Patent GB-538428-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in the treatment of wool to reduce its tendency to felt or shrink
IPC: D06M23/00
Filed: 1939-10-30
Abstract: 538,428. Treating textiles with liquids. TOOTAL BROADHURST LEE CO., Ltd., HALL. A. J., and WOOD, F. C. Oct. 30, 1939, Nos. 14921/40 and 14922/40. Divided out of 538,396. [Class 15 (ii)] Wool is subjected to treatment with an alkaline substance in an organic liquid containing little or no water so as to reduce the tendency of the wool to felt. The wool may be in the form of loose fibres or in the form of yarns or fabrics which may have received scouring, bleaching, dyeing, or hot pressing treatments. Any animal fibre capable of being felted may be subjected to the treatment. The alkaline substance may be an organic ammonium, sulphonium, or iodonium hydroxide, e.g. benzyl trimethyl ammonium hydroxide, or it may be a tertiary amine oxide, hydrazine, hydrazine hydrate, sodium or potassium ethylate or butylate, sodamide, a sodio derivative of acetoacetic ester, acetone, or methyl ethyl ketone, or it may be sodium or potassium oxide, peroxide, or hydroxide. Alkaline substances which are gaseous at normal temperature and pressure .may be used. The organic liquid may be methyl, ethyl, oleyl, ricinoleyl, isopropyl, or butyl alcohol, or benzyl or phenylethyl alcohol, or cyclohexanol, methyl, ethyl, or butyl ether of ethylene glycol, diethyl citrate, ethyl acetate, amyl acetate, benzyl chloride, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, pyridine, carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, dichlorethylene, butadiene, isobutylene, paraffin, hexane, white spirit, or petrol. The treatment may be effected at low or raised temperatures. The alkaline solutions should not contain more than about 2 per cent. of water. The wool to be treated by the process may be air-dry or it may be moistened with water prior to treatment with the alkaline reagent. The treatment may be effected at reduced or raised pressures. The effective concentration of the base may be increased or decreased during the treatment. At the end of the treatment the alkali may be removed by washing or it may be treated so as to form a substance having a softening or lubricating action, e.g. it may be treated with oleic acid or oleyl hydrogen sulphate. Neutralization in the absence of water may be effected by treating the wool with acid gases or vapours or with solutions of acids in organic solvents. The treatment may be effected uniformly or in selected areas. The alkali solution may be applied by textile printing methods to produce striped or pattern effects. Materials containing wool in association with linen, cotton, rubber, or nylon fibres, may be subjected to the treatment. In an example, wool fabric is exposed to the vapour of saturated salt solution and is then immersed in a solution of caustic soda in n-butyl alcohol. It is then removed, centrifuged, washed, and dried. In another example, knitted wool fabric is immersed in a solution of caustic soda in methylated spirit. It is then mangled, rinsed with spirit, washed with dilute acetic acid, washed with water and dried. In other examples, wool fabric is treated with a solution of benzyl trimethyl ammonium hydroxide in butyl alcohol, a solution of ethylene diamine in acetone, a suspension of caustic soda in white spirit, a solution of sodio-aniline, obtained by reacting sodamine with excess of aniline, a solution of caustic potash in ethyl or butyl alcohol, a solution of lithium propylate in propyl alcohol, and a solution of a trialkyl benzyl ammonium hydroxide in morpholine.