Finishing of Wool

We will try to learn as to why wool felts, what problems do we envisage if there is felting,
can this property itself be exploited for the benefit of the user, and also we may be interested
to know can we overcome this problem in case we do not want this problem to see, and in
general, we are quite sure that the woolens have less problem of crease recovery, but can we
make it better and so on and so forth. These are some of things which we will discuss in
coming few hours that we will interact on wool.

So, let us see does the wool fibre or the fabrics or the garments made from wool require let us
say a fire-resistant treatment, we just discussed in the last lecture do we require a fire-
retardant treatment for wool? Yes, we do require. Wrinkle resistance as such because of the
disulfide covalent linkages between the molecules of wool, the wrinkle recovery is better, but
in case you want to improve, we can require, and we can do that.
Water repellency, soft finish, why not? All those principles which were used to impart these
types of finishing are applicable to wool depending upon the optimization that you require.
So, you would require these definitely.
So, in this respect, wool and woolen garments and products are similar to any other textile,
but there are some finishing treatments which will be very special to wool. For example, one
important finishing treatment which is given to wool is called milling, so this is only for wool
and not for any other fibre, so we are quite interested to learn about it. Then, there is
something called shrink-resistant wool, well this is for a reason why we want to do, and it is
basically for wool only.
Then, we may talk a little bit about setting of wool and how to make it more crease resistant or
how to fix dimensions, how to fix creases and the shape, all that comes in setting. So, the kind
of treatment that we will discuss are going to be most special to wool, so in that sense that is
what we will discuss and we would also have one interesting thing which you may have seen
is moth, which is insect, you know we did talk about, shall we say antimicrobial finish, but
this is different. Different in the sense that this we are looking at insect which can actually you
can see it moving right, so some of them you may have felt it like a moth, it is an insect
which can move around, eat the wool up, fly also right, so we may be interested to see what
can be done to make woolen insect repellent.

So first we take up a very simple process which is specifically designed for wool is called the
milling process.

Why does anybody would like to do a milling or not, during laundering or washing, the
textile fabrics, yarns show some shrinkage. Somebody wants to know is the shrinkage a
problem, yeah it is the problem. You start with making a nice beautiful looking shirt and after
washing, it becomes tighter or you roughly make a trouser and become a short, like not
exactly in the same sense, but it is the problem, dimensions if change due to washing itself is
a problem. So, which type of fibre you think would be having more problematic in the sense?
Suppose you have polyester fibre fabric, do you think you have a problem here during
washing laundering shrinkage problem or which fibre for example if it is a cotton based fabric,
you will see problem of shrinkage during washing in the cotton fabric, the wool fabric,
viscose, which, so obviously the fibres which actually you may have experienced shrink and
change the dimensions after washing are generally hydrophilic fibres.
It means that the intermolecular forces bonds can be affected by water, so after any response
of a molecule is dependent on intermolecular interactions and bonding, if something happens
to them, then the things can be different. So, if you look at this problem or this issue, then
we can just say ask this question as to why do they shrink?
 Of course, shrinkage is a problem and we understand which fibres shrink, so let us say what
actually causes the shrinkage, why anything a fibre or fabric would shrink, and we are talking
about shrinkage during washing.

So, one important thing which one must realize is that during the washing if there is any
mechanism with which relaxation of the stresses can happen, the relaxation is a
thermodynamic process which would automatically spontaneously happen. Now, why the
stresses, from where the stresses? So, during manufacture, the yarn in a fabric may be
stressed while they were woven or knitted, so they would have a tendency to relax, so when
put such a yarn or fabric in water what would happen is if they were stressed and the stress
was not relieved during this process. Then what would happen is the intermolecular hydrogen
bonds which obviously can very easily break in water, hydrogen bonds can break. So if
intermolecular hydrogen bond break, the molecules which are obviously under stress would
like to relax, that is the relaxation and this type of shrinkage if it happens because they were
stresses which were stored and because you gave an opportunity, laundering for that matter,
the water could penetrate, break those hydrogen bond which can obviously form at a later
stage in a different position, but molecules can then relax and shrinkage that happens due to a
relaxation of stresses is obviously called relaxation shrinkage.
This would happen, wherever there is a stress during manufacture, if it gets released, one
would see, shrinkage is one mechanism with which the stresses are released. So, you can
actually take a yarn, expose it to moist steam, expose it to water, they would like to relax, and
the dimensions would be much more controllable, so that is one, almost every textile would go
through shrinkage processes whenever there is a stress and it can be facilitated if something
like this happens. Fabric under no tension would be kept let us say in an environment which is
moist, and you will see dimensions getting more stabilized. So, whether it is a sanforization or
a London, they are basically pre-shrinkage, the user will not have a problem, whatever
shrinkage that take place, it takes place in the fabric form okay, you get the point. So, this is
because of the stresses that were stored and if you can relieve those stresses, further shrinkage
may not happen right. So instead of first making the garment and then allowing to shrink, it is
better the fabric shrinks and then you make garments.

