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BLEACHING OF COTTON
Cotton is bleached in the raw state (loose cotton) as yarn (cops, hanks, or warps) and in the piece. The aim of the bleacher is to remove as far as possible all the impurities present in the cotton without injuring the fiber, and thus obtaining pure cellu lose in the form of complete fibers. In the raw state, and in the form of yarn, only the natural impurities have to be considered. These include cotton wax, fatty acids, pectic substances, colour ing matters, albuminoid and mineral matter, amounting together to about 5% of the weight of the material. There are also fragments of the cotton seed husk (motes). The bleaching of cloth involves, in addition to these, the removal of the sizing materials with which the manufacturer strengthens the warp before weaving. In all cases three main operations are involved: boiling (bowking), chemicking, and souring. Much depends on the condition of the material and the use to which it is subsequently to be put as to the extent to which these operations are carried out. In the case of piece bleaching they are generally supplemented by additional processes. Loose cotton is rarely bleached before spinning in England, but some American firms who carry all the textile processes through in one works find it convenient to do so. It is certainly never subjected to drastic treatment with boiling alkali, which would tend to cause the fibers to mat together and to remove the cotton wax which seems to be a valuable assistant in spinning. The three processes can be applied when the material is to serve for the manufacture of cotton wool, or of gun cotton, in which instances the boiling operation is very important, as it helps to remove the wax and to render the material easily wetted with water. For such purposes good wetting out is of greater importance than a particularly good white. Cotton yarn is first boiled with an alkali such as 3 to 4% soda ash or 2% caustic soda, with or without the addition of soap, in a boiler which is known as a "kier" working at low pressure (up to iolb.) for six to eight hours. The yarn is then washed in the kier and transferred to a stone cistern provided with a false bottom. Bleaching liquor 1 to 2 Tw. is drawn by means of a centrifugal pump, from a well Situated below the floor line, to the top of the cistern and is showered over the yarn. The liquor falls through the goods and back again to the well and is caused to circulate in this way for about one and a half to two hours. After rinsing with water, the goods are steeped in hydrochloric or sulphuric acid of 2 Tw. in another circulating cistern, and are then washed thoroughly. If the yarn is intended for the market to be sold as white it is often tinted with a little blueing material such as .a suspension of ultramarine in weak soap solution, or a very little Victoria blue 4R or acid violet. During the boiling process most of the impurities, with the exception of some of the cotton wax and the coloring matters, are removed. The removal of the wax is more

thorough if some form of soap is employed in the boiling process, and it has been shown that resin soap is very effective in this respect. In the second operation the calcium hypochlorite of the bleaching powderto some extent by direct action, but also owing to the fact that it decomposes on coming into contact with the carbon dioxide of the air yielding chlorine (R. L. Taylor) destroys the coloring matter by oxidation. At the same time the motes, which were swelled up by the alkali, are removed. The souring operation has for its object the removal of lime deposited by the bleaching liquor and the attack and solution of any metallic oxides.

The rinsing which follows souring is of great importance in order to ensure the removal of the acid, which would otherwise cause the yarn to become tender.

The largest bulk of cotton is bleached in the piece, in which condition it is necessary not only to remove the natural impurities, but also such materials as starch, paraffin wax, soap, zinc chloride, magnesium chloride, which may be present as constituents of the size, as well as dust, dirt, and mineral oil, which may have become incorporated with the fiber during the manufacture of the cloth. In bleaching for whites ("market bleaching") it is essential that the white should be as perfect as possible, and the goods are invariably blued after bleaching; but probably the most thorough process is that which is commonly employed in the case of goods intended for calico printing. The ordinary process is carried out as follows: The pieces are first examined for faults and marked in gas tar with distinctive letters and numbers. They are then sewn end to end with a machine in chain stitch, which is easily removed after the bleaching is complete. Unless the cloth is intended for flannelette or other raised cloth, it is usual to remove the "nap," that is, the ends of the cotton fibers which project on the surface of the cloth, by "singeing." The operations may be effected in three different ways: (I) plate singeing, (2) revolving roller singeing, (3) gas singeing. The first method (fig. I) consists in running the cloth at full width over a couple of arched copper plates (a and b) heated to a full red heat by being mounted over the flues of a coal fire. As a rule one plate is considerably hotter than the other and the cloth goes over the hotter one last, where the singeing actually takes place. The first plate dries the cloth, and between the two a block (d) carrying two rails is arranged so that the pressure of the cloth on the plates can be regulated or if necessary entirely removed. This process has the disadvantage that owing to irregular heating the singeing may be uneven or "stripey" and show corresponding defects in the finished cloth.

