Insect repellent finishes in textiles & garments

1. Fabric & Garments Finishing
Assignment 3 - Insect Repellent Finishes
By :- Bittu Singh Presented to :- Mr. Amit Phogat
Radhe Kumar
Shubham Singh

2. Introduction
 Natural textile fibres - made up either of carbohydrates(cellulose) or
proteins(keratin and fibroin)
 Both - serve as food for living organisms - bacteria, fungi, mildew, insects,
moths etc. - chemically damaged - loss of strength, discoloration etc.
 Protection against this damage - antibacterial, fungicidal, anti-mildew, insect
proofing, mothproofing, rot proofing treatments have to be imparted.

3.  Wool moth proofing agents - innocuous to aquatic life, resistant to washing
and dry-cleaning, perspiration and to prolonged exposure to light
 Dieldrin - applied to wool, along with dyes by various methods using
exhaustion process (low concentration) - durable mothproofing effects
 Complete exhaustion of the toxic substance(dieldein) - not possible and the
residual substance finds its way in the effluent - extremely toxic to fish
 It is applied by padding.
 Partial solution - in padding process, the amount of liquor employed is
much less than in the exhaustion process
 New process of application of dieldrin to woollen fabric - Undyed, scoured
woollen fabric and Dieldrin Carrying Fixative(DCF) which contains a fixative
was used
Application Process

4.  Fabric - padded(100% pickup) with a dispersion of DCF in water in room
temperature - drying at elevated temperatures
 Eulan New - Commercial mothproofing agents of Bayer - followed by Eulan
CN Extra
 Effective insect proofing of wool - 3% and 2% of Eulan New and Eulan CN
Extra respectively have to be used - may be applied under acidic conditions
at the boil and may be added to the dyebaths containing acids dyes.
Application Process

5.  Comprise a series of synthetic insecticides - structures similar to pyrethrins -
natural insecticides found in flower heads of pyrethrum
plants(chrysanthemum cinerariae)
 Pyrethrin - insecticidal components of pyrethrum extracts
 Has low mammalian toxicity(to human beings) - high insecticidal activity -
photochemical and hydrolytic stability
 Permethrin based wool mothproofing agents - Perigen, Mothproofing agent
79(Shell), Mitin AL(Ciba-Geigy) & Eulan SP(Bayer)
Reagent used : Pyrethroids

6.  Quaternary ammonium salts - impart protection to wool against black carpet
beetles & moth larvae
 Product made by condensing p-tert. octyl phenol with dichloro-diethyl ether
- then converting the resulting mono-choloro compound into a quaternary
ammonium compound
 If R is an alkyl group of 6-18 carbon atoms having distinct affinity for wool -
mixed with non-ionic detergents to obtain a moth-proofing composition
Wool Protection

7.  D-empethrin - protects woollen fabric against damage by pests such as moth & beetle
 Insect repellent N,N diethyl diphenyl acetamide(DEPA) protection against larvae of carpet beetle
clothes moth through impregnation of wool fabic - DEPA at 5% level provided protection to the
fabric from the larvae
 30 species of moth larvae and 15 species of beetle larvae - digest keratin.
 Application done in the dyebath by exlmust methods - after continuous scouring process,
melange printing, water proofing and bleaching processes - by exhaust techniques from organic
solvents.
 Pre- requisites of suitable compounds - good and rapid biological action - compatibility of
other finishes like antimicrobial - in dyeing and with other auxiliaries - no alteration of the
appearance, physical, chemical and physiological properties of textiles - ecologically acceptable
- e.g. low warm-blood toxicity, biologically degradable, etc.
 73% of all moth proofing finishes - applied by exhaustion from the dyebath and about 13% in
wool scouring from aqueous solution
 Estimation of moth and beetle proofing - done by biological tests or chemical analysis, which is
based on gas chromatography.
Wool Protection

