water repellent, soil-release and stain-release, flame retardant, anti-microbial and breathable finishes.

Most of these finishes are given at the fabrics processing stage itself. Technology for vapor-phase treatment which allows finishing to be carried out at the garment stage is still under development. The only functional finish which has reached some level of satisfactory application and performance is the "wrinkle free" finish.

The wrinkle free finish ( also known as "Easy Care", Durable Press", "Wrinkle-Resistant", "Wash and Wear", "No-Iron" etc. ) is obtained by cross-linking cotton. It was way back in the 1920's when the research scientists at Total started work on making cotton as wrinkle-resistant as silk. For the next 35 years research in this field was carried out in laboratories all over the world. In 1961, the Koret Company come up with the Koretron process. The process used then is known today as the post-cure procedure to introduce permanent creases in cotton garments. Initial consumer response was lukewarm. The research continued by the 1980's DMDHEU(N,N,11,3) was perfected and put into use. Unfortunately, the chemistry of this compound liberates formaldehyde over 2,000 parts per million. The carcinogenic and dermatological effects of formaldehyde led to a declining interest in wrinkle resistant finishes. The finishing of garments to achieve permanent press properties was first presented at the 1987 International AATCC conference in Charlotte, NC, USA. Vapour phase finishing of cotton garments with gaseous formaldehyde and DMDHEU immersion finishing were the two options that were discussed. At least one garment manufacturer had begun immersion finishing of cotton garments at this time. The trend was-established by the mid 1990's Today there is widespread consumer interest in the latest version of permanent press, popularly known as "wrinkle-free".