Mercerised cotton

The Merzerisation ( mercerization ) is a finishing process for cotton, which was developed by the Englishman John Mercer in the middle of the 19th century. He observed in filtration of caustic soda with a cotton cloth, that the fabric swelled and then having significantly different properties.

When mercerizing cotton is exposed to the action of tensile stress concentrated sodium hydroxide solution. Here, the fibers swell up, the cross-sectional changes of kidney-shaped to round and the length of the fibers is reduced by up to 25%. These structural changes lead to

• Silky, wash- gloss,
• Better dyeability,
• Higher strength and
• Improved dimensional stability.

Technically, the achievable properties by the applied Merzerisationsverfahren ( hot or Kaltmerzerisation, dry-on -wet or wet-on -wet method, roller or vacuum impregnation) and the impact parameter goods voltage, residence time, and the sodium hydroxide concentration can be determined.

The method increases the quality of the textile, but is very costly. Therefore, it is only applied for textiles very high quality.