Saturday, December 21, 2019

Art - Human Being's Greatest Invention
Opinion Piece

Marie-Therese Wisniowski


Season's Greetings
This will be the last post for 2019. The next post will be on the 11th of January, 2020.

No matter what your religion or what your belief system, I hope you have a very enjoyable festive season.

Marie-Therese


Introduction
There are so many ideas that have been invented and then realized by human beings that it is hard to weigh which has had the most impact on our existence and on our on-going development. Let us begin by noting a few of them.

Marie-Therese Wisniowski's ArtCloth Work Titled - Entropy (Detailed View).
Techniques: Multiple discharge processes, silkscreened, stencilled and mono printed employing gels, transparent, opaque and metallic paints on rayon.
Size: 110 cm (width) x 320 cm (length).

Human beings were neither the largest animal nor the fastest, and at one stage in the beginning of human time, not the most numerous. They needed significant shelter, in the form of clothing and housing, since the average internal temperature of a human being is 37oC (98.6oF). There are very few areas on the Earth with a similar daily outside temperature.

For example, Sydney enjoys a sunny, Mediterranean-style climate all year round with more than 340 sunny days per year. Summers are warm to hot and winters are mild, with rainfall spread fairly evenly throughout the year. In summer (December - February) the average maximum temperatures are around 26°C. It can also be humid at this point in time with an average humidity of 65%. Average maximum temperatures in the winter months (June-August) are around 16°C. Sydney’s rainfall is the highest between March and June. Hence, it is not near our body temperature for most days of the year.

The table below shows that females are in particular vulnerable during their gestation period and so need to be protected. In fact, of all the mammals listed below, human beings have the equal sixth longest pregnancy, with the African elephant having the longest.

Gestation periods of some mammals.

As with some mammals, human gestation does not end with birth, as is suggested by the table above. The nurturing process after birth, although it is genetically and biologically continuous with the process before birth, is unfortunately not automatic. In human beings the mother can choose, and/or be influenced by others within her culture, to discontinue being a part of this process. It is likely that in our human beginnings, mothers were governed much more by hormonal, instinctive and reflexive processes in their response to their newborns than they later came to be. But as we developed our modern brain, the care of infants and young children became a conscious activity, and as consciousness became more and more determined by culture, the care of infants and children became a cultural process, greatly influenced by the socio-economic organization of a society. For example, it is not now unusual for some women to become surrogate mothers.

A 54-year-old grandmother gives birth to her own granddaughter after her daughter struggled with fertility issues.

It is clear that human beings needed to be co-operative and live in groups in order to survive.


Structures for Survival
In order to co-operate in the hunter/gatherer phase, mobs or moieties needed to be developed. Moiety simply means halve, but it is usually restricted by anthropologist's to mean a division that is exogamous: that is, where a person must marry into the opposite moiety and not into their own. The Australian Aboriginals called such a small clan unit - the mob. While caves and animal clothes did provide shelter and protection from the weather, the development of language was key in creating co-operation and organization. Human beings were not alone in the animal kingdom in language creation or in co-operative hunting.

Group of warriors from the tribes west of Hermannsburg, Central Australia.
Photographs of Australian Aborigines, Aborigine's Friends' Association, Adelaide 1936.
Courtesy of Ivan Copely.

Language
The origin of spoken language dates as far back as the 26th dynasty in Egypt, with the first recorded language experiment conducted by a Pharaoh named Psammetichus I. A recent study by Quentin D. Atkinson (a biologist at the University of Auckland) gave two assertions which were consistent with his data: (i) oral language originated only at one place; (ii) it did so in southwestern Africa.

Southwest Africa

His conclusions were based on his study of phonemes. A phoneme is any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another. For example p, b, d, and t in the English words pad, pat, bad and bat. Many Oceania peoples (e.g. Australian Aborigines, Maori’s etc.) have only 13 phonemes, whilst modern English has approximately 45, suggesting that the more primitive language structures of Oceania were indicative of African population dispersal to Asia and Europe over 60,000 years ago (which is consistent with Aboriginal arrival in Australia at that point in time).

The migration of Homo sapiens from 150,000 to 40,000 years.
Courtesy of Wikimedi.

