Emerging demand in fastness of home textiles-Benzoyl

peroxide fastness
Textile industry is one of the most common industries in almost all countries around the globe. India is
one of the fastest growing economies of the world & occupies a prominent position in global textile
industry. Textile industry is considered to be the mother of Indian industrialisation & plays a crucial
role in national economy. Global textile trade was estimated to be US$ 662bn in 2011 & is expected to grow
@ 5% in next 10 years. By year 2021, growth of Indian Textile industry is envisaged as given below:

Growth of the Indian Textile Industry in cr

Apparel
Technical Textiles
Home Textiles

6,64,000 (@9.0% CAGR)

1,60,750 (@10.0% CAGR)
40,800 (@8.0% CAGR)

Textile industry contributes about 14% to our national industrial production. Existence of vertically
integrated supply chain and diverse range of products are factors that contribute to growth of textile &
clothing industry in India, which contributes 5.2% to countrys GDP. High growth categories include
home textiles, women's casual wear, innerwear, children wear, work-wear, uniforms & technical textiles.

Home textiles
Global home textiles market is around US$ 35bn, amounting to about 5% of total textile market. This
market is primarily dominated by the US & Europe, both accounting for over 70% of market size.
Various categories of home textiles items include towels, bed linens, curtains, blankets, upholstery,
kitchen linen, rugs, carpets, etc. & play an important role in comfort, protection & decoration of household.
One of the major issues encountered in Home textile is a problem of de-colorization (in form of spots &
patches) of dyed towels, apparels, bed sheets and pillow covers, while using Benzoyl peroxide based
cream, gel or lotion for treatment of acne. Selection of suitable class of dyestuff & combination of
dyestuffs in recipe plays a major role to avoid, minimize such de-colorization problem.

Benzoyl Peroxide
It is one of the most important organic peroxides & widely used in personal care & cosmetics for treatment
of acne, bleaching of hair & teeth. It consists of two benzoyl groups bridged by a peroxide link.

Structure of Benzoyl peroxide

Benzoyl peroxide readily undergoes homolysis (breaking of O-O bond) forming free radicals which
contain at least one unpaired electron and it is highly reactive.
[C6H5C(O)]2O2 2 C6H5CO2 .

Benzoyl peroxide breaks down in contact with skin, producing Benzoic acid & oxygen. Such release of
oxygen makes it important for its use as an antibacterial for burns & as a dermatologic agent in
treatment of acne. Acne vulgaris is a very common skin condition that occurs when oil and dead skin
cells clog skin's pores. Acne commonly occurs on face, chest, back, shoulders, & neck. As many as 25%
of adolescents may suffer from permanent acne scarring by time they reach 18 years of age. Treatment
for acne depends upon its severity & treatment with Benzoyl peroxide is most effective & widely used.

Benzoyl peroxide treatment performs three actions - kills bacteria, reduces inflammation and helps to
unplug blocked skin pores. Benzoyl peroxide is available over counter in a range of formulations (e.g.
cream, lotion, gel, liquid wash, etc.) & strengths range from 2.5% to 10%.

De-colorization of textiles
The most common challenge faced by dyers is the problem of de-colorization of clothes, towels,
bedding, etc. by powerful bleaching effect of Benzoyl peroxide while applying or wiping out cream,
lotion, gel after application. In addition to spillage of medication, it is easy to unknowingly transfer
chemical onto fibers from hands or face. Medication is not readily washed off, leaving behind to get on
to textiles, which causes color loss. Contaminated cloth, towel is not generally washed immediately &
lead time between contamination and washing varies in the range of 24 hours to 7 days.
Several classes of dyestuffs on cotton are heavily damaged when in contact with Benzoyl peroxide. Due
to chemical damage of dyestuffs, bleached areas are permanently discolored, leaving yellow, pink,
orange or off-white marks. Color loss can occur after contamination of chemical with dyed fiber sooner
or later. Reaction is accelerated by humidity, heat & moisture. It is particularly common for these spills to appear
after rainy weather, or soon after washing of textiles. Considering this problem of decolorization, there
is a growing demand for Benzoyl Peroxide fast dyes.

