Evaluation of Touch and Durability of Cotton Knit Fabrics Treated with Reactive Urethane-Silicone Softener

A new reactive urethane-silicone softener was developed to provide a soft touch to cotton knit fabrics with improved durability to washing and dimensional stability. The reactive urethane-silicone softener consisted of an amino silicone softener and a blocked isocyanate, which can crosslink and react with cellulose surfaces. The activated isocyanate from the blocked isocyanate reacted with the amino silicone softener by heat treatment at 150 °C for 30 min. The mechanical properties of the cotton knit fabrics treated with the urethane-silicone softener were evaluated using a Kawabata Evaluation System-Fabrics (KES-FB) system. The cotton knit fabrics treated with the urethane-silicone softener showed excellent elasticity, flexibility and shear recovery as well as excellent recovery against bending deformation, and soft and smooth surface characteristics with a small coefficient of friction that were maintained even after washing 20 times.