The Bleaching of Woven Fabrics Using the Foam Application Technique

The highest water consumption in the textile industry occurs during wet pretreatment processes. These processes lead to increased energy costs and negatively affect the environmental footprint of production. In this study, the feasibility of combining the foam application technique with bleaching and ozonation methods was investigated to reduce water, energy, and chemical consumption in woven fabrics. A suitable formulation was developed for the foam application process, and an ozone post-treatment was subsequently applied to the selected fabrics. The whiteness and surface performance characteristics of the treated samples were evaluated, and the combined method was found to provide clear advantages over conventional processes in terms of environmental impact. While a whiteness level of 73 Berger was obtained with the conventional method, up to 67 Berger was achieved using the foam application technique, which is sufficient for effective bleaching. Additionally, the relationship between pretreatment and dyeing was examined by conducting dyeing processes following pretreatment. The findings demonstrated that the foam application technique is applicable to bleaching processes and represents a promising sustainable alternative for textile production.