It is generally agreed that true writing of language (not only numbers) was invented independently in at least two places: Mesopotamia (specifically, ancient Sumer) around 3200 BC and Mesoamerica around 600 BC. Several Mesoamerican scripts are known, the oldest being from the Olmec or Zapotec of Mexico.

Mesoamerican glyphs are more like paintings than Western alphabetic scripts. In fact, often the line between writing and visual art blurs. Glyphs or glyphic elements would appear, for example, inside the headdress of a ruler's portrait to denote his name or conversely the name of the ruler would be written by artistic representations of words that make up his name.

Written language is a very important organizing principle associated with the rise of the city-states and therefore the move away from a hunter/gatherer era into the agrarian society. Cities provided further protection to a greater population, but needed to source food and raw materials from the surrounding countryside.

The Acropolis played an integral role in Athenian life. This hilltop not only housed the famous Parthenon, but it also included temples, theaters, and other public buildings that enhanced Athenian culture.

While oral and written language was a great invention, it was needs based and so it suited our sociology, psychology and physiology. It was not a unique disposition, although it matured into being a unique and on-going human endeavour.

Utilization of Animals and Plants
The clearest evidence of early use of the horse as a means of transport is from chariot burials dated ca. 2000 BC. However, an increasing amount of evidence supports the hypothesis that horses were domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes approximately 3500 BC.

The 3,000-year-old remains of five chariots and 12 horses uncovered in the Chinese city of Luoyang.

Mobility is vital in all hunter/gatherer's societies since so much of human being's source of protein is from herded animals that are faster and stronger than human beings. Being highly mobile allows the hunter to keep pace and moreover, isolate individual animals for slaughter. It also enabled protection for moieties and larger units with respect to inter- and intra warfare.

Indians hunting bison, engraving (19th Century).

In the agrarian age, animals were domesticated, penned, slaughtered and sold. Only in the past 1,000 years have human beings used horses in great numbers for tilling the soil. Horse breeds have changed too, specializing certain animals for particular jobs.

The primitive plough made an open shallow furrow by pushing the soil away to either side, rather than inverting as we know today.

The utilization of animals to do work and to provide food was more important as the human population soared. Both needs have remained unabated albeit we have moved into the mechanical/digital age with respect to movement and processing of food. Vehicles, boats, planes, and spaceships as well as breeding experiments are a continuing expression of the need to utilize other animals and plants for our needs. Once again, it was not a unique endeavour, since flies, ticks and fleas etc not only use other animals for mobility but also for feed. However, as with language, it developed into a unique on-going human endeavor.

Illustration of the humble house fly.

Scientific Endeavors
Counting is an important tool in the armory of hunter/gatherer societies. For example, the Australian Aboriginals had one of the simplest counting systems – one to fifteen in the Wotjoballuk counting system and one to thirty in more complicated systems.


In Egypt, from about 3000 BC, records survive in which 1 is represented by a vertical line and 10 is shown as ^. The Egyptians wrote from right to left, so the number 23 becomes lll^^. The Babylonians, Romans and Arabs all contributed to the growth of our numbering system, which even today keeps growing (binary system etc). Of course from arithmetic, mathematics emerged – algebra, geometry, calculus and trigonometry etc.

Leonardo da Vinci's Geometric Sketches - Dodecahedron.

Chemistry had its spiritual birth in alchemy, even though the extraction of metals from ores, making pottery and glazes, fermenting beer and wine, rendering fats into soaps, making glass and alloys like bronze - were well known in prehistoric times.

Kimiya-yi sa'ādat (The Alchemy of Happiness) – a text on Islamic philosophy and spiritual alchemy by Al-Ghazālī (1058–1111).

The history of physics developed out of philosophy and astrology, with modern physics being described as the study of matter and energy and the relationship between them.

Einstein.

These are the three enabling sciences – Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics - that underpin all other logical endeavors such as geology, biology, medicine, engineering, economics, IT and computer science – just to name a few!

Economics - another area enabled by the basic sciences.

All of these studies end destinations are aimed to increase the supply of material and/or human welfare needs. Even studies that appear removed from material outcomes, such as the origin of the universe can be utilized for material needs. For example, physicist Subir Sachdev borrowed tools from string theory to understand the puzzling behavior of superconductors.

String theory began in esoteric areas of physics. It now has applications in more materialistic areas.

