Authors Son K, Yoo DI, Shin Y
Recently, there has been a growing concern of consumers for natural dyed and functional fabrics. To meet this, research on natural dyed fabrics with functionality are being conducted. A new terminology, so-called cosmetic textiles, is a consequence of the fusion of cosmetics and the textile industry through various techniques, such as micro-encapsulation and has now opened new target groups and sustainable markets in the textile industry. The group of textiles that works to provide a moisturizing effect on human skin is called cosmetic textiles for moisturizing. Vitamin E belongs to the group of liquid-soluble vitamins and its chemical term is alpha-tocopherol. Since vitamin E shuts out hazardous oxygen, which is the cause of skin aging, and offers a superior moisturizing effect, it is often used as a functional cosmetics material. Furthermore, vitamin E has been widely used as a useful ingredient in drug medicine, food, etc. However, vitamin E is subject to oxidation due to the low reliability on external factors, such as heat and oxygen. These disadvantages make it difficult to apply vitamin E directly to textile finish. In cosmetic textile fields, micro-encapsulation techniques containing core materials, or functional materials, such as fragrant, phase change material, and antimicrobials are being applied to improve safety and durability of functional materials. Also, with microcapsules containing vitamin E for underwear, T-shirts, and bedding, which all have direct contact with the skins, the effect of vitamin E on the skin will be able to be sustained for a long period of time. Meanwhile, the application of natural dyes on textile materials is gaining worldwide popularity due to the increasing awareness of environment, ecology and pollution control. Natural indigo showing distinctive blue color is one of the oldest known dyestuffs. It is excellent in colorfastness and functionality such as antimicrobial properties, deodorization and anti-insect properties, compared with other natural dyes. The fixation of vitamin E microcapsules was carried out by pad-dry-cure method on dyed cotton knit. Cotton knit was dyed with natural indigo, and subsequently treated with microcapsules containing vitamin E. To improve the hand of the microcapsules-treated fabric, a softener was treated in a simultaneous step with microcapsules or in a separate step after dyeing process. The treated fabrics were evaluated for SEM observation, amount of vitamin E, physical properties, and color.
