Development Of Performance Assessment Methods And Optimization Of Washing Process For Color Care In Laundry

With the improvement of life quality,more and more consumers are using garment to express their emotions and personalities.Garments thus becomes more and more colorful.Dye transferring and bleeding are two key problems that consumer encounters.With this change,color care becomes an emerging consumer need in laundry.There are two key reasons for color damage on fabric.One is chemical damage,including dye molecules being released from the fabric surface during the washing process;and dye molecules being redeposited to other fabric surface,which causes dye transferring between fabrics.The other one is physical damage:the increase of the surface roughness of the fabric due to physical damage on fabric surface,such as fuzzing and pilling,which causes changes of light refraction and reflection on the fabric surface.However,the existing method for evaluating color change of the fabric are mainly based on textile applications with the focus on fabric fastness evaluation.There is a lack of method for color performance evaluation in laundry.In the past research,most of them focus on the single index of the color change of dyed fabrics in laundry.Few studies research interaction of washing parameters on fabric fading and cross-color,dye release and redeposition.What's more,the conversion from the basic research to practical application was rarely considered,and the problems of color fading and cross-color encountered by consumers were not effectively solved.This research is aiming to develop a standard method for color care performance evaluation during laundry process.Furthermore,washing parameters have been optimized to improve color care in laundry process.In the research,representative fabrics and dyes are selected through market research to make standard dyed fabrics for tests.Three different detergents have been used to evaluate the sensitivity of standard dyed fabrics for color care tests.Dying parameters have been optimized in lab and furthermore plant scales for color care method development.Through the review of past research on the influence of washing parameters on fabric color,the washing parameters with greater influence are screened out,measure the color difference of dyed fabric before and after the washing experiment,the color difference of lining fabric staining,and the color difference of washing solution.Four influence factors are selected for the JMP interactive experiment,namely turn-stop ratio,main washing time,detergent concentration and washing load.Use the direct blended red jade D-BLL dyed fabrics to conduct interactive influence experiments.Design of Experiment(DoE)in JMP has been used to further optimize washing parameters that can provide optimum color care performance in laundry.Key results and conclusions of this research are:(1)Develop test methods for the color care performance evaluation of detergents.Make standard dyed fabrics,which are representative to consumer have been identified based on market and consumer practice.Two kinds of direct dye dyed fabrics and three kinds of reactive dye dyed fabrics are produced.Determine two color performance evaluation index,namely the anti-cross-color performance index and the anti-fading performance index,to characterize the color protection performance of the detergent.Also,standard test methods for evaluating color care for laundry products have been proposed and drafted.(2)Color care model has been developed with Design of Experiment(DoE)tests.Washing parameters for dyed fabrics are optimized and recommended based on the model.With a balance between the cleaning efficiency,washing habits of consumers and color care,the recommended washing load is 9,detergent concentration is 3500 ppm,main washing time is 10 minutes,and the turn-stop ratio is 2.5.Comparative color care tests have been conducted with claimed color care detergents in the market.The test also found that there is significant different on color care performance between detergents.However,the color difference of the washing solution is greatly affected by the accompanying fabric,and the anti-fading ability of different detergents cannot be clearly distinguished.(3)The following suggestions are given to consumers while washing colorful garments.Reducing total amount of clothes in one load,choosing the corresponding program according to the different types of fabric fibers,putting in suggested amount of detergent,and using low temperature,which can improve color care in laundry process.The significance of this research including development of standards test methods for color care performance assessment of detergents,which will fill the vacancy on color care performance evaluation in laundry.A comprehensive and systematic study on the effect of washing parameters on the color damage of fabrics has been carried out.Result can help the development of color care laundry products and washing machine program.Tips on washing dyed garments have been recommended to consumers to improve color care of garments in laundry practices.