Lyocell is a cellulosic fiber sourced from wood pulp. This is the reason why Lyocell is a sustainable alternative to other synthetic fibers, such as polyester or polyamide, which are produced from fossil raw materials. Beyond that, Lyocell shows great clothing physiological properties. Lyocell fibers tend to fibrillation. In order to achieve an even fabric appearance and reproducible finishing results, the delicate textiles have to be treated carefully. We offer you application-technical consulting service and special products which are perfectly adapted to the wet finishing of Lyocell.
Soft, Cool Handle and High Absorbency
Lyocell fibers, also known under the brand name TENCEL®, are sourced from wood in an eco-friendly process. First of all, the wood – from sustainable cultivation – is dissolved in NMMO (N-methylmorpholine N-oxide) and precipitated again as fibers in the subsequent spinning process. This solvent can be recycled almost completely. In this way soft Lyocell filament or staple fibers are obtained which show a smooth, cool handle, high water absorbency, good moisture transport, high strength, low creasing, and which offer – due to their high tendency to fibrillation – various possibilities for achieving fashionable handle and surface finishing effects.
Lyocell Tends to Fibrillation
When fibrillating, single fibrils splice from the fibers’ surface. This fibrillation usually occurs during the wet finishing processes, when the fibers get in contact with water. In this way one can create various effects, for example peach skin. However, the trend to fibrillate is a big challenge during washing and dyeing, especially when the fabric is treated as rope. By gentle treatment of the Lyocell fabrics one can obtain level and reproducible results, it also banishes the risk of chafe and abrasion marks. By deliberate fibrillation and an appropriate defibrillation one can create fancy, fashionable handle/look effects or textiles with classic, clean character.
Our Solutions for Textile Finishing of Lyocell
We offer special auxiliaries for Lyocell, such as PERILAN crease inhibitors and lubricants, which are applied to avoid crease marks and for achieving a uniform, even fabric appearance, and level dyeings. Furthermore, we offer various field-tested enzymatic processes and the corresponding enzyme products. Our elaborated procedures for selective fibrillation and defibrillation help you to produce the desired effects. By enzymatic treatment with our PERIZYM cellulose, which are specially tailored for Lyocell fibers, you can effectively remove unwanted fibrillation from the goods.
The design and handle effects which were produced during the finishing process, can be set with PERFIXAN CLY. This is a low-formaldehyde cross linking agent which we have developed especially for the resin finishing of Lyocell fibers. By cross linking the Lyocell fiber fibrils, undesired continuing fibrillation on the textiles is stopped. Depending on the targeted fabric appearance, for example with or without peach skin effect, we recommend various finishing recipes. In combination with the suitable softeners or handle modifiers, you can achieve the perfect result.
Cellulosic Man-Made Fibers
There are different man-made fibers being produced from cellulose. They have remarkably different physical and dyeing properties. The following list shows a brief overview of cellulosic man-made fibers as well as their shortcuts, being used on textile garment labels for instance:
- Viscose – CV
- Lyocell – CLY
- Modal – CMD
- Cupro – CUP
- Acetate – CA
- Triacetate – CTA
Reference: https://drpetry.de/en/textile-news/special-auxiliaries-and-processes-for-lyocell-finishing.html
