Investigations on the impact of handwash and laundry softener on microfiber shedding from polyester textiles

This research aims to analyse the impact of hand wash, laundry softener, water volume in the laundry process, and mechanical action on the microfiber release from the polyester knitted fabric. The results of the experiments revealed that the delicate hand wash and machine wash processes shed a similar amount of microfibers from the polyester textiles. Whereas, the harsh hand wash sheds significantly higher microfibers compared to the machine washing (p < 0.05). The findings of the analysis revealed that both hand wash and machine wash have a similar influence on microfiber shedding. The second section of the results showed that an increment in the number of steel balls and water volume significantly increased the microfiber shedding (p < 0.05). Higher mechanical action due to the increased number of steel balls and increased drag force exerted at higher water volume are noted as the main reasons for increased microfiber shedding. In the case of laundry softener, the use of softener during the laundry process along with the detergent reduces microfiber shedding drastically, irrespective of the softener brands used. When the influence of different concentrations of softener was analysed, there is a poor correlation found between the microfiber shedding and softener concentration. However, at two different concentrations namely at 0.5 grams per litter (gpl) and 2.5 gpl, a maximum reduction of 77.62% and 72.48% of shedding is evident respectively compared to the control sample.