Assessment of durable press performance of cotton finished with modified DMDHEU and citric acid

Cotton apparels possess inherent tendency to form wrinkles under external stress. Conventionally selective cross-linking agents in presence of specific catalyst are applied on cotton to supress formation of creases or wrinkles via pad-dry-cure technique at high curing temperature under acidic conditions imparting stability and elasticity to the fabric. Extensive research carried out in this field identifies invariable deterioration in mechanical properties of finished cotton. In this study, two different cross-linking agents, i.e. modified DMDHEU and citric acid working on etherification and esterification crosslinking reaction with cellulose respectively were applied on cotton through selection of factors using Box Behnken experimental design in conjunction with response surface analysis and regression methods to study their DP ratings as well as other mechanical properties. Significant factors were further drastically narrowed down to reach to most specific concentrations of cross-linker, catalyst as well as other chemicals along with finishing parameters. It was found that modified DMDHEU performed better in terms of DP rating as well as overall physical properties as compared to those obtained with citric acid.