157-161Keratin has been extracted from wool using ammonium thioglycolate under
nitrogen atmosphere and then used for treating wool fabric in the presence of
epichlorohydrin as a cross-linking agent. The treated fabrics are then dyed
with acid and reactive dyes at various temperatures. Complete exhaustion of
these dyes on the treated fibres takes place at room temperature within 20 min.
Higher dyeing temperatures result in complete exhaustion of the dyebath within
a short time. The dyeing kinetics of the treated fibres are also evaluated. The
half dyeing time of the treated samples decreases to <12 s against the 300 s
for the untreated ones. The wash and rub fastness of the dyed fabrics have also
been assessed. It is found that urea-bisulphite solubility values assure that
epichlrohydrin is able to form permanent crosslinks between keratin and wool.
Scanning electron micrographs of the treated fabrics disclose formation of very
thin keratin layer onto wool surface