Easy‐care finishing of silk fabrics with a novel multifunctional epoxide. Part 1

A new easy‐care finishing method for silk fabrics with a multifunctional epoxide has been investigated. A two‐bath/two‐stage treatment improved the wet crease recovery angle from 200 to 280°. The most effective catalyst was found to be sodium carbonate. The breaking strength of the finished silk increased, while the stiffness and moisture regain changed slightly. Finished silk fabrics had good laundering durability: after 20 cycles of home laundering, and wet resiliency retained 95% of the initial value. Handle and lustre were virtually identicial to those of untreated control samples.