SHRINKAGE OF WOOL

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 176, 20 April 1940, Page 14

SHRINKAGE OF WOOL

New Preventive Process Evolved A new process for the prevention of shrinkage in wool lias been evolved by 'two Sydney research chemists, who claim that it is so simple that wool at any stage can be treated completely within a few minutes, and the cost of the plant is so moderate that it should be easily within tlie means of every manufacturer. Other processes with a similar object have been developed in England within the last, few years, but the Sydney discovery is along entirely new lines, and appears to possess many advantages over oilier methods. That the new process renders woollen goods practically unshrinkable in acknowledged by all those men in the trade who have seen it tested, but the apiilieatio.il of the process on an industrial scale is still in tlie experimental stage. The whole treatment occupies only one minute a unit against, an bom- in other systems. The machinery necessary to apply it can be installed at a cost of a few hundred pounds, and, as the treatment is continuous, up to 10001 b. of wool in top form can be treated in a day of tw> shifts. Piece goods also can be treated. One of the principal drawbacks to other processes is that the chemicals used produce noxious fumes. With the new method all this has been eliminated. Tlie discoverers of the process, Messrs. Martin R. Freney and M. Lipson, both bachelors of science employed at the McMaster Research Laboratory at Sydney University, have been at work in the evolution of the new method for 18 months, and their discovery was made as a result of research undertaken without promise of any immediate practical value. Full details of the process were disclosed recently by the Council for Scientific mid Industrial Research. Examination of these stows that they differ completely from those developed overseas. The wool is simply immersed for one minute in a solution of potassium hydroxide in methylated spirits. It is then squeezed and passed into a bath of sulphuric acid dissolved in methylated spirits or water for one minute, the function of this second bath being to neutralize any excess potassium hydroxide left in the wool. Washing and drying complete the treatment.

Experiments have shown that wool may be treated in a partly manufactured state, as a top, or after conversion into yarn, or even when made into fabric, and practical mill tests have demonstrated that tops so treated pass satisfactorily through all the later stages of manufacture. So far, about two tons of wool have been treated in top form, which is considered the most convenient stage, as the sliver can be passed through the liquor baths and squeeze rollers in a continuous band. Numerous garments and fabrics made from treated, wool have been washed 'time and again in both hot and cold water, and the amount of shrinkage has been so slight as to be negligible. Following the laboratory investigations, arrangements have been marie for semi-commercial scale tests of the ■process to be conducted in Sydney, the objects being to obtain information concerning possible difficulties of ai> plication in practice, and concerning possible ways of improving the process. Another object is to obtain a supply of treated yarn for further ■shrinkage tests. “Already,” says a statement by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, “these semicommercial tests have shown the need for further laboratory observations, so that the council is not yet encouraging industrial concerns to adopt the process.”

A considerable portion of the cost of the research has been provided by the Australian Wool Board, which also helped to finance similar research in England.