Application of low temperature plasma treatment to the scouring of gray cotton fabric

Dewaxing of gray cotton fabric is an important operation in the dyeing process, Instead of the conventional wet scouring process, oxygen low temperature plasma treatment was applied to gray cotton fabric. The low temperature plasma treatment was useful technic to remove the surface cotton wax. In order to confirm the practical effect, two kinds of cotton fabric which were treated with the conventional scouring and the low temperature plasma processes, were processed subsequently bleaching, mercerizing, dyeing, and finishing under the same conditions. The qualities of both fabrics were almost the same, but it seems likely that the consumptions of chemicals, water, and energy by low temperature plasma process are much less than those of conventional one. The scouring time by conventional process was reduced to one twentyth by the low temperature plasma process.