Novel one bath application of oil and water repellent finish with environment friendly cross-linker for cotton

The performance of the fluorocarbon based acrylate polymer, Genguard, was evaluated on cotton fabric. Genguard treated fabric exhibited good oil and water repellency rating before washing. However, rating was lost immediately after washing. In order to enhance the washing durability of the Genguard finish, citric acid was incorporated into the recipe as a formaldehyde free cross-linker. The combination of citric acid with fluorocarbon exhibited good improvement in the durability of the oil and water repellency rating after multiple washings. In addition, fabric treated with this novel combination demonstrated excellent increase in the easy care performance. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the surface of the fabric treated with Genguard and citric acid as a cross-linker.