Another mechanism of shrinkage in any fabric including wool is due to swelling. Now, we
again remember what are we talking about, we are talking about shrinkage during washing or
laundering, not every type of shrinkage okay, which would mean swelling. Now if you put
the fibre in water, let us say this will not shrink, this will not swell we are talked about
swelling, it will not swell, these will swell okay. So, when it swells, what happens to the
length of the fibre? Length of fibre when you put in water, what happens to the length of
the fibre, will it increase or decrease? What happens to the diameter of the fibre and
remember we are not talking about only hydrophilic fibres because we have just said they
will not swell. Now, there is another shrinkage which is associated with wool, is called
felting, shrinkage due to felting. Now what is the shrinkage due to felting? Now we see the
structure of a wool surface, the wool surface has got something remember, these are called
the scales. This is the tip of the fibre, this is the root of the fibre, so the scales are projecting,
so this is the way the wool fibre grows you see. Initially, it has grown a little bit, then
something comes it pushes and then other material comes which pushes and so something
extends outside and so scales are created.
Naturally this is a good process because the densities are high and it protects the wool from
the natural changes in weather, whether it rains or shines or what happens, it protects, so it
meant for the protection hazards, but this can cause some interesting things which is called

felting.

This happens because of what is known as a directional frictional effect. What is this
directional friction effect? We just had the same fibre, so this is pointing in one direction right,
so let us say we have this fibre and then you have these things pointing in direction towards
the root of the fibre is it or towards the tip. So, these scales are pointing towards the tip. So, if
you move your finger in this direction versus in this direction, you move your finger
towards tip versus if you move your fingers towards root in which case would you see more
friction?
When you move towards the tip friction is more or when you move towards the root the
friction will be more, your finger, yeah, so if you move towards the tip, the friction would be
less, if you move your finger away from the tip, the friction will be more, is it natural, this is
called the directional frictional effect. So, in one direction, there is more friction, in the other
direction, there is less friction. If you have let us say ball of fibres, you know you just keep
doing this, softer.
So if it is soft, the fibres will try to move, so when you press, they move, but then want to
come back the friction is more, they may not come, so it may happen that if you keep doing
this, a good number of fibres will try to move towards the direction of their root, towards the
root whenever there is a chance, you wash them, you do mechanical stresses, compress, relax
compress relax, suddenly find the material which was like a loose mass of fibres is now more
compact because there is an entanglement.
The fibres have moved and they are moved almost permanently, they keep moving towards
the tip and that kind of a product is called a felt and the process is called felting. Can these
phenomena happen in any other fibre; cotton, viscose, polyester, it should not. So, this felting
which happens because of directional frictional effect is specific to wool.

