Fabric Finishing Processes

SHRINK RESISTANT WOOL;

• wool is renowed for shrinking badly and felting when washed so they need to be treated to prevent this
• a physical wet finishing process can be used for woven wool fabrics which are dried naturally. This finishing process is called London Shrinking. Any subsequent washing will result in the fabric shrinking further and felting so dry-cleaning is recommended 
• chemical shrink-resistant finishes have tradtionally used chlorine which is an environmental problem 

NEW SHRINK RESISTANT FINISHES;

• newer finishes coat and surround the wool fibres with synthetic polymers to make them resist felting
• 'soft lustre' is a finshing process for worsted yarns using silicone resulting in soft, smooth, lustrous yarns that dye well and can be machine washed
• machine washable wool can also be finished using Teflon coating - this gives an anti-pill property
• another new chemical finish is called 'inter-fibre bonding'
• this means a soft polymer is applied which sticks to the surface of the wool fibre to make…