Studies of Some Basic Aspects in Easy-Care Cotton Finishing Part VI. Urea Nitrate Catalyzes Crosslinking of Cotton'

The feasibility of urea nitrate to catalyze crosslinking of cotton cellulose with N-methylol finishing agents was investigated under a variety of conditions. Urea nitrate proved to be an efficient catalyst for imparting easy-care properties to cotton fabric using the pad-dry-cure, pad-cure, and pad-mild-cure methods. Of particular interest were the results obtained with the pad-mild-cure method. A crease recovery as high as 280° could be achieved by mild curing of the fabric at 70°C for 5 min with only ca. 11 % loss in strength properties. The finishing agents used were commercial types based on carbamate reactant, dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea, dimethylolethyl eneurea, modified triazinone reactant, and modified ethyleneurea. The pad bath was stable up to 24 hours.