Effect of repeated dry-cleaning process on physical properties of cotton, silk and wool fabrics

Abstract

The present study is aimed at analyzing the effect of dry-cleaning solvent on the physical properties of cotton, silk and wool fabrics. The sourced fabrics are dry-cleaned with two different commercial solvents, namely mineral turpentine oil, and dipropylene glycol dimethyl ether. The fabrics are dry-cleaned separately for 5, 10 and 15 times with each solvent and analysed for their performance. The results indicate that the dry-cleaned fabrics become thicker and bulkier, and hence their air permeability, bending ability, crease recovery, tearing strength and abrasion resistance reduce. The water absorbency, stiffness and thickness of the fabrics are found to be increased significantly. The statistical analysis results confirm that the changes in the fabric are significant with 95% confidence limit (p 0.05). Out of the selected dry-cleaning solvents, hydrocarbons are found to be more aggressive than the glycol ethers in terms of fabric deterioration, except tearing strength. The GC-MS analysis results confirm the presence of dry-cleaning solvents deposits on the fabric even after 24 h of airing out process.