Perhaps the last bastion of material-free endeavors is philosophy and in particular Western Philosophy, which posed questions about religion, science, mathematics and politics. Indeed, in ancient times the word philosophy was used to mean all intellectual endeavors and as late as the 17th Century, the natural sciences (e.g. physics, astronomy, biology) were still referred to as branches of natural philosophy. Nevertheless, starting with a set of weird axioms one can logically and effectively reach equally absurd conclusions. It was the rise and the development of the enabling sciences – mathematics, chemistry and physics – that some axioms could be actually tested. As a result, philosophy is fast becoming obsolete even in areas such as ethics, since it cannot objectively distinguish between relativism and universality.

The truth about relativism.

Scientific endeavours are activities driven from material and/or welfare needs. Like language and utilization of animals and plants it has morphed into unique human endeavors.

The Mystery of Human Existence
There is no other animal, except human beings, that have associated their existence to a supernatural being and event. The earliest evidence that this surfaced was between 223,000 – 100,000 BC, where Hominids (such as Neanderthals) deliberately disposed the bodies of individuals that were deceased in funerary caches. The graves located throughout Eurasia are believed to represent the beginnings of ceremonial rites. There is still some debate whether this was a rite in a religious sense or just a practice in a grieving sense.

Homo naledi hands

Notwithstanding this debate, there is no debate that in later timelines religion was critical to human clan's co-operation and on the dark-side, to human warfare. Here we define religion as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe and life, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Some of the rock art found in Wollemi National Park, NSW, is believed to represent paths associated with Dreamtime beings, such as the eagle ancestor.
Image courtesy of Paul Taçon.

Within the mystery of human existence, there needed to be a mode of expression to educate, visualize and pay homage to a supernatural undercurrent that went beyond human existence. Once we became aware of our mortal self, we needed to overcome a lifelong debilitating straitjacket of depression and worry. That mode of expression was art, since by creating symbolism, which displayed events beyond mortal existence, it gave weight to life not being limited within a specified timeline, but rather of being an infinite manifestation in a supernatural world.

They are said to be dated 47,000 years old, which puts them in the time span of the Neanderthal man, predating Homo-sapiens. These Australian rock paintings seem to suggest early encounters with spiritual beings in Dreamtime.

Whilst monkeys can paint without purpose or need, art in its most early manifestations would take the viewer beyond conscious and sub-conscious immediate needs, into an infinite realm devoid of needs. Unlike language or the utilization of animals and plants and scientific endeavours and the latest re-inventions of these categories, art fixes a primordial need that separates human beings from all other animals since it sates this need for an eternal existence.

Modern abstract fractal art by Jack Haas.

As we have become less religious and more materialistic, art has moved with our most current modes. In flights of fantasy that was not too dissimilar as with the birth of the supernatural, art moves us into a new dimension after a new dimension, as our conscious and sub-conscious brain evolves. Unlike language, it is not self-constrained (e.g. dictionary, grammar etc.) or slow evolving or developing. Unlike the utilization of animals and plants, its fountain is limitless, as limitless as our individuality and more importantly, as our imagination. Unlike science endeavours, it not just limited to our material and/or welfare needs. Art is our greatest invention since it caters for our existential needs and is totally aesthetic in terms of our act of engagement when seeing it. It was so at the beginning of our existence, and it will be so when our existence in the universe comes to an end. Art is our greatest invention, since it is not even attached to our psychological need, but rather, art is attached to a human desire!

Saturday, December 14, 2019

The Effects of Color on Your Appearance
Wearable Art

Marie-Therese Wisniowski


Preamble
For your convenience I have listed other posts in this series:
The Effect of Fabric Designs
The Effects of Fabric on Your Figure


Introduction
Lines and textures (see above posts) do not offer the only bag of tricks at your disposal for creating optical illusions and enhancing the effects you wish to achieve with respect to your outside appearance. Colors can also be used to add to or enhance your appearance.

Although there are hundreds and hundreds of different hues, they all are derived from three basic colors namely, red, yellow and blue - which are called the primary colors.



When two primary colors are combined in equal parts, secondary colors such as orange, green and purple are created (see above figure). This type of combination can continue to give us an infinite variety of colors that we see all around us.



Colors may vary in other ways too. Depending on whether they are mixed with white or black, they have qualities of lightness and darkness which are known as values.

