Application of commercial antibacterial chemicals on textile fabrics in industrial scale and evaluation of functional/performance characteristics

Clothing, with their large surface areas and moiture-holding capabilities allow microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi to grow rapidly. Due to moisture, temperature and nutrients, it is in constant contact with microorganisms which can cause serious problems ranging from simple discomforts such as staining, loss of strength, unpleasant odor to physical irritation, allergic sensitization, toxic effects, infection and disease. Therefore, as consumers become increasingly aware of the effects on personal hygiene and the health risks associated with certain microorganisms, the control of the undesirable effects of microorganisms on textile material becomes an important issue in the textile industry. The surfaces of the antimicrobial textile structures are used in surfaces that are made of synthetic or natural fibers with antimicrobial components or surface finishes using special auxiliary chemicals. The antimicrobial textiles produced by the finishing processes are more widely used than those obtained by the fiber production method. However, the increase in the use of antimicrobial products raised various health and environmental concerns. In order to achieve the desired antibacterial effect, antibacterial agents can be used individually or in combination depending on the need and application. Commonly used antimicrobial agents are silver ions, triclosan, quaternary ammonium salts, chitosan and N-halamine compounds. There are various laboratory-scale studies in which different types of antibacterial compounds have the same properties of fastness, tear strength, tensile strength and antibacterial effects on the same fabric. However, there are no studies analyzing the performance of commercial antibacterial materials on an industrial scale. In this study, the effects of antibacterial finishing chemicals with quaternary ammonium compound, silver, zinc and triclosan active materials on the performance / functional properties of different composite fabrics were investigated. In the first phase of the work, 100% cotton, 100% viscose and 100% polyester woven printed fabrics were prepared as finished product by applying pretreatment, printing, fixation, after treatment and finishing operations in production conditions. At this stage unit weight, dimensional stability after washing and drying, colour fastnesses to washing, water, acidic-alkali perspiration, pH determination, tensile and tear strengths, seam slippage resistances and pilling resistance of the finished samples were analyzed. In the second phase of the study, quats, silver, triclosan and zinc effective compound chemicals was applied to the samples with antibacterial finishing process under operating conditions defined in product technical sheets. Again at this stage the analyses defined in first step are applied again and in addition to these physical testings, touch, appearance and antibacterial performance characteristics were analyzed. In the third stage of the study, antibacterial performance of antibacterial treated 100% cotton, 100% viscose, 100% polyester woven samples after 20 household type washing and autoclave sterilization tests were tested and the performance, washing and autoclave strengths of commercial antibacterial products compared to fiber types were determined on the industrial scale. After 20 washings, the study was repeated because of the antibacterial efficiency results of the test performed with E.Coli bacteria and the tendency of the bacteria to grow and the expected performance was not realized. In the re-study; the 20 times household washing and drying process of the same samples in the domestic washing machine was repeated. In addition to this process, the samples treated with silver antibacterial active substance were subjected to 20 washing processes in industrial type laboratory washing machine (Wascator FOM 71 MP Lab). Antibodies were tested with E.Coli and S.Aureus bacteria according to ASTM E2149-01 method. According to the results, it was observed that there was no significant change in the physical performance tests of the fabrics after antibacterial finishing process and did not have a negative effect. Quaternary ammonium compound, silver and zinc active commercial products has been found to have very high antibacterial activity as well as high autoclave resistance of all types of fiber used in the study. However, it was determined that the commercial product with triclosan active substance did not have autoclave resistance in all fiber types. All commercial products used in the study, has no antibacterial resistance against bacteria E.Coli after 20 times of household washing on cotton, viscose and polyester fabrics. But in the presence of S.Aureus bacteria, all commercial products killed the bacteria on cotton, showed poor activity on polyester and viscose fabrics. On the other hand; after 20 times washing with laboratory type, the antibacterial activity was still going on weakly against E. Coli bacteria, and was found to kill all S.Aureus bacteria. It is seen that the household washing machine shows more realistic results considering that the end-user consumers use the domestic washing machine.