Utilization of triclosan to enhance the antibacterial activities of linen fabric

Abstract

TO enhance the antibacterial activity of linen fabric against S. aureus and E. coll, the fabric was treated with different finishing baths containing Tinosan® CEL (TC) at different conditions of pH, TC concentration, temperature and time. The results signified that padding linen fabric samples in finishing bath of pH 5 containing 10 g/L aqueous solution of TC followed by drying the padded fabrics at 85 C for 5 min and curing at 130 C for 3 min enhances the antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli of treated fabric samples. Moreover, treating linen fabric samples with finishing baths containing TC/amino silicone softener (SME)/crosslinker enhances the nitrogen content, resiliency, yellowness indices and antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli, along with the reduction in tensile strength and wettability of the treated fabrics. The antibacterial activities of the linen samples treated with TC or TC/SME finishing baths are durable up to 10 washing cycles whereas samples treated with TC/SME/crosslinker finishing baths possess antibacterial activities that are durable up to 25 washing cycles.