To determine the value of a color that you’re studying, imagine where it would fall on a black and white value scale. A primary red is usually around a value 5.

Colors also have a brightness or dullness which is described as intensity.



All of these factors can affect the way your eye will react to a color, so it is important you know just what effects color can have on your visual appearance.

I have written a post on the psychology of color, which you might refer to get a better appreciation of how colors temper our emotions see - Psychology of Color

Today's post will concentrate on how color can flatter your appearance.

Remember: Never be ashamed of your body shape! Clothes are there not only to keep you warm and to complement your appearance, but more importantly they advertise to the world your personality!

Burgundy long-sleeve lace chiffon celebrity dress. Oprah Winfrey at the 2014 BAFTAs Red Carpet wearing a plus size evening gown.


The General Effects of Color on Appearance
Colors can make you feel warmer or cooler; they can make your figure look larger or smaller. Some hues will cause your skin to appear clear and lovely; others might tinge it with unpleasant red or yellow tones. Moreover, it is no accident that cosmetic companies have produced facial powders/creams/colorants to enhance women's facial skin tones that men generally never need to wear!



In terms of comfort, red and orange garments appear to give the impression of warmth; blue and blue-violet of coolness. Dark colors and black, which absorb light also make you feel warmer because of the absorbed heat, whereas white or light color garments, which reflect light, actually make you feel cooler. Hence, color garments reflect the physical requirements of seasonal weather.

Dale of Norway Valle Sweater Women's (Black).

As far as size is concerned, hues containing red or yellow are called advancing colors; they make an object seem closer and in turn larger. On the other hand colors that are blue are receding; they make an object seem further away and of course smaller.

Compare how these two women appear from a psychological point of view.





However, value and intensity also influence the appearance of size, so that it is not a given that a red dress will make you look larger than a blue dress. A bright crimson may increase the appearance of size, but a dark grey-red will probably not affect the appearance of your figure at all.



A good way to test how color affects appearance is to look at your feet in white, and in black shoes; in shiny patent leather and in suéde.


Facial Flattery
Tones of skin, hair and eyes vary so widely that it is impossible to give definite rules for color selection that will be flattering to everyone. Probably the best results are obtained by actually testing colors against your face, to discover which hues give the best effect with individual combinations of skin, hair and eyes.

Generally, skin is considered first when selecting a color for a costume. For light coloured people skin tones are composed of varying amounts of red and yellow and so you will want to subdue any predominance of either of these tones. By remembering the color will be emphasised both by repetition and contrast you will avoid complementary colors such as green if your skin is ruddy, or purple if you skin is sallow. You won't chose yellow if there is a predominance of yellow in your skin tone, or red if there is too much red. Usually dark colors greyed in tone are becoming on a person with a florid complexion but should be avoided if the skin is yellow.



On the other hand, if you have a darker skin tone, then generally dark colors should be avoided.



Remember, these guidelines are not hard-and--fast set rules, so if you want to wear a color that's not on your skin tone color pallet, do so because nine times out of ten, your personality and how you project it, outweighs all other considerations.

The power of white to reflect light and black to absorb it should also be considered when choosing colors to be worn next to your face. Black seems to remove the color from your skin. This is the reason for wearing a light collar on a dark dress for a light colored person.



Although a dark color can create a dramatic effect if worn by a person with a clear white skin, it is usually but not always best for a person with a pale complexion to avoid it. Large amounts of a bright color will have the same effect. To emphasise the pink tones in your cheeks, greens and blue-greens are often worn.

If you skin is dark in tone, you will find blue-greens especially becoming.



Greyed medium colors will usually be more appealing for skin dark in tone, than the very bright, light to dark.

To emphasise the color in your hair, you will find that light colors make black and brown hair seem darker, whereas dark colors will emphasise the golden highlights in blond hair.

Marilyn Monroe in a little black dress.

Sometimes a person with lovely eyes wants to highlight this facial feature. For females this can be done by repeating the colors of the eyes in small amounts of a bright color, large amounts of a greyed one, or by using complementary colors.



Figure Flattery
Although colors are often chosen to enhance the beauty of the face, their effect on the figure should not be forgotten. Remember: dark, grey and receding colors make the figure appear smaller, whereas light, bright and advancing colors generally make it seem larger. Although black makes the figure look smaller it clearly defines the figure outline. If you want a figure outline to be more diffuse use instead medium grey colors that will blend in more readily with the background.

