Cotton as a dominating natural fibre imparts a major contribution in the whole textile market including natural and artificial fibres. The demand of this cellulosic fibre is increasing rapidly day by day, on the other hand supply cannot fulfill its demand, and as a result price goes higher in world market. Now people are looking for alternatives to cotton in different applications. Viscose as cellulosic origin, the cheapest of all cellulosic fibres could be the best alternative. Viscose fibre exhibits some similar properties compared to cotton except its poor wet strength. In this thesis work different chemical finishes were applied to improve the wet strength of viscose fabric. For this purpose water repellent and soil release finishes were applied. Both water repellent and soil release finishes helped in reducing the molecular barrier around the individual fibres that lowered the surface tension of the fibre. It reduces the absorbency of viscose fibre hence leads to higher wet strength. Water repellent finish was applied alone as well as in combination with soil release finish. It was seen that viscose fibre exhibited better wet strength after applying water repellent and soil release finishes on it. This improved property of viscose could replace the cotton fibre in certain applications like bed linen.

Program: Magisterutbildning i textilteknologi