THE EFFECT OF WEATHERING ON VARIOUS ROTPROOFING TREATMENTS APPLIED TO COTTON TENTAGE DUCK

Abstract

Cotton tentage duck treated with ferric oxide–chromic oxide ('mineral khaki'), copper carbonate–ferric oxide ('copper–iron'), cuprammonium, cutch–cuprammonium, copper 8-quinolinate, copper glyoxime, 2,2′-dihydroxy-5,5′-dichlorodiphenylmethane, zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate, copper naphthenate, copper hydroxynaphthenate, zinc naphthenate, and mercuric naphthenate, showed varying degrees of breaking strength loss when subjected to outdoor weathering during the summer months. The losses were in no case greater than that of the untreated fabric, and certain treatments, such as mineral khaki and cutch–cuprammonium, gave considerable protection against loss in breaking strength. With copper naphthenate, copper hydroxynaphthenate, and mercuric naphthenate the degree of chemical degradation as measured by cuprammonium fluidity was somewhat greater than that of the untreated fabric. The presence of a waterproofing treatment consisting of a mixture of petroleum-base waxes in addition to the rotproofing treatments usually resulted in increased breaking strength loss. The water resistance of the waxed samples showed a slight to pronounced increase on weathering. In general there was considerable loss of rotproofer as a result of weathering; with the copper compounds this loss was of the order of 37 to 90%, but was reduced to 6 to 44% by the presence of wax. Weathering produced an almost complete loss of the two zinc compounds, 2,2′-dihydroxy-5,5′-dichlorodiphenylmethane, and mercuric naphthenate. Losses of metal from chromium–iron proofings were negligible even in the absence of wax proofing. The degree of rot resistance as judged by soil burial was greatest in the fabrics treated with copper, and was increased by the presence of wax. The water resistance of samples subjected to soil burial was frequently decreased before the occurrence of any marked loss in breaking strength; this indicates microbiological attack on the wax coating prior to attack on the cotton fabric.