Release of formaldehyde from apparel cotton fabrics in different aqueous medium

A durable press(DP) agent and a fixing agent were first selected,and the DP finished cotton fabrics and the dyed and fixed cotton fabric were prepared respectively.Formaldehyde release from the two treated cotton fabric samples in acidic,alkaline aqueous solutions and in two artificial sweats were characterized.The results indicated that the DP finished cotton fabric released formaldehyde more easily in the alkaline aqueous solution than in the acidic aqueous solution.On the contrary,the dyed and fixed cotton fabric showed the reversed releasing trend.Moreover,the two fabric samples released low formaldehyde in the artificial sweats than in the aqueous solutions at the same condition because of the reaction of L-histidine from artificial sweats with the release formaldehyde.