Durable press finishing of cotton fabrics: An overview

Durable press (DP) or easy care finishing is almost always used for cotton fabrics or textiles with a high content of cellulosic fibers. This finish provides resistance against shrinkage and improved wet and dry wrinkle recovery to cellulosic textiles. Inhibition of easy movement of the cellulose chains by crosslinking with resins/polymers is the mechanism of a DP finish. Initially, derivatives of urea such as urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde resins were used. Environmental concerns and the potential danger of formaldehyde led to the introduction of formaldehyde-free finishes. Among them, polycarboxylic acids such as 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acids and citric acids are the most promising chemicals. To enhance the flexibility, tensile strength and whiteness of the easy care finished textiles, novel finishing agents have been recently considered; for example, ionic crosslinking, polyamino carboxylic acids and non-ionic polyurethane, as well as employing nano-materials as the catalyst or co-catalyst. The possible application of the easy care treatment with other functional finishes, mainly antimicrobial, flame retardancy and water-oil repellency, has been also been focused upon.