In revolving roller singeing a cast iron cylinder is heated by causing the flame of a fire to be drawn through it. The roller in this process revolves in the reverse direction to the cloth, which passes over it. Gas singeing (fig. 2) is more convenient, economical, and also more effective, and can be applied to figured as well as to plain goods. It consists in running the goods over a nonluminous gas flame, the breadth of which slightly exceeds that of the piece. After singeing the goods are passed through hot water or through sulphuric acid 2-3 Tw. They are allowed to lie in a pile over night but are never allowed to dry. The operation has the effect which is shown in fig. 4, consists essentially of a wooden vat, over which there is a pair of heavy wooden (sycamore) bowls or squeezers. The pieces enter the machine at each end, as indicated by the arrows, and pass rapidly through the bowls down to the bottom of the vat, over a loose roller, thence between the first pair of guide pegs through the bowls again, and travel thus in a spiral direction until they arrive at the middle of the machine, when they leave at the side opposite to that on which they entered. The same type of machine is used for liming, chemicking, and souring. The next operation is the "grey sour," in which the goods are run through a washing machine containing hydrochloric acid of 2 Tw. strength, with the object of dissolving out the lime, which of hydrolyzing starchy material. Some bleachers submit cloth to a treatment with malt extract, with the same object in view. After rinsing in water the cloth is subjected to the action of boiling alkali. For calico intended for printing it is found best to carry out the lime boil, but in recent methods of bleaching this is omitted. After saturating the goods with milk of lime in a similar machine to that used for washing they pass, in what is known as rope form, into the kier and are carefully plated down. The amount of lime (CaO) with which they are impregnated is about 4% of their weight and the rope formation is given by passing the goods through smooth porcelain rings (pot-eyes) before entering the kier. It is of the greatest importance that the goods should be evenly packed, for, if channels or loosely-packed places are left, the liquor circulating through the kier, when boiling is subsequently in progress, will follow the line of least resistance, and the result is an uneven treatment. Of the numerous forms of kier in use, the injector kier is the one most generally adopted. This consists of an egg-ended cylindrical vessel constructed of stout boiler plate, and shown in sectional elevation in fig. 3. The kier is from i o to i 2ft. in height and from 6 to 7 f t. in diameter, and stands on three iron legs, riveted to the sides but not shown in the figure. The bottom exit pipe E is covered with a shield-shaped false bottom of boiler plate, or (and this is more usual) the whole bottom of the kier is covered with large rounded stones from the

river bed, the object in either case being simply to provide space for the accumulation of liquor and to prevent the pipe E being blocked. The cloth is evenly packed up to within about 3 to Oft. of the manholes M, when lime water is run in through the liquor pipe until the level of the liquid reaches within about 2ft. of the top of the goods. The manholes are then closed, and steam is turned on at the injector J by opening the valve V. The effect of this is to suck the liquor through E and to force it up through pipe P into the top of the kier, where it dashes against the umbrella-shaped shield U and is distributed over the pieces, through which it percolates, until, on arriving at E, it is again carried to the top of the kier, a continuous circulation being thus effected. As the circulation proceeds the steam condensing in the liquor rapidly heats the latter to the boil, and as soon as, in the opinion of the foreman, all air has been expelled the blow-through tap is closed and the boiling is continued for periods varying from six to 12 hours under 20-601b. pressure. Steam is then turned off, and by opening the valve V the liquor, which is of a dark-brown colour, is forced out by the pressure of the steam it contains. The pieces are then run through a continuous washing machine, which is provided with a plentiful supply of water. The machine, the goods retain in considerable quantity after the lime boil. The goods are then well washed and are boiled again in the ash bowking kier, which is similar in construction to the lime kier, with soda ash (3%) and a solution of resin (I I%) in caustic soda (4%) %) for eight to ten hours. For white bleaching the resin soap is omitted, soda ash alone being employed. The pieces are then washed free from alkali and the bleaching proper or "chemicking" follows. This operation may be effected in various ways, but the most efficient is to run the goods in a washing machine through bleaching powder solution at -i Tw., and allow them to lie loosely piled over night, or in some cases for a longer period. They are then washed, run through dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid at 2 Tw. ("white sour") and washed again. Should the white not appear satisfactory at this stage (and this is usually the case with very heavy or dense materials), they are boiled again in soda ash, chemicked with bleaching powder at i Tw., or even weaker, soured, and washed. sulphuric acid, after which they are washed and run through old kier liquor from a previous operation. They are then packed evenly in the wagons, which are pushed into the kier, and, the door having been closed, they are boiled for about eight hours at 7-15lb. pressure with a liquor containing soda ash, caustic soda, resin soap, and a small quantity of sulphite of soda. The rest of the operations (chemicking, souring, and washing) are the same as in the old process.