8. Insect Repellency for different textiles
 Insect-resisting agents based on pyrethroid & permethrin - have little affinity for
wool when applied from a pure solvent. A study of fastness properties of these
finishes applied by dip-extract technique - indicates that water added to the
processing bath as co-solvent significantly improves the fastness
 Mechanism for uptake of water insoluble mothproofing agent by wool is analogous
to that of a disperse dye.
 An aqueous solution of sodium sulphite - a suitable system to solubilise and promote
exhaustion of the mothproofing agent on wool - the system also confers shrink-resist
properties on wool
 Synthetic fabrics – exposure to pesticides - better degradation resistance than natural
fibres – exhibit higher wicking level than cotton

9. Insect Repellency for different textiles
 Rapid transport of pesticide solution from fabrics - characterised by slight
degradation(reduction of tensile strength) and very high rate of drop
absorbency, compared with high wicking level. The lowest level of
absorbency and wicking level are found in 65/35 polyester/cotton blend
fabric with and easy care-fabrics

10. Effects of Insect Repellent finish
 Minimum discoloration - observed after one or two insecticidal applications
- when applied at higher concentrations, they caused greater dye degradtion
and fading during exposure and high temperature/humidity
 Carbamate insecticides cause minimal degradation in dyed and undyed
specimen
 Pyrethrin containing products - cause significant discoloration on undyed
nylon and acid/disperse blue dyes in both exposure conditions
 Hot water cleaning - accelerates insecticide discoloration of nylon carpeting.
The dyes vary in sensitivity to the insecticidal products.
 The same blue acid and disperse dyes are more adversely affected by
pyrethrin and pyrethroid insecticides - red dyes are more sensitive to
organophophates resulting in significant increase in fading during exposure

11. Mosquito Repellent Finishes : A vital breakthrough
 Basically mosquito repelling textiles are the ones which have a character of
repelling mosquitoes.
 This feature was developed as a need in sense of protection from the
mosquitoes in the areas which are habitats of the mosquitoes and are
prone to disease like malaria.
 To impart this feature, the textile material is given an anti mosquito finish
with an agent.
 This agent is capable of being used on textiles without spoiling their
characteristics and has good washing fastness.

12. Objectives
 On an overall basis, the need is for finishing textile products to protect
against mosquito-transmitted viral infections such as Malaria, West
Nile fever and Japanese encephalitis, etc.
Note :
Daiwa Chemical was the first in Japan to introduce a mosquito repellent
called Kaknock, a medicated cosmetic agent which repels mosquitoes by
direct application on the skin in 1947.

13. Applications
 The mosquito repellant textiles can be used in apparels and also in home textile
industry.
 In the mosquito prone areas these textiles find their applications in wall coverings
& tents.
 The insect repelling textiles find their applications in apparels and home textiles
too.
 Apart from these applications these textile materials can also be used for
manufacturing bags used for storing eatables, textiles, perishable goods and all
other goods prone to damage by insects.

14. Further Developments
Aninsen CLC-3600
 After the experience with Kaknock, Daiwa Chemical put Aninsen CLC-3600, on textiles.
 Capable of being used without spoiling their characteristics and has good washing fastness
 Finishing textiles with Aninsen CLC-3600 keeps mosquitoes away from the processed
surface before blood sucking behavior.
Characteristics: Milky white liquid
Ionicity: Anionic
Oral toxicity (rat): LD50 > 5,000mg/kg
Component: Toluamide compounds
Features: Repels mosquitoes by processing of fiber
using organic compounds.
Treatment by dipping and spraying in
general.
Main use in garments (outdoor wear,
summer kimono etc.)
Applicable materials are cotton,
polyester and their blends

15. MECHANISM OF REPELLENT ACTION
 Action of repellent agent of mosquitoes - divided into 2 types - actions to
repel insects by acting on the olfactory and tactile senses
 Action of repellent on sense of smell - transpiration repelling - keeps
insects away without letting them touch a surface processed with the
repellent agent
 Mosquitoes - use warm and humid convection rising from the human body
as a guide for contacting humans - sense an increase in atmospheric CO2
concentration
 Repellent molecules - block insects’ humidity sensory holes - makes
humans inaccessible to insects by inhibiting the function of sensing
moisture

