Effect of Laundering on Herbal Finish of Cotton

The study focused on the development of bacterial resistant cotton fabric using Aloe vera extract. Methanolic extract from Aloe vera leaves was prepared by Maceration method. Herbal antimicrobial finish has been imparted to the cotton fabric using methanolic Aloe vera extract by pad-dry-cure method. Finish was applied in two concentrations (3g/l and 5g/l) on grey as well as enzymatically scoured cotton fabric and compared. Weight add-on percent of extract on treated cotton fabric was determined to observe the quantity of extract absorbed by the fabric. The antibacterial activity of the finish was assessed quantitatively using AATCC-100 test method. To assess the effect of laundering of Aloe vera finished fabric samples were washed with 5, 10, 15 and 20 washing cycles using standard ISO: 6330-1984E and bacterial count of treated samples again tested. From the results it was observed that weight add-on percent increased in Aloe vera treated scoured (10.21%) sample as compared to Aloe vera treated grey (9.94%) sample. Aloe vera treated scoured cotton fabric (96.70%) showed very good antibacterial activity than Aloe vera treated grey (68.50%) cotton fabric. As the concentration of extract increased bacterial reduction was also increased. Finished samples have been found effective against bacterial growth (77.37%) even after 20 washing cycles. Since the Aloe vera extract as an antimicrobial agent can serve as appropriate alternative for herbal antimicrobial finish to conventional harmful chemicals in present use.