Enhancing hydrophilicity of bioscoured flax fabric by emulsification post-treatment

Bioscouring of flax fabrics was carried out using combinations of different pectinase preparations and different surfactants having varying ionic natures. In order to attain satisfactory fabric hydrophilicity, the enzymatic scouring step was necessary to be followed by emulsification post-treatment, in which the temperature of the bioscouring liquor was raised to 90 °C for 2 min. Flax fabrics subjected to such combined treatments (bioscouring followed by emulsification post-treatment) were evaluated by measuring their physico-chemical properties, morphological features and metrological parameters and comparing them with the corresponding properties recorded for the grey flax fabric. The measurements showed high improvement in the water absorbency and percent moisture regain of the treated fabrics. The physico-chemical properties, morphological structure and metrological parameters of the treated flax fabrics were found to be dependent on both the efficiency of the enzyme preparation and the ionic nature of the used surfactant.