16.  Action of repellent stimulating sense of touch - direct contact repelling
 Drives insects off the processed surface before blood sucking even after
touching the surface
 Repellent substances - work on insects’ peripheral nervous systems when
contact is made
 Causes a confused state and inhibition under sub-lethal doses before
knockdown and lethal action
 Microencapsulation - clothing manufacturers are using to add value to
their ranges
 This technology - relatively new to the textile and apparel industry
 Innovative technology - use of micro capsules which act as tiny containers of
solids or liquids
 These containers release their core contents under controlled conditions to
suit a specific purpose.
MECHANISM OF REPELLENT ACTION

17. Imparting finishes on textile materials
Imparting
Technique
Type of fabric Repellent type Outcome
Pad dry cure Scoured. Bleached &
dyed, 100% cotton
rib knitted
Microencapsulation Mosquito repellency
Rinse cycle laundry
additives
Various DEET Mosquito repellency
Dipping Cotton Permethrin Mosquito repellency
Aerosols Cotton Microencapsulation
DEET
Mosquito repellency
Rinse cycle laundry
additives
Non-woven fabric Pyrethrum Mosquito repellency

18. Imparting finishes on textile materials
Imparting
Technique
Type of fabric Repellent type Outcome
Impregnation Battle field uniform :
65%/35%
Cotton/Polyester
KBR 3023 Mosquito mortality
Attached by resin
solution
Natural & synthetic
fabric
Microencapsulation
Permethrin
Mosquito repellency
Pad dry cure Blend of natural &
synthetic fabric
Permethrin Mosquito
knockdown
Pad dry cure 100% polyester Microencapsulation Mosquito repellency
Direct coating Bleached cotton Microencapsulation Mosquito landing &
repellency

19. Finish Assessment : Cone test
 Test – doesn’t involve human participants - bait to lure the mosquitoes come
from fabric - advantage of this method
 The use of artificial blood or animal blood as bait in order to attract host seeking
mosquitoes.
 The mosquitoes might spend more time resting on the cone than on the treated
surface during the 3 min exposition. The 3-min exposure test is carried out at
temperature of 27 °C.
 The standard WHO plastic cone is placed on top of the treated surface of the
sample and secured using a masking tape.

20. Finish Assessment : Cage Test
 Cage test - assesses viability of repelling substance against mosquitoes for lotions, cream, etc.
 Designed to observe the mosquito landing on the untreated and treated fabric in the cage.
 Advantage - provides real situation of probing and biting of the mosquito to the human.
 Drawback - human participation
 The mosquitoes used in the test need to be free from pathogen as the human subject involved
in the test must have the assurance that the test will not harm them.
 The cage measurement is according to WHO guideline for efficacy testing of mosquito
repellents for human skin.
Fig: Cage test

21. References
 Auerbach P. S. Wilderness medicine E-book. Page 1871. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Retrieved from : Google Books
 Pesticides : Advances in Research & Application. 2013 edition. Page 750.
Scholarly Editions. Retrieved from : Google Books
 Kan C. A novel green treatment for textiles. Page 71. CRC Press. Retrieved from :
Google Books
 Paul R. Functional finishes for textiles. Page 334. Elsevier Publishers. Retrieved
from : Google Books
 Kadolph. Textiles. Page 374. Pearson Education India. Retrieved from : Google
Books
 Debboun M. & Frances S. P. Insect Repellents. Page 265. CRC Press Retrieved
from : Google Books
 Malik T. & Kumar A. Mosquito Repellent Textiles. Shri Vaishnav Institute of
Technology & Science, Indore. Retrieved from : TechnicalTextile.net
 Anuar A.A. & Yusof N. Methods of imparting mosquito repellent agents. Fashion
& Textiles. Retrieved from : Link.Springer.com
 Shenai V.A. Technology of Textile Finishing. Third edition. Volume X. Pages 511-
525. 1999. Sevak Publications, Mumbai.