Effect of structures and concentrations of softeners on the performance properties and durability to laundering of cotton fabrics

This paper provides a comparison of the performance of eight industrial softeners using equal amounts of softeners and also at three different manufacturers recommended concentrations before and after five home laundering cycles. Four non-siloxane softeners containing anionic, non-ionic, cationic, and non-ionic polyethylene groups and four siloxanes containing reactive, nonreactive, primary, and tertiary aminofunctional groups were evaluated. The eight softeners were padded on to 100% cotton fabrics and the changes in the tear strength, abrasion resistance, flexibility, whiteness, and hydrophylicity of the fabrics were studied. The performance of the softeners before and after laundering in terms of changes (increase/decrease or no change) in fabric properties has been explained based on the concentrations and structure of the softeners used. This study shows that the extent to which a softener improves or affects fabric properties are influenced by the structure, the add-on, and the ability of the softener to be retained after laundering. Laundering caused a substantial decrease in fabric properties compared to the properties of the softener treated fabrics before laundering. All the softener-treated fabrics had greater loss in tear strength and whiteness index after laundering compared to the loss in abrasion resistance and flexibility. Overall, the aminofunctional softeners have better improvement and retention of properties among the softeners studied.