Technical Information

LNC 16/01/2002

CELLXTRA
THE INNOVATIVE SYSTEM FOR EASY CARE FINISHING OF
GARMENTS IMPARTING WRINKLE RESISTANCE, WASH &
WEAR PROPERTIES & DURABLE PRESS FINISH

Fashion means constant change. At all

times, however, people have wished for
permanently beautiful, pleasant to wear
and easy care textiles. Striving to fulfill this
desire, LNC offers finishers a product
system called CELLXTRA, which convinces,
amongst others, by its rationalised
handling.

Optimised process and product

combinations make it possible to respond Easy life with Cellxtra
quickly and flexibly to the requirements of
the market.
The most important properties of the CELLXTRA finish
:
♦ Optimum easy care effects for cellulosics and their blends
with synthetics.
♦ Elegant handle and drape, and good technological
properties of the finished textiles.
♦ Long life effect – the textile appears new for longer.
♦ Excellent wear comfort and good breathability.
♦ Easy care finish with integrated AQUAREPEL soil
repellency system.
♦ Low formaldehyde finish.
♦ High productions speeds and process safety.

The use of autocatalysed cross-linking systems and

multifunctional softening agents ensures quick and reliable
handling in production. The softening agents especially
developed for the finishing of garments minimize the
brittleness caused by the cross-linking agent. The abrasion
resistance of the finished textiles as well as its handle and
drape is thus improved, the colours are intensified.
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DEMAND IN MARKET:

There is an increasing demand in the market to have a garment in

which, after washing, then hand dry or tumbler dry, there is no ironing
or very les ironing required and the garments appearance shows “No
wrinkle” or very less wrinkle. These garments are known as “Wrinkle
Free”.

Now, there is a strong desire for natural looking, comfortable clothing.

Consumers want a neater look in casual apparel. The consumer’s life
style demands the product be carefree (little or no ironing). This
presentation describes the products and procedures used to
manufacture 100% cotton wrinkle resistant fabric and garments
having both comfort and style.

A high synthetic construction garment is already “likely” to be a

“wrinkle free” garment. Its plain appearance surface will remain very
similar without much wrinkle after washing; with very limited
requirement of ironing to get back a plain surface.

To maintain cotton as major raw material but with a characteristic of a

wrinkle free appearance adequate quantity of “cross linking resin
treatment” is required to stabilize its smooth surface. The higher the
cotton content, the higher will be the resin input required.
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WHY GARMENT FINISHING?

Garment finishing provides the same wrinkle free finish

provided by post cure operations i.e.

Permanent smoothness and crease retention

Resistance to wrinkling while wearing, especially with

100% cotton fabrics

Improved shrinkage control.

In addition to these advantages garment finishing offers:

Improved performance over post-cure finishing

especially where there is a time delay between finishing
and garment construction. (Some curing in the flat
occurs with time, reducing crease retention of
garments).

Rapid response to order for garments from specific

fabrics.

Production of special order finishes along with wrinkle

resistance (water and oil repellent, high performance
finish, very soft finish)

Inventory reduction and control.

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WHAT TYPE OF GARMENTS CAN BE PROCESSED?

WHICH FABRICS?

All fabrics containing cellulosic hydroxyl group can be used – cotton

and cotton polyester blends are most popular. Other fibres (e.g. linen
and rayon) will benefit from treatment, but will require additional
formulating.

The chemicals involved in this process react with cellulose fibres to

provide a permanent memory to that fibre. Polyester fiber is inert to
the resin and will not be affected. All cotton or cotton/polyester blend
garments work well.

Garment finishing is widely used to produce “wrinkle free” pants and

shirts (both woven and knit). Other garments e.g. ladies skirts, can
also be produced by this method provided a suitable form is available
on which to cure the goods.

WHICH FABRICS SHOULD NOT BE USED?

The application of “Allenlink”, and “Tristar” series of resins to cotton

gives a “wrinkle free memory” to the fibre. Increased amount will give
improved results. However, when resins are applied to the fabric
there is a strength loss (typically 20-40% on 100% cotton fabric). The
more resin, the more strength loss. This strength loss will show in
reduced tear strength and abrasion resistance of finished garments.
(Increased fraying of cuffs, collar, increased tendency to tear).

It is important to use fabrics of adequate strength of good quality,

long fiber, cotton while manufacturing 100% cotton blend are more
forgiving because the polyester is not affected and does not lose
strength.

However, this can be over by addition of Modsoft-PE, Profinish-HD

and Profinish-JNF.
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PROBLEMS TO AVOID:
Assuming the fabrics to be of reasonable strength and construction,
good results should be obtained. The most common problems
encountered are:

1. Fabric is too alkaline:

Improperly washed fabrics can contain residual alkali. The
catalyst in “Tristar and Allenlink” resin is mildly acidic and will be
neutralized by the alkali. If the catalyst is neutralized the resin
will not cure properly and results will be poor. A properly washed
fabric will have an alkalinity of less than 0.05%. In washing the
fabric it may be necessary to add a very dilute acetic acid
scouring bath followed by a rinse to remove the last alkali form
the fabric.

