Bio-technological treatment of cellulosic textiles

Textile industries use various chemicals in their different processes like sizing, scouring, bleaching, cotton softening, denim washing, etc. These chemicals, after their use, cause pollution in the effluents; some of them are corrosive which could damage the equipment and the fabric itself. Enzymatic processes have been developed for wet processing of textile goods starting from cleaning preparation to finishing processes. In recent years the eco-textiles have been introduced in the textile business and their requirements become a must for export to advanced countries. With this in mind, the effect of Bio prip, Cellusoft L and Denilite Enzymes on the properties of cotton fabrics are examined in the present work. The use of enzymes at the different stages in textile wet processing, namely scouring, singeing, bleaching and finishing are performed with a view to obtain cotton fabric with good physico-mechanical properties along with high wettability and dye absorbance. Glucose is also used as reducing agent for bleaching cotton fabrics. Furthermore, a comparison between the conventional treatment "chemical treatments" and the enzyme treatment is also reported. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.