Do You Know The Technology of Mercerizing ?

The mercerized cotton originally invented by Mercer uses strong caustic soda to process cotton fabrics without tension. The main purpose is to increase the strength of cotton fibers (Strength) and affinity for dyes (Affinity). It wasn't until half a century later that during the alkaline treatment, tension was added to the cotton fabric, so a shiny fabric was produced.

Mercerizing process, whether carried out under tension or not, will increase the chemical reactivity of cotton fabrics, making fibers easier to absorb dyes and adapt to various chemical finishing. Recently, we have found that in some cases, cotton fabrics are mercerized, and the main purpose is to improve their affinity and chemical activity for dyes. For some fabrics, the improvement caused by the mercerizing process only improves the affinity of the dye and the chemical activity of the cotton, which does not affect the general appearance of the fabric.

Prudent control of mercerizing projects can establish a certain degree of stability. In many cases, the importance of this stability is almost equivalent to increasing the affinity for the dye. Increasing the stability allows the fabric to have a better yield after shrink-proof treatment. Therefore, the mercerizing project is a necessary process to obtain proper stability.