2. Shade Change:
Some sensitive dyes will change shade when garments are
treated with resins. It is necessary to either change to non-
sensitive dyes or dye to accommodate the change.

3. Unequal distribution of resin solution on garments in the washer-dryer:

This is a mechanical problem of distribution of chemical spray

and perhaps fabric construction (e.g. penetration through double
fabric layers)

4. Lower performance than expected:

If the treated garments have been dried at too high temperature
or too long time, some premature curing can occur in the dryer.
If this occurs not only is resin not available to cure in the correct
(pressed) shape, but also worse, some unwanted wrinkles can be
cured into the fabric during drying.
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HOW ARE RESULTS MEASURED?
Finished garments are laundered and dried in normal household
washers and dryers. After 3 home launderings the garments are rated
visually against standards available from the American Association of
Textile Chemicals and Colorists. These are rated from 1 (worst) to 5
(best) for crease retention (in trousers) and smoothness in flat areas.
Usually a 3.5 rating is good, 4.0 excellent.

ADVANTAGES OF “CELLXTRA SYSTEM”

Is suitable for all readymade garments made of natural fibers

such as cotton or linen as well as man made cellulosic fibres such
as rayon, tencel and lyocell.

Provides non-iron effects, if desired also with permanent crease.

Prevents creases during wear as well as after washing and

tumble-drying in a household tumbler.

Preserve size of garment

Allows appearances from sleek accurate to casual wrinkle wear

Gives a soft, elegant handle

Less effect on abrasion and tear strength

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REQUIREMENT OF GARMENT BEFORE TREAMENT:

Garment should be made up of the fabric with good tensile strength.

Wash fastness of face fabric, linings, sewing thread and waist bands
i.e. the dimension shrinking of the untreated fabric should be below
3%.

The face fabric, linings, sewing thread and waist bands should be heat
resistance i.e. should not show dimensional changes and dye migration
at curing temperatures i.e. 155-170ºC

Corrosion resistance of metal parts, since the treatment bath is in acid

medium and corrosion (rust) may occur on ignoble metal buttons,
zippers and other accessories.

To avoid bleeding and staining dyeings. Fast to colour bleeding have

to be used. Reactive dyeings must be stable against acids and acid
catalysts.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

In general garments are treated with chemicals in a stainless steel rotary
washer-dryer and dried at moderate temperatures to 5-10% moisture
content. The garment are then pressed to desired shape and cured in a
oven between 160-170ºC for 5-7 mins.

i) Pre-cure process:

The pre-cure process is the simplest and easiest method to achieve

wrinkle resistance. Here the cross linking resin is applied and cured in
the textile finishing mill. This method imparts a permanent memory to
the cotton fabric in a flat configuration. This type of finishing is most
frequently conducted on fabrics where permanent pleats or creases
are not needed such as sheeting, shirting, dress goods, knits, and
some slacks. However, one manufacturer has offered slacks made
from pre-cured fabrics where the crease was imparted and made
permanent by a silicone adhesive.
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ii) Post-cure process:

This process was practiced extensively in the 1960s. The finish,

including a cross-linking resin and catalyst, is impregnated by the
finishing plant and dried with little or no curing. After the garment is
made, pleats and/or creases are imparted by pressing. Finally, the
garment is passed through a curing oven where the cross-linking resin
imparts wrinkle resistance with crease retention. In addition to
permanent creases, the conventional post-cure process also provides
less seam puckering when washed as compared to the pre-cure
process.

During processing, there are certain precautions that the finishing

plant should exercise in order to ensure a good performing product.
The pH of the fabric before finishing should be 5.0 – 7.0 with the total
alkalinity not greater than 0.05% NaOH. In order to minimize any
curing of the impregnated fabric, it should come off the tenter frame
with about 10% moisture measured by a moisture meter. The fabric
should be wrapped cool, not hot. If the finished fabric is to be
SanforizedTM processed, water is not sprayed and care is taken not to
over dry. It may be necessary to reduce the temperature of the
palmer unit of the Sanforizer.

Another important consideration for post-cure is the shipment and

storage of sensitized (treated fabric). Studies have shown that there
is a time/temperature relationship whereby premature cross-linking
may occur. This would prevent the formation of a sharp crease when
pressed, thus the crease rating after laundering may be lower. The
type of catalyst (regular v/s hot) and resin (buffered or not) will also
have a direct influence on premature curing.
In the following, we present the individual procedure, illustrated with
guide recipes.

