Investigation of the Usage Characteristics of Environmentally Friendly Water-Repellent Chemicals on Cotton Fabrics

Abstract

Fabrics with water-repellent properties are always highly preferred structures in the textile industry. It is a known fact that fluorocarbon compounds, which are widely used for this purpose, are quite harmful to the environment. Therefore, within the scope of this study, a water repellent chemical that does not contain fluorocarbon compounds was treated to 100% cotton fabrics and compared with fluorocarbon compounds. As a result of the analyzes, it has been seen that the environmentally friendly chemical is at least as effective as the fluorocarbon compounds. According to the spray test, a water repellency at ISO 5 level was obtained. In addition, the fabrics' high water vapor permeability, air permeability and low bending stiffness (280 mg.cm) were given effective results in terms of usage properties. This has yielded very important results in terms of sustainability and eliminating the use of fluorocarbons in ecological terms.