An Investigation into the Effect of Laundering on the Repellency Behaviour of a Fluorochemical-treated Cotton Fabric

Abstract

The water- and oil-repellency of a cotton fabric treated with a fluorocarbon finish is shown to decrease with extended laundering. The nature of this diminishing performance is investigated by time-of-flight secondary-ion-mass spectrometry (ToF—SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which reveal an increase in the surfactants on the fibre surface and a decrease in the fluorocarbon coating as a result of laundering. The effect of heat-pressing on fabric repellency is also investigated by using XPS.