CELEXTRA – JUMP INTO A NEW DIMENSION

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In more details the preferred treatment process:

A. Dip saturation hydro-extract process
B. Metered addition process

A DIP-SATURATION-HYDROEXTRACT PROCESS:
Garment has to be free from residual alkali and other substances
disturbing the cross linking process and as described earlier.

Procedure:

Step I:

In the first step, the dry garments are impregnated with the finishing
solution, by maintain the MLR 1:10 or 1:15. The garments may be
agitated briefly in the solution, or a bundle of the garment may be
dipped in the finishing solution. The important factor is that the
garments become thoroughly saturated with the finish. A typical finish
will contain a wetting agent, cross-linking resin, catalyst, softener the
garment is soaked in bath for 30 mins.

Bath Recipe For Dip Process

Products Shirting
Trouser

Allenlink-NFR/Tristar-L-112/Tristar-ULF 5–6 8–9

Modsoft-PE/Profinish-HD/Profinish-JNF 3.5 – 4 4

Silicone softener 2 3–4

(Luballen-MW-30/Dermasil-WA/
Dermasil-SIN/Dermasil-LIQ)

Altranol-84 0.1 0.1

Catalyst-CR 0.5 – 0.6

0.8 – 0.9

Water 88.9 – 87.3

84.1 – 82

pH of the bath 4.5 ~ 5 with Acetic Acid

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Step-II:

The garment is hydro-extracted to about 75-80% wet pick-up. The

level of wet pick-up will depend primarily upon the construction of the
fabric.

Step-III:

Tumble-drying the impregnated garments is a critical step. If the area

to be creased becomes too dry and hot, some curing may take place.
The problem with this partial pre-curing is that it will inhibit the
formation of sharp crease. Moisture in the area to be creased should
not fall below 10-12%.

Step-IV:

A) PRE-CURE PROCESS

i) Curing: After tumble-drying curing the garments in the balloon

form in the curing chamber at 160-150ºC for 5-10 mins.
(Temperature depends on products and fabrics)

ii) Pressing: This is to bring a plain smooth surface and a firm

crease on the cured garment. Temperature should be around
170-190ºC

B) POST CURE PROCESS

i) Pressing: Hot head press – After tumble-drying the garments

are pressed to bring a plain smooth surface and a firm crease on
the garment. Temperature should be around 170-190ºC.

ii) Curing: After pressing garments are cured in curing chamber at

160-165ºC for 5-10 mins. (Temperature depends on products
and fabrics)
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B METERED ADDITION PROCESS:
Step I:

Applying finish solution to cotton garments by spray system to deliver

precisely the required amount of formulation to the garments. This is
termed as “Metered Addition Process”. The system compares to the dip
method, except for the application of the resin solution. Unlike the garment
“dip” process, which totally saturates the garments followed by a centrifuge
extraction to a wet pick-up value, the metered addition process applies only
the necessary amount of finish solution needed to achieve the final pre-
determined wet pick-up.

The finish solution is applied via spray where in the appropriate amount of
finish solution is distributed to the garments as a fine mist during the
rotational tumbling in an enclosed device such as garment wash/dye
machine or a modified tumble dryer. To assist in allowing the finish solution
to be evenly distributed throughout the garments, the rotation is altered
between forward and reverse during the spraying cycle. This allows for the
garments to become re-oriented, thus permitting a greater possibility for
uniform application. After the spray application is complete, the garments
continue to rotate to allow for the migration of the finish from high to low
concentrated areas. This time of equilibrations will depend upon the nature
of the garments, the amount of resin solution applied the rate of spray mist
(drop size and spraying profile). After the equilibration is complete, the
garments are the processed by the normal sequence of tumble-drying
pressing and oven curing or tumble drying, curing and then pressing.

Bath Recipe For 100 gms garment for metered addition process:
Products Shirting Trousers
Allenlink-NFR/Tristar-L-112/Tristar-ULF 4 – 4.5 6–7

Modsoft-PE/Profinish-HD/Profinish-JNF 3–4 4-5

Silicone softener 1.5 – 2.5 2– 4

(Luballen-MW-30/Dermasil-WA/
Dermasil-SIN/Dermasil-LIQ)

Altranol-84 0.1 0.1

Catalyst-CR 0.4 – 0.5 0.6 –

0.7

Water 67.5 – 55.9

59.3 – 47.2
Total 90 90
pH of the bath 4.5 ~ 5 with Acetic Acid
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100 gm weight garment is taken in the machine and then 45 gm. of the
above solution is added and exhausted in the machine for 10 mins., the rest
45 gm. bath is added and exhausted for 20 mins and then garment is :

Step-II:
The garment is hydro-extracted to about 75-80% wet pick-up. The
level of wet pick-up will depend primarily upon the construction of the
fabric.