A somewhat different principle is involved in the Thies-Herzig process. In this the kier is vertical, and the circulation of the liquor is effected by means of a centrifugal or other form of pump, while the heating of the liquor is brought about outside the kier in a separate vessel between the pump and the kier by means of indirect steam. The sequence of operations is similar to that adopted in the Mather-Koechlin process, differing chiefly from the latter in the first operation, which consists in running the goods, after singeing, through very dilute boiling sulphuric orthen running them through a steam box, the whole

Open Width Bleaching.

For bleaching goods which contain effect threads, especially when these are dyed with vat colors, or are composed of artificial silk, the process of full width bleach ing has been greatly improved, and is to be recommended. After singeing the goods are run through a steaming chamber (to put out any fire) impregnated with caustic soda at 2 Tw. on a hatch ing machine in which the cloth is wound perfectly straight on to one of the two batch rollers of the kier until the batch is 3f t. 3f t. 6in. in diameter. The two rollers are driven into the kier on a batch carriage (fig. 6), where they are kept at a constant distance apart by means of an oscillating drum, which remains in contact with the two batches although they are continually increasing and decreasing in size as the winding proceeds. The carriage automatically couples with driving and reversing gear It is of the utmost importance that the final washing should be as thorough as possible, in order to remove the acid completely, for if only small quantities of the latter are left in the goods they are liable to become tender in the subsequent drying, through formation of hydrocellulose. The best known, and probably the most widely practiced of processes which dispense with the lime boil, is one which was worked out by the late M. Horace Koechlin in conjunction with Sir William Mather, and this differs from the former process not only in the sequence of the operations but also in the construction of the kier. This consists of a horizontal egg-ended cylinder, and is shown in fig. 5. The goods to be bleached are packed in two wagons W outside the kier, and when filled these are pushed home into the kier, so that the pipes p fit with their flanges on to the fixed pipes at the bottom of the kier. The heating is effected by means of steam pipes at the lowest extremity of the kier, while the circulation of the liquor is brought about by means of the centrifugal pump p which draws the liquor through the pipes p from beneath the false bottoms of the wagons and showers it over distributors D on to the goods. By this mode of working a considerable economy is effected in point of time, as the kier can be worked almost continuously; for as soon as one lot of goods has been boiled the wagons are run out and two

freshly packed wagons take their place. The following is the sequence of operations :The goods are first steeped over-night in dilute at the back of the kier, so that the cloth is continually wound off one roller and on to the other during the boiling process. The caustic soda liquor is entered boiling and is circulated by means of a pump. After two or three hours the cloth is removed from the kier to a special machine for chemicking. This process may also be applied with advantage in the bleaching of gauze and bandage cloths, sateens, reps, poplins, canvas, and gaberdines. Defects.As shown by the late Charles O'Neill, carefully bleached cotton ought to be stronger than the same cotton in the unbleached condition. Tendering may occur through the presence of air in the kier during boiling, or by the excessive action of bleaching liquor. Cotton which has been affected in this manner is said to contain oxycellulose. Such cotton readily becomes yellow and more tender on boiling with a dilute solution of caustic soda (about io Tw.). It also dyes lighter with a direct colour, such as chlorazol sky blue, than does ordinary cotton, but after boiling with caustic soda it dyes normally. This test dis tinguishes oxycellulose tendering from the tender product which is formed when dilute sulphuric acid is dried into cotton, for in the latter case light dyeing with chlorazol sky blue is observed even after boiling with caustic soda. Both kinds of tendered cotton dye darker with basic' colour than does ordinary well bleached cotton. Hydrochloric acid tendered cotton does not show such differences in dyeing. Any free acid which is left in cotton can be detected by testing the aqueous extract with a drop of methyl orange, which, in the presence of acid, is turned pink