Dyestuffs for cellulosic coloration

Coloration of textiles is an important aspect of production process & adds value to it. Specific
requirement of color shade, hue & its fastness properties is a major quality parameter demanded by
end users. Cotton is the most widely available natural fibre, it has many qualities & countless end uses,
which make it one of the most abundantly, used textile fibers in the world. Consumption share of
different types of dyestuffs for cellulosic coloration is shown below:

Out of various classes of dyestuffs used, Reactive & Vat dyes occupy major share. Reasons for choice of
Vat dyes over other classes of dyes are mainly due to following superior fastness properties:

High light fastness at any depth of shade

Very good weathering fastness
High repeated laundering fastness
Good dry Cleaning fastness
Good chlorine fastness

Due to these excellent properties, vat dyes are widely used in home textiles segment & other areas,
where stringent fastness properties are demanded [e.g. industrial work wear; uniforms (military,
police); surgical clothing (used in hospitals); high quality shirting; towels & clothes (used in beaches,
swimming pools, saloons), etc.

Dyes for benzoyl peroxide fastness

NOVATIC MD is a compact range of specialty Vat dyes, which confer:
Uniform, level dyeing of cellulose textiles & its blends by continuous and exhaust dyeing methods
Super fine, micro-molecular particle size to ensure stable dye dispersion, ease of reduction and

speck free performance

Ready to use, easy to handle, non-dusting formulations
Excellent reproducibility and shade continuity
High shade build-up
Optimum thermal stability under high temperature finishing conditions

Given below are test findings of effect of Benzoyl peroxide fastness studies. NOVATIC MD dyes were
dyed at various depths from 5 to 40g/l (80g/l for Blacks) on Mercerised Bleached 100% Cotton twill
fabric following Pad-Dry-Chemical Pad-Steam (PDPS) dyeing method. Then, Benzoyl peroxide fastness
properties of dyed swatches were tested using commercially available Benzoyl peroxide cream
(PersolTM Forte) following below mentioned test method:
Composition of PersolTM Forte Cream
Precipitated Sulphur U.S.P. : 5% (w|w)
Hydrous Benzoyl peroxide B.P. equivalent to Anhydrous Benzoyl peroxide: 10%(w|w)

Preservatives:
Benzoic Acid I.P. : 0.079% (w/w)
Methylparaben I.P. : 0.007% (w/w)
1. Cut two 4"x 4" specimens from the dyed sample.
2. Mark area on test specimens (2" 0.25" diameter), on which PersolTM Forte Cream has to be applied
for test results.
3. Weigh 0.50 0.05gms of cream on non-absorbing weighing paper.
4. Transfer the cream from weighing paper to the specimen using plastic stirring rod.
5. Spread cream evenly over entire specimen and work it into structure of dyed fabric.
6. Allow specimen to react with Benzoyl Peroxide for eight (8) hours 5mins at room temperature (65 10oF).
7. Rinse each test specimen thoroughly in distilled water at 40oC (105oF) with occasional hand
squeezing. To remove excess water, pass the test specimens through wringer rolls.
8. Dry in a nylon mesh bag, exposing at temperature of 60-71oC (140 160oF).
9. Condition samples for 4 hours before evaluation in standard atmosphere [65%2% RH; 702oF].
10. Evaluate color change on marked area on both specimens using grey scale in light box under D65
light source and report average grade (nearest to 0.5).
Pass - If change in lightness as assessed using grey scale is greater than or equal to 4.0 & if there is no
perceptible change in hue
Fail - If change in lightness as assessed using grey scale is less than 4.0 &/ or there is a perceptible
change in hue.

Findings:

Product Name
(NOVATIC MD)

Change in Shade
(Effect of Benzoyl peroxide)

Report

After 8 hrs.

Yellow 5GF

4-5 (On Tone)

Pass

Yellow 4GL

4-5 (On Tone)

Pass

Yellow 3R

4-5 (On Tone)

Pass

Brill. Red 3B

4-5 (On Tone)

Pass

Brown BR

4-5 (On Tone)

Pass

Brown R

4-5 (On Tone)

Pass

Olive TN

4 (On Tone)

Pass

Black DB

4-5 (On Tone)

Pass

Direct Black AC

4 (On Tone)

Pass

The above dyestuffs can be used in recipes, where critical Benzoyl peroxide fastness is demanded by
buyers. However, it is recommended that dyed swatches should be tested for Benzoyl peroxide
fastness (following desired method at laboratory level), before embarking on bulk production.
Need for innovation across entire supply chain of textiles has been identified as key area for
sustainability. Textile wet processing segment is facing challenges in area of substrate, machinery,
dyestuff, chemical, process, fastness, statutory norms, etc. Home textiles have emerged as one of the
most dynamic and promising segments in global textile industry. The NOVATIC MD range of Vat dyes
offers solution to satisfy stringent Benzoyl peroxide fastness demand in home textiles.

References:
1.

Chemicalland21.com

2.

En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoyl_peroxide

3.

Indian Textile and Apparel Compendium, 2012 by Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd.