Contribution of Urea to the Textile Performance of Formaldehyde-Treated Cotton Fabrics 1

Experiments were set up according to statistical designs to study the effect of urea on the saturation-pad-cure reaction of formaldehyde with cotton cellulose via zinc nitrate catalysis, with concern for the balance of strength and abrasion resistance to resilience. Textile property performances were predicted from correlation curves at three levels of durable press appearance and conditioned wrinkle recovery angles. Predictions of textile performance differed with the statistical experimental design. The high level of resilience realized from the formaldehyde/zinc nitrate system is attributed to oxymethylene crosslinks, which are formed in greater amounts at higher cure temperatures. Improvements in abrasion resistance obtained with urea present are attributed to the formation of urea-formaldehyde polymer on yarn surfaces.