Pretreatment of cotton fabric

INTRODUCTION:
The main innovation of the project lies in the combination of two or more continuous processes in a single step, as would be the desizing, scouring, bleaching. A semi-continuous process has been designed in which desizing and scouring are done simultaneously using a commercial enzyme cocktail. Immediately afterwards bleaching of cotton piece is performed in a separate bath at high temperatures. Peroxide removal has been done using the enzyme catalase without the need of high rinsing water consumption. Finally, a polishing step was carried out using the first bath where initial enzymes for scouring and desizing have been temperature inactivated. The development of this semi process allows the reuse of water from the first bath and water reuse of bleaching. This has a direct impact on water savings and energy as enzymatic processes are developed at lower temperatures than conventional chemical processes. This process also involves a reduced pre-treatment time as it reduces the time required for rinsing in case of bleaching, and although the time required for enzymatic desizing & scouring is greater, it is compensated with a lower lost in intermediate processes. The implementation of these changes has not affected the quality of the fiber with respect to conventional treatments. We evaluated the residual starch content, the degree of bleaching (using optical test), tissue stiffness). No significant differences were observed compared to conventional chemical process. Besides the fibers after enzyme treatment has been analyzed by SEM and no differences have appeared with respect to conventional chemical processing.

Pretreatment process:
Cellulosic fibers, whether they are natural or regenerated need some form of treatment to make them suitable for dyeing or finishing. This treatment, which removes natural or added impurities, is called preparation pretreatment. It can be carried out on loose fibers, yarns or fabrics. Unless the fibre is uniform in whiteness, absorbency and chemical composition and has law levels of impurities it is unlikely that itwill take up dye or finish in a uniform way or to the maximum extent possible. The prepared fabrics must have fitness for purpose. For example, a fabric to be given a water-repellent finish must be free from residual surfactant. Fibers used for medicinal end uses must have a law ash content. All such requirements must be met against economic constraints relating to the costs of water, labour, plant, chemicals and energy. The first, water, is particularly important. Not only can the purity of the water affect many of the requirements but the volume and the environmental impact of effluent can, and is, adding increasingly to the cost per kilogram of textile produced. The effluent with the highest biological/chemical oxygen demand stems from pretreatment.

Successful preparation depends on four factors:

The level and type of impurities present. The chemicals used in the various stages of preparation. The water supply. The type of machinery used
The flow chart of pretreatment process in case of woven cotton fabric:

Singeing Desizing Scouring Bleaching Mercerizing

The flow chart of pretreatment process in case of knitt cotton fabric:

Demineralization Single stage scouring bleaching

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Enzyme treatment Mercerezing

CHEMICALS FOR PRETREATMENT PROCESS: Caustic soda. Surfactants/wetting agent. Detergents. Sequestering agent/chelating agent. Sodium silicate. Soda ash. Solvent. Enzyme. Stabilizers. Sodium hypochlorite.. sodium chlorite. Hydrogen peroxide. Etc Singeing
Singeing is a finishing method for smoothing surfaces of fabrics by burning and removing fuzz thereon, and visualizing fabric textures. A gas-singeing machine is normally employed. The gas-singeing machine is typically equipped with four burners, and is capable of singeing one or both surfaces of the fabrics. A watercooled roller is provided at a location opposite to the burners, thereby enabling singeing to be performed without undermining the strength of even thin fabrics. It is important to set a drain temperature of the water-cooled roller in a range of 50 to 55 C. Cautions are required because a dew-point is generated when the water-cooled roller is cooled down too much, and results in increased amount of remaining fuzz or adhered carbon. The fabric feed speed is preferably set at around 100 to 150m/minute.

Object of singeing:
The purpose of removing loose hairy fiber from the surface of the fabric. Giving its smooth even and clean looking face.

Precautions:
Fabric should be dried properly before singeing. Fabric should not contain anti-mildew agent like zncl which may be liberate acid at hich temparature and tender the cotton cloth by formation of hydrocellulose causes loose of strength.

Types of singeing machine:

1. Plate singeing machine. 2. Roller singeing machine. 3. Gas singeing machine

Desizing
Cotton fabrics contain primary and secondary impurities as shown in tables below, and the purpose of desizing and scouring is to remove these impurities.

Primary impurities
Pectic substance 2-3% Cotton wax, Cottonseed oil 0.3% Protein 0.3-0.4%

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Ash pigment 0.01-0.03% Secondary impurities Starch 4-6% PVA 3-5% Acrylic size 0.5-1.0% Wax 0.2-0.5% After-wax 0.5% The purpose of a desizing process is to remove sizes that have been attached to warp yarns during a weaving process. Prior to the desizing process, therefore, the size analysis should be performed in order to set desizing conditions suitable for the sizes.

