Crease recovery properties of cotton fabrics modified by urea resins under the effect of gamma irradiation

Cotton fabrics initially dyed with reactive dyes were treated with dimethylol dihydroxy ethylene urea (DMDHEU) resin in order to improve the crease recovery properties. As a comparison, the treatment with DMDHEU was carried out by the conventional thermal curing and gamma irradiation. The effect of treatments on the colour properties, crease recovery, mechanical and thermal properties was studied. It was found that the finishing of cotton fabrics with gamma irradiation affords better crease recovery values at low doses without affecting the colour intensity and the physical properties than the finishing by thermal curing. However, the finishing with higher doses of gamma radiation affects the mechanical properties of cotton fabrics. On the other hand, it was found that the thermal properties were improved with increasing dose.