Long lace dress.

A female who is tall and has a well-proportioned figure can wear all types of colors. She can even introduce strong color contrasts in her outfit, dividing her costume into definite parts.

The tall, angular figure can also use color in many ways. Two-color costumes will be good. They give an illusion of soft roundness, which will only add to her appearance.

The tall, heavy figure should wear color with care. Colors which should be avoided are those which will add bulk to her figure. Greyed medium colors that make the outline indefinite will be best. Sometimes a front panel of a light color will create a slimming illusion.

Note the white ribbon outline gives the illusion of an hour glass figure for this tall woman.

The short, slender figure will find one-colour costumes most flattering. Designs using two colors such as a light blouse and dark skirt should be avoided.

Note: The two costume outfit makes this female appear heavier.

The short, stout figure should also wear one-colour costumes. Dark or medium-value colors will make the heavy figure appear taller and thinner. Light and bright clothes as well as costumes that have a definite contrast in color, should be avoided.



When the figure is out of proportion in certain areas, it is best to wear medium grey colors. Light and bright colors, as well as sharp contrasts, will only highlight what you are avoiding to highlight.

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Durable Press and Wash-and-Wear Finishes - Part II [1]
Art Resource

Marie-Therese Wisniowski


Preamble
This is the ninety-fourth post in the "Art Resource" series, specifically aimed to construct an appropriate knowledge base in order to develop an artistic voice in ArtCloth.

Other posts in this series are:
Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms
Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics
Occupational, Health & Safety
A Brief History of Color
The Nature of Color
Psychology of Color
Color Schemes
The Naming of Colors
The Munsell Color Classification System
Methuen Color Index and Classification System
The CIE System
Pantone - A Modern Color Classification System
Optical Properties of Fiber Materials
General Properties of Fiber Polymers and Fibers - Part I
General Properties of Fiber Polymers and Fibers - Part II
General Properties of Fiber Polymers and Fibers - Part III
General Properties of Fiber Polymers and Fibers - Part IV
General Properties of Fiber Polymers and Fibers - Part V
Protein Fibers - Wool
Protein Fibers - Speciality Hair Fibers
Protein Fibers - Silk
Protein Fibers - Wool versus Silk
Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff
Cellulosic Fibers (Natural) - Cotton
Cellulosic Fibers (Natural) - Linen
Other Natural Cellulosic Fibers
General Overview of Man-Made Fibers
Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers - Viscose
Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers - Esters
Man-Made Synthetic Fibers - Nylon
Man-Made Synthetic Fibers - Polyester
Man-Made Synthetic Fibers - Acrylic and Modacrylic
Man-Made Synthetic Fibers - Olefins
Man-Made Synthetic Fibers - Elastomers
Man-Made Synthetic Fibers - Mineral Fibers
Man Made Fibers - Other Textile Fibers
Fiber Blends
From Fiber to Yarn: Overview - Part I
From Fiber to Yarn: Overview - Part II
Melt-Spun Fibers
Characteristics of Filament Yarn
Yarn Classification
Direct Spun Yarns
Textured Filament Yarns
Fabric Construction - Felt
Fabric Construction - Nonwoven fabrics
A Fashion Data Base
Fabric Construction - Leather
Fabric Construction - Films
Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins
Fabric Construction – Foams and Poromeric Material
Knitting
Hosiery
Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns
Weaving and the Loom
Similarities and Differences in Woven Fabrics
The Three Basic Weaves - Plain Weave (Part I)
The Three Basic Weaves - Plain Weave (Part II)
The Three Basic Weaves - Twill Weave
The Three Basic Weaves - Satin Weave
Figured Weaves - Leno Weave
Figured Weaves – Piqué Weave
Figured Fabrics
Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements
Crêpe Fabrics
Crêpe Effect Fabrics
Pile Fabrics - General
Woven Pile Fabrics
Chenille Yarn and Tufted Pile Fabrics
Knit-Pile Fabrics
Flocked Pile Fabrics and Other Pile Construction Processes
Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms
Napped Fabrics – Part I
Napped Fabrics – Part II
Double Cloth
Multicomponent Fabrics
Knit-Sew or Stitch Through Fabrics
Finishes - Overview
Finishes - Initial Fabric Cleaning
Mechanical Finishes - Part I
Mechanical Finishes - Part II
Additive Finishes
Chemical Finishes - Bleaching
Glossary of Scientific Terms
Chemical Finishes - Acid Finishes
Finishes: Mercerization
Finishes: Waterproof and Water-Repellent Fabrics
Finishes: Flame-Proofed Fabrics
Finishes to Prevent Attack by Insects and Micro-Organisms
Other Finishes
Shrinkage - Part I
Shrinkage - Part II
Progressive Shrinkage and Methods of Control
Durable Press and Wash-and-Wear Finishes - Part I
Durable Press and Wash-and-Wear Finishes - Part II
Durable Press and Wash-and-Wear Finishes - Part III
Durable Press and Wash-and-Wear Finishes - Part IV
Durable Press and Wash-and-Wear Finishes - Part V
The General Theory of Dyeing – Part I
The General Theory Of Dyeing - Part II
Natural Dyes
Natural Dyes - Indigo
Mordant Dyes
Premetallized Dyes
Azoic Dyes
Basic Dyes
Acid Dyes
Disperse Dyes
Direct Dyes
Reactive Dyes
Sulfur Dyes
Blends – Fibers and Direct Dyeing
The General Theory of Printing

There are currently eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms, which has been updated to Version 3.5. All data bases will be updated from time-to-time in the future.

If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document etc. for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g. click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.

The Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip over those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will hopefully be useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!


Durable Press and Wash-and-Wear Finishes - Part II[1]

Wash-and-Wear Versus Durable Press
The conventional wash-and-wear finish was designed to set flat fabric so that it would retain a smooth unwrinkled condition. On the other hand, durable press has been described as the mature, more sophisticated heir to wash-and-wear garments. It was designed to set the shape of the garment.

There have been two theories concerning the function of the resins in the fiber. The deposition theory was that the resin filled up space within the fiber to prevent the penetration of moisture and keep the fiber from swelling when it became wet. The cross-linking theory, accepted about 1948, was that the resin or reactant formed cross-links between the molecular chains to tie them together and limit chain slippage.





Finishing Agents

A continuing research program by industry - particularly the cotton industry - has resulted in the development of many: (i) new resins and reactants; (ii) better processes to improve continually the performance of wash-and-wear finishes available to the consumer.

Whitening Softener HR-600.
Mainly used for cotton, polyester/cotton bleaching and whitening textile softening.
Main composition is hydroxy silicone.

The finish usually contains more than the resin or reactant. Some of the other substances are: catalysts, silicone emulsion softeners, optical whiteners, and thermoplastic polymers.

Mercerizing Smoothing Agent 3162C. This product is dedicated to polyester, polyester superfine, mercerized yarn, garment mercerizing treatment of fabric.

Resins are a family of chemical that can be applied to cotton, rayon, and linen fabrics in monomer form.

PP Resin for nonwoven fabrics.

They will polymerise when heat cured to firm cross-links between the molecular chassis of cellulose. The formaldehyde resins have been known for ~ 110 years and have been used for about the last 80 years. One dated method - the vapour phase method - uses formaldehyde resins.

A process of treating a textile fabric containing cellulosic fibers to impart crease resistance in which the fabric is impregnated with an aqueous solution containing formaldehyde and a curing catalyst, vacuum is applied to the impregnated fabric to remove excess impregnation solution and to provide a wet pickup of about 15 to 35 percent, and the fabric is then dried and cured.

Phenol formaldehyde was the first to be used, but it was discarded because it discoloured the cloth. Urea formaldehyde for rayon and melamine formaldehyde for cotton were the first to be used successfully. Many resins have been tried and discarded because of poor resistance to conditions of use or for lack of permanence to washing. The nitrogen-containing resins could not be used on white fabrics because of yellowing when bleached with chlorine.

Phenolic yellowing of textile.

Cellulose reactants are non resinous chemicals that have a definite chemical reaction with the cellulose fiber polymer. The aldehydes and sulfones are examples of these. Cellulose reactants have been described as:"...an effective way to impart crease recovery to cellulose fabrics by establishing covalent bonds between the molecule and the individual fiber[1].

Below is a table that compares some resins and reactants.


Reference:
[1] N. Hollen and J. Saddler, Textiles, 3rd Edition, MacMillan Company, London (1968).