No.6（2011）15.Pleat processing that uses swelling agents on silk fabrics

Koji Takeda, Chiaki Kimura, Kengo Kobayashi

  In the present study, to successfully produce pleated silk fabrics that have the softness of silk while maintain the pleats, a pleating method was examined that uses swelling agents. The pleating method using swelling agents utilizes steam to set the pleats in silk fabric given swelling agents. Urea, ethylene glycol, and dimethyl sulfoxide are used in the agent. This paper discusses the results, the relation between pleat retention and swell, processing conditions, and practical performance. The results show that it is possible to achieve pleated silk fabrics that have the softness of silk while maintain the pleats. Especially, the process using urea gave excellent pleat retention in the silk fabrics. The relation between pleat retention and swell showed a trend for pleat retention to increase as more swelling agents remain in the material during setting. We examined processing conditions for pleating methods that used urea. The current investigation produced excellent results using values of 40% aqueous solution concentration, a pleat set temperature of 130°Cand pleat set time of 30 min. Additionally, practicability is satisfactory. It was discovered that pleated silk fabrics can achieve the softness of silk while retaining pleats through the use of swelling agents.

Keywords
silk fabric, pleat, swellheaded, urea

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