Performance of Knitted Fabrics Finished with Different Silicone Softeners

Silicone softeners make fabric soft, brilliant, greasy and more elastic, resulting is acceptable handle. In this research work, the effect of using different silicone softeners on pilling resistance and on some physical and mechanical properties of knitted fabrics was evaluated. Industrially applied silicone softeners of three different types (macro, semi-micro, micro) were used on fabrics knitted from different fiber materials (Egyptian cotton, Tencel LF, Tencel STD, bamboo, Modal and Micro-modal). The influence of using different silicone softeners on fabric pilling resistance, seam hole, air permeability, color strength, fastness to rubbing in wet and dry states and fastness to washing was investigated. Results have shown that the pilling performance of micro-modal fabrics finished with micro silicone is better than those finished with macro silicone. The higher number of fibers per cross-section for the micro modal yarns creates weak bonds between micromodal fibers and macro silicone particles. The macro silicone fabric has the greatest air permeability, while the micro silicone reduces the porosity of the yarn and increases air resistance. The macro silicone softener method has more fastness to color than the other finishing methods investigated.