Combining Traditional Cotton Scouring with Cellulase Enzymatic Treatment

The action of a cellulase enzymatic pretreatment in the efficient alkaline scouring of cotton fabrics is studied and reported in this work. Improved removal of seed-coat fragments is the primary goal of the experiments, and spinning blowroom waste, rich in seed-coat fragments, is the main target substrate for enzymatic studies. Commercially available cellulase enzyme, a complex mixture of cellulase components (endo- and exoglucanases, beta-glucosidase) and accompanying enzymes (e.g., hemicellulases. pectinases ), is used throughout the experiments. Depending on time and enzyme con centration, 28-34% of the spinning blowroom waste can be hydrolyzed by cellulase. With consecutive cellulase treatment and traditional pad-steam scouring, weight loss is as high as 78-86%. Alkaline cotton scouring (control) results in only 66% weight loss. The cellulase enzyme complex makes the residual seed-coat fragments more ac cessible to scouring chemicals. The effect of enzymatic treatment on seed-coat fragment removal from desized cotton fabric is also significant. As photomicrographs show, the tiny fibers that attach the seed-coat fragments to the fabric are hydrolyzed by the enzyme, facilitating removal of these impurities from the fabric surface.