So now somebody would say is this felting a nuisance or a blessing? I make a knitted
garment like a sweater from wool, put in washing machine, take it out and see dimensions
have changed, some of you may have noticed that the underarms where moisture is more and
obviously mechanical agitation also is more, the knitted fabric or the sweater under this feels
different than the rest of the material because it has felted in those areas, become relatively
more compact in those areas and therefore you may not like it.
That is the reason a lot of people would suggest that anything which is a good woolen
garment, it better be dry-cleaned. You know you are hoping the dry-cleaning solvent does not
do what water does, so your structure, dimensions are going to remain same which you
expect to happen, so in some sense this is a nuisance, that your dimensions can change
because felting leads to shrinkage, felting leads to compact structure.
So, a knitted garment was not a compact structure, it was flexible, fluffy, it contained a lot of
air within the yarn and therefore the insulation that you were getting, suddenly becomes a
compact structure, the air is no more entrapped in that system, so it does not feel good and of
course dimensions have changed. So, in some sense, this is a nuisance, one would like it that if
it did not happen you know that will be case, but if you are smart enough, you may be able to
utilize, exploit this property itself. You have seen some woolen blankets, real woolen blanket
not acrylic blankets, woolen blankets, in this case, let us say it is a blessing. So, let us count
the blessing first, we will talk about the nuisance later. So, woolen blanket is a product which
people use it, it is compact, relatively much more compact. If you try to unravel the yarns from
blanket, it is not going to be easy. If you have a normal woven fabric, you can remove the
warp, remove the weft from the sides and keep removing and unraveling the fabric, but if you
try to do that in woolen blanket, it is not that, you cannot do it very easily.
You must have seen it, have you used a woolen blanket. So, this woolen blanket is produced
by the process which is called milling. This is in a way is a finishing process and what are we
doing. We want to make a fuller, denser wool fabric like a blanket. Sometimes, the milling is
also known as fulling. So, this is the process you do something, and how do we do it? By
exploiting the felting property of wool, so thing which we said is going to cause problems is
the one which you like to use so that you get a better product which is called a blanket or a
felt. Now of course, the felt can be made by different technologies using different kind of
fibres, but the term felt, and the felting came from wool. So, this is like a nonwoven system,
you do not really have to do anything, you can still make a felt, but blankets are product which
are woven products, but they go through a process called milling. If they go through the
process called milling, what happens is during this milling process, felting happens, now we
know what is felting, where the fibres may have moved from their position to another position.
They will keep moving till they cannot move further and which direction every fibre will try to
move, wool fibre in the direction of the root keep moving till they cannot move further, then
they will be jamming, and this is because of scales which give the differential friction, one
direction friction is more, the other direction friction is less. So, there is a differential friction
and so it happens, so entanglement takes place and you make a compact structure, this is
milling. For this process to take place, 3 things are essential and what is the process
termed out, felting where the fibres must move. There should be moisture, so some kind of a
lubrication. If there is a little bit of a heat, that means pliability. If you have pressures, so they
are forced to change their position in the fibres and so you will get a felt with an entangled
fibre structure and more compact structure, which we thought was a good idea and that is the
process of milling. Have you seen a winch, a machine which is similar looking as winch can
be used to do this milling or fulling process?
So, the machine may look like this. The fabric in the rope form for that matter can be milled,
you can do it in open width also, but this diagram which I have used we are doing it in a rope
form for example. So, there is this portion which is called the spout. These are the squeeze
rollers. There is some liquor, it could be there, or you can also have some spray system which
can spray the liquor on this rope, it is an endless rope of a wool fabric which needs to be
subjected to milling process alright.
So, you take this rope, so this goes up because of the squeeze rollers and they pull also,
guiding rollers guides, this is called spout. This is called a throat through which this is
directed, and it is pulled, put some pressure here so that the fabric folds in a wet state, so
there is a pressure, so you have mechanical pressure. The temperatures can be increased. You
can have a heating system, so temperatures can be increased. It has moisture, so you have
moisture because you have liquid which could be aqua solutions. So, all the 3 things which
we require, the moisture, the heat and the pressure are going to be applied. Continuously this
rope can move up, go to the spout, then it is thrown onto the slanted surface and keeps
moving down, goes into some liquor which may be stored and then is pulled up and goes
through the throat and the squeeze roll and the spout continuously for whatever time is
optimum time and then at the end day you do washing and you have a product which is
milled product, which is felted already, it may become like a blanket.

So sometimes, different conditions can be used, you may be probably quite aware that wool
fabrics are relatively quite stable, more resistant to acids, they are susceptible to alkaline
conditions, so nobody will use a strong alkaline condition, but you may use a strong acidic
condition. If your solutions are acidic in nature, pH below 7, then you have acid milling this
is called and the pH could be 2, but does not have to be, it can be higher based on what you
want to do, but it is in the acidic range.
Temperature is not very high, just a little above the room temperature, this could be 45
degrees, so you have about 20 degrees above approximately and just keep doing this milling
process in a winch type of machine or a which is sometimes called a rotary milling machine
and keep doing this for a required amount of time, maybe 45 minutes to 1 hour, wash it and
use, so this will be acid milling conditions.
Alkaline milling or soap milling to give a bit of a lubrication okay and neutral of course will
be there, but alkaline when we say it is alkaline soap, but you are not going to go to a pH of 11
or pH of for example 12, 13, does not high pH, of course will not be stable, so either a
neutral thing or alkaline soap could be used to this milling that would be the good. So, you
have a nice neutral soap, you can do soap milling, but it may take more time. The same
machine can be used as scouring or similar machine can be used as scouring also.