Patent GB-1175208-A (GB)
Title: Application of Finishing Agents to Shaped Articles
Inventor: CASE JOHN WILLIAM
IPC: D06M23/10
Filed: 1967-01-09
Abstract: 1,175,208. Treating shaped articles. IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES Ltd. 2 April, 1968 [9 Jan., 1967; 26 June, 1967 (2); 5 July, 1967], Nos. 1157/67, 29423/67, 29425/67 and 30989/67. Headings D1B and DIP. A finishing agent is applied to a shaped article by treating the shaped article with a solution, dispersion or emulsion of the finishing agent in an organic solvent and then treating the shaped article with steam at a temperature above the boiling point of the solvent or of any azeotrope formed by the solvent and water and for a time sufficient to remove a major proportion of the organic solvent. The shaped article may be paper or a textile material in the form of a fibre, yarn or woven, knitted or felted fabric, the finishing agent may be a dye, fluorescent brightening agent or agent imparting crease resistance, shrink resistance, antistatic properties or water-, oil-, dirt- or stainrepellency to the shaped article and the organic solvent may be trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, 1:1:1-trichloroethane, methylene chloride or 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane. The finishing composition may be applied to the substrate by coating, licking, immersion or spraying and the substrate then treated with steam at a pressure of 10-30 psi abs. in aquilibrium with liquid water for 2-30 seconds the solvent being recovered for re-use. The contact with steam may be extended to 30-5 minutes to effect curing of finishing agents requiring curing. Curing may be completed by heating the shaped article after steaming by means of drying cylinders, a baking oven or stenter dryer. The process may be applied to (a) shrink-proofing wool by applying thereto a solution or dispersion in an organic solvent of a terpolymer of ethylene, vinyl acetate and methacrylol chloride and then treating with steam to remove the organic solvent, (b) rendering a shaped article water-, oil-, dirt- or stain-repellent by applying thereto a highly fluorinated organic compound in solution or dispersion in an organic solvent and then treating with steam to remove the organic solvent, (c) rendering a shaped article water-repellent by applying thereto a solution or dispersion in an organic solvent of a silicone and then treating with steam to remove the organic solvent, (d) rendering a textile material e.g. of cotton, rayon, polyesters or polyamides, water repellent by applying thereto a solution or dispersion in a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent of a methylolamide of a fatty acid containing at least 14 carbon atoms in the molecule, the methylolamide containing less than 4% by weight of free fatty acids, and as catalyst an acid or acid-generating substance, e.g. monochloroacetic acid, dodecylbenzene sulphonic acid, 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl) butyl phosphonic acid, methyl p-toluene sulphonate, cetyl pyridinium bromide or stearamido methylpyridinium chloride, the composition optionally containing an alkoxymethyl derivative of an organic nitrogenous compound, e.g. urea, thiourea, dicyandiamide, an amide, carbamate, aminotriazine, uron, ureide, imidazolidinone, pyrimidone or triazone, and paraffin wax, treating with steam to remove the solvent and then heating the textile material at above 120C, (e) brightening a synthetic textile material e.g a polyester, polyamide, polyacrylonitrile or cellulose acetate or triacetate optionally in admixture with cotton, by applying thereto a solution or dispersion in a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent of a compound having the formula in which A is a polycyclic aromatic group containing at least three condensed rings, e.g. pyrene, anthracene, acenaphthene and chrysene, R 1  is a chloro, substituted amino, alkoxy, substituted alkoxy, aryloxy, alkylthio or substituted alkylthio group and R 2  is a substituted amino, alkoxy, substituted alkoxy, alkylthio or substituted alkylthio group, treating with steam to remove the solvent and then heating the textile material at 150-220C., the final heating step optionally being omitted if a cellulose acetate or triacetate material is treated, or (f) treating a polyester shaped article with a solution or dispersion in a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent of a crystallisable polymeric compound containing within a single molecule sufficient repeat units identical with those forming the crystallisable portions of the polyester to confer crystallisability on the compound and at least one active group which is a watersolvatable polymeric group derived from a water soluble polymer of average molecular weight at least 300, e.g. a polyoxyalkylene, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl methyl ether, poly (N, N-dimethyl acrylamide), methylcellulose or hydroxyethyl group, and optionally an antioxidant, e.g. bis-[2-hydroxy-3-(α-methylcyclohexyl)-5-methylphenyl] methane, zinc diisopropyl dithiophosphate or trilauryl trithiophosphite, treating with steam to remove the solvent and optionally heating to 100-200C for 30 seconds to 30 minutes.