Development of health care and hygiene curative finishing on textile material using Acalypha Indica

This present work deals with an eco-friendly natural antimicrobial finishing of cotton terry towel that has been prepared from the plant extracts of Acalypha Indica . Herbal extracts from A. indica (kuppai meni) have been applied to the cotton fabric by the method of direct application along with citric acid is act as a cross-linking agent using the pad-dry-cure method. The treated samples were antimicrobial activities were evaluated through qualitative methods (zone of inhibition in mm) and quantitative methods (bacterial reduction %), from the results the finished cotton bath towel shows better antibacterial activity against both bacterial strains Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus , wash durability of the samples also good because the samples along with the extracts treated with citric acid act as a cross-linking agent so these cross-linking agents to form a bridge between herbal media and fibre assembly. After 10 washes the extract-treated samples show good antimicrobial properties for the fabrics.