Desizing: Desizing is done in order to remove the size from the warp yarns of the woven fabrics.

Warp yarns are coated with sizing agents prior to weaving in order to reduce their frictional properties, decrease yarn breakages on the loom and improveweaving productivity by increasing weft insertion speeds.The sizing material present on the warp yarns can act as a resist towards dyes and chemicals in textile wet processing. It must, therefore, be removed before any subsequent wet processing of the fabr The factors, ic. on which the efficiency of size removal depends, are as follows: Type and amount of size applied Viscosity of the size in solution Ease of dissolution of the size film on the yarn Nature and the amount of the plasticizers Fabric construction Method of desizing, and Method of washing-off Different methods of desizing are: Enzymatic desizing Oxidative desizing Acid steeping Rot steeping Desizing with hot caustic soda treatment, and Hot washing with detergents The most commonly used methods for cotton are enzymatic desizing and oxidative desizing. Acid steeping is a risky process and may result in the degradation of cotton cellulose while rot steeping, hot caustic soda treatment and hot washing with detergents are less efficient for the removal of the starch sizes. Enzymatic desizing consists of three main steps: application of the enzyme, digestion of the starch and removal of the digestion products. The common components of an enzymaticdesizing bath are as follows: Amylase enzyme

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Afte es the fabric is syste atically analy e to determine the uniformity and thoroughness of the treatment. It is first weighed to determine the percent size removed. The results are compared with a sample known to have been desized well in the lab. If the size is not ade uately removed then either the treatment or washing have not been thorough. Iodine spot tests are then conducted on the fabric. The fabric is not spotted randomly but from side-centre-side at different points along the length of the fabric. The results of this evaluation give some idea of the causes of any inade uate treatment. Some of the most common problems in enzymatic desizing are given below: Acid Cold solutions of dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acids are used to hydrolyze the starch, however, this has the disadvantage of also affecting the cellulose fiber in cotton fabrics.

Fabrics containing water soluble sizes can be desized by washing using hot water, perhaps containing wetting agents and a mild alkali. The water replaces the size on the outer surface of the fiber, and absorbs within the fiber to remove any size residue.

M THODS OF DESIZINGRot st pin

In this method grey cotton fabric is steeped in water in suitable box at a temperature of about 3040C, during storage microorganisms develop excreting enzymes which attack the starch. The swollen and hydrolyzed starch is thus partially converted into solublestate which are then removed from the fabric by normal washing.

Low efficiency due to longer treatment time egradation of cellulose due to cross-infections of mildew ACID DESIZING In this method fabric is treated with dilute sulphuric acid with a concentration of 5-10 g/lat a temperature of 40C for 3-4 hrs. dilute acid attacks the polymer chain of starch anddue to chain cleavage, short water soluble or dispersible chain segmaents are formed. Thedegraded starch is removed from the fabric by normal washing

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