Step-III:
Tumble-drying the impregnated garments is a critical step. If the area
to be creased becomes too dry and hot, some curing may take place.
The problem with this partial pre-curing is that it will inhibit the
formation of sharp crease. Moisture in the area to be creased should not
fall below 10-12%.

Step-IV:

A) PRE-CURE PROCESS

I. Curing: After tumble-drying curing the garments in the balloon

form in the curing chamber at 160-150ºC for 5-10 mins.
(Temperature depends on products and fabrics)

II. Pressing: This is to bring a plain smooth surface and a firm

crease on the cured garment. Temperature should be around
170-190ºC

B) POST CURE PROCESS

I. Pressing: Hot head press – After tumble-drying the garments

are pressed to bring a plain smooth surface and a firm crease
on the garment. Temperature should be around 170-190ºC.

II. Curing: After pressing garments are cured in curing chamber

at 160-165ºC for 5-10 mins. (Temperature depends on
products and fabrics)
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ADVANTAGES OF THE METERED ADDTION PROCESS:
Process include the use of simplified equipment, no waste, no effluent, no
contamination of the finish bath, no contamination of the finish bath, no
depletion of individual components, the use of premixed finish solutions and
the ability to perform wet on wet processing.

AQUAREPEL – An option in the CELLXTRA

system
Recently, the use of fluorocarbon polymers in the manufacture of high-
quality, trendy fabrics – especially for trousering – has become more and
more common. With its surface-AQUAREPEL types, LNC offers speciality
products that confer additional water-, oil- and soil-repellent properties to
the textile.

water oil soi

l

fc fc fc fc

Fibre
Water- and oil-repellency through AQUAREPEL-
fluoropolymers
✩
AQUAREPEL
The invisible fibre protection system

✷ Preserves colours and fabrics

 Makes textiles dry faster
☺ Makes fabric care child’s play
water-repellent
 Oil- and soil-repellent
➶ Breathable
Resistant to washing and dry cleaning
Weather proof

After washing, it is recommended to iron the textile in order to re-

activate the protection system

Not only factors like brand, cut, colour, design, etc., but also the wear
properties of the textile play a decisive role in the customer’s decision to
buy.
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Wrinkle resistance combined with stain
resistance.
Method-I

Bath recipe for Dip Hydroextract Process :

Products Shirting
Trouser

Allenlink-NFR/Tristar-L-112/Tristar-ULF 5–6 8–9

Profinish-HD 3.5 – 4 4

Dermasil-SFC / Dermasil-FC 2-3 2–4

Aquarepel-XT 2–4 2–6

Catalyst-CR 0.5 – 0.6 0.8

– 0.9

Water 88.9 – 87.3

84.1 – 82

pH of the bath 4.5 ~ 5 with Acetic Acid

Bath recipe for metered addition process:

Products Shirting Trouser

Allenlink-NFR/Tristar-L-112/Tristar-ULF 4–5 6–7

Aquarepel-XT 2–4 2–6

Dermasil-SFC / Dermasil-FC 2-3 2–4

Profinish-HD 3–4 4–5

Catalyst-CR 0.4 – 0.5 0.6 –

0.7

Water 78.6 – 73.5

75.4 – 67.3

Total 90 90
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CELEXTRA Product system:
LNC provides a product system that meets individual demands and offers
quick and flexible process solutions
No. Product Ionic Product character
Nature
I Low formaldehyde cross linking agent
Allenlink-NFR Non-ionic Non-formaldehyde based resin
Tristar-L-112 Non-ionic Low formaldehyde based resin
Tristar-ULF Non-ionic Low formaldehyde based resin
Tristar-GH Non-ionic Non formaldehyde based resin
Tristar-F Non-ionic Non formaldehyde based resin

II Catalyst
Catalyst-CR Non-ionic Co-catalyst

III Softening agent

Dermasil-SIN Non-ionic Silicone softener (very low
yellowing)
Luballen-AH-30 Non-ionic Silicone softener (non-
yellowing)
Dermasil-LIQ Non-ionic Silicone softener (very low
yellowing)
Dermasil-WA Non-ionic Silicone softener (medium
yellowing)
Dermasil-SFC Non-ionic Fluoro carbon compatible
softener
Dermasil-FC Non-ionic Fluoro carbon compatible
softener

IV Stain and water repellant

Aquarepel-XT Non-ionic Fluoro carbon base product
Aquarepel-AZN Cationic Highly efficient durable, Fluoro
carbon extender
V Secondary polyolefin additives for improving abrasion and
tensile resistance
Modsoft-PE Cationic Improves sewability and
abrasion resistance
Profinish-HD Non-ionic Improves sewability and
abrasion resistance
Profinish-JNF Cationic Improves sewability and tensile
strength
VI Polyurethane
Finish-PUR Non-ionic Excellent inner softness, peach
like effect
Permafin-ZF Cationic Excellent inner softness & full
hand