Starch:
Starches have conventionally been used for sizing warp yarns. There are various types of starches. Cornstarch, flour, and modified starch are mainly used for this purpose.

PVA:

Polyvinyl alcohol (poval) is produced by polymerizing vinyl acetate to generate polyvinyl acetate and saponifying the polyvinyl acetate. PVA is an epochmaking sizing agent soluble at high temperatures. However, if a fabric is dried with insufficient desizing of PVA, a film is formed on the fabric, which makes desizing difficult.

Acrylic Size:
Acrylic size is used when a single use of PVA does not provide enough adhesive property and warp yarns are a little too hard. The acrylic size is soluble in alkali, but has a drawback of reacting with calcium magnesium and precipitating.

Wax:
The purposes of using wax are to 1.provide warp yarns with flexibility . 2.smooth the surfaces of warp yarns. 3. make a sizing agent penetrated easily 4.provide electric property 5.provide moderate hygroscopicity It should be noted that the excessive use of wax might cause troubles in after treatment and undermine dyeing property.

Methods for Size Analysis:

1) Qualitative Analysis for Starch: A drop of an N/50 iodine solution is applied onto a fabric 2) Qualitative Analysis for PVA: A drop of an N/50 boric iodine solution is applied onto a fabric. 3) Qualitative Analysis for Acrylic Size Rhodamine dye method i) Acrylic size present ii) Acrylic size not present

Desizing Agent:
Desizing agents are roughly divided into enzymatic desizing agents, oxidative desizing agents, and others.

Enzymatic desizing agent:

An enzymatic desizing agent is mainly composed of amylase Characteristics 1) Quickly degrades starches 2) Treatable in the neutral pH range (cannot be used together with NaOH) 3) Gentle to the earth 4) Removal of PVA and an acrylic size is made possible only with the assistance of high temperatures or a surfactant. Product Name i) Mid-temperature enzymatic desizing agent (treated at 70 to 80 C) RACTOSE RCS CONC ... mid-temperature amylase RACTOSE L CONC ... mid-temperature amylase; and PVA dispersing agent

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ii) Heat-stable enzymatic desizing agent (treated at 90 to 100 C) RACTOSE IDN-200 ... heat-stable amylase PAS-600 ECO ...heat-stable amylase; PVAdispersing agent; acrylic size dispersing agent; and pH buffer

Product Name i) RACTOGEN KS Used together with NaOH, a surfactant, and a chelating agent. ii) RACTOGEN KWC CONC Provides better desizing effects when used together with NaOH. Also produces bleaching effects. Note that desizing effects are inferior to RACTOGEN KS

Other desizing agents:

Other desizing agents are mainly composed of an alkaline agent and a surfactant. Product Name i) DESCO AP CONC Suitable for removing PVA and acrylic size ii) DESCO VS Suitable for removing PVA

Nature of Size: Prior to desizing spoofing test. Action: Select correct method of desizing % Wet pickup during Desizing Action:Pick up should not be less than 110%. If pickup variation is there then adjust pressure. Concentration of desizing agent and other ingredients: HCl-5gpl, Cellulase enzyme 3-5gpl. Impregnation and dwell time: Non ionic wetting agent 3-5gpl. Dwell time checked during padding. Ensure optimum
dwell time.

Temperature: During desizing in the bath (exothermic reaction may rise the temperature. Acid desizing is done at room
temperature. Enzyme desizing is done depending on the enzyme.

Action: Regulate the steam supply. In acid desizing replenish the acid solution or provide water cooling system. pH: Depending on the Enzyme Desizing efficiency: Standard- Not less than 85%.

Scouring
To remove pectic substances and cotton wax contained in cotton woven fabrics, the use of caustic soda (NaOH), strong alkali, is the most effective. The caustic soda has the effects of not only converting water-insoluble pectose contained in pectic substances into water-soluble pectic acid soda, but also of hydrolyzing (saponifying) cotton wax. However, a single use of the caustic soda does not provide enough penetration, emulsion, washing, and scouring powers, and so a surfactant is generally used together. A chelating agent may also be used together to prevent insolubilization caused by calcium and magnesium. Also, a method of scouring with an enzyme instead of with the caustic soda is being considered in recent years. In this case, protopectinase is used for degrading pectin, and lipase and the like are used for degrading oil.

Objects of scouring:
To make the fabric highly hydrophilic. To remove impurities such as oils, waxes,gum, husks,as nearly as posible. To produce a clean material by adding alkali. To make the fabric ready for next process. To remove non-cellulosic substance in caseof cotton.

