Development of protective clothing for pesticide industry: Part I— Assessment of various finishes

Abstract

A comparative assessment of various commercially available fluorocarbon finishes for their use in protective clothing in pesticide industry has been made. The finishes have been applied on 100% cotton and 70/30 polyester/cotton fabrics at different concentrations and their effect on tensile behaviour, air permeability, stiffness and crease recovery of fabrics studied. The finished fabrics have been evaluated for water and oil repellency. The durability of finishes to laundry has also been assessed. It is observed that the water and oil repellent properties of polyester/cotton blend are better than those of cotton.Finishes A and B perform better than finishes C and D in terms of percentage absorption, permeability of water, oil repellency and tensile strength. Finish A at 40gpl and 60gpl and finish B at 60gpl are recommended for protective clothing as they show maximum improvement in water, oil and pesticide repellency.