Scouring process depends on:

The type of cotton. The color of cotton. The claanlliness of cotton. The twist and count of cotton. The construction of fabric. The shade % and type of shade of finished product.

Process of scouring:
1) Kier Lining: Prior to filling the fabric in kier. i) ST ANDARD: No cheeping of interior wall of kier. ii) ACT ION: Ensure proper cementing of interior wall of kier. iii) FILLING DENSIT Y : 7-8Kg/Cubic feet during filling of kier. 2) Removal of Air: i) ACT ION: Air removal before raising pressure

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ii) ST ANDARD: No air, ensure complete removal of air. 3) Circulation: i) During scouring, circulation is tested by flow rate method. ii) ST ANDARD: Smooth circulation. iii) ACT ION: Cleaning of circulation pump. 4) Recipe: i) Concentration of scouring liquor: Check by titration before and during process. ii) ACT ION: Adjust the concentration. iii) PRESSURE: 15psi or as per quality and regulate steam supply. iv) T IME: Previous time record or as per quality. v) CONCENT RAT ION OF BLEND LIQUOR: Standard 90% must be consumed

Bleaching
Bleaching of textile material is a commercial, chemical process can bedefined as- Destruction of natural coloring matters to impart a purepermanent and basic white effects suitable for the production of whitefinishes, level dyeing and desired printed shade with the minimum ornumber tendering or without diminishing the tensile strength.

Bleaching agent:
Hydrogen peroxide. Calcium hypochlorite. Bleaching agent. Sodium hypochlorite. Sodium chlorite. per acetic acid. Ozone. Zinc dust. Staneaous chloride. Ferrous sulphate. Sulphur di-oxide.

Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) Bleaching:

The H2O2 bleaching is the most common bleaching method, and isenvironmentally friendly (degradable into water and oxygen). The best bleachingwhiteness can be obtained at pH 11 adjusted using caustic soda. However, if metal ions, such as iron ions and copper ions are present in fabrics or in water, catalytic action of these metal ions causes abnormal degradation of H2O2, which may sometimes cause embrittlement of fabrics until holes (pin-holes) are generated due to the excessive degradation. Usually, the abnormal degradation of H2O2 and the resulting generation of pin-holes are prevented by adding a chelating agent. Also, as a stabilizer for H2O2, sodium silicate has been conventionally employed. The obtained bleaching whiteness is favorable. However, the use of sodium silicate has the following disadvantages. Silica scales are generated due to calcium ions and magnesium ions reacted with silica ions. The generated silica scales are adhered to machinery, damaging fabrics, or undermining hand of the fabrics. This case, however, suffers from a contradiction that complete removal of calcium ions and magnesium ions will undermine the stability of H2O2. To solve the disadvantages and contradiction, a non-silicate type stabilizer containing no sodium silicate has been developed, although the cost is higher than sodium silicate. Furthermore, when dyeing is performed without a drying process after the H2O2 bleaching, the problem of residual H2O2 arises. 10ppm of residual H2O2 or more causes dyeing problems, although it depends on a type of dye. To degrade the residual H2O2, a reducing agent or the like, or an enzyme (catalase) can be used. The enzyme appears as a current mainstream.

Sodium Chlorite (NaClO2) Bleaching:

The NaClO2 bleaching is performed after pH adjustment to3.5 with an acid such as a formic acid. It provides soft hand with less embrittlementof cotton. Compared with the H2O2 bleaching, some insist that even bluish (?) whiteness can be achieved with the NaClO2 bleaching.Also, the NaClO2 bleaching is free from worries about pin-hole generation, as oftenoccurs in the H2O2 bleaching. However, a harmful chlorine dioxide gas isgenerated during the bleaching process, and therefore, suitable measures includingthe equipments need to be taken for metallic corrosion problems and dechlorinationpurposes. After bleaching, a dechlorination process needs to be provided. A tracechlorine which exists in fabrics reacts with nitrogen compound to form chloroamine,or cause yellowing of the fabrics when exposed to light and heat.Note here that a special reducing agent, sodium thiosulfate (hypo), or hydrogenperoxide (so-called, `cosmetic bleaching`) is used for the dechlorination purposes. Sodium chlorite low-temperature activator BRITE FB CONC One-bath desizing and bleaching

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Desizing agent Bleaching auxiliary Dechlorination agent BIOGEN 300 BIOGEN NN BRITE CL-B