The inherent properties of the textile fibres provide room for the growth of micro-organisms. There are many antibacterial fibres and chemicals available in the market but unfortunately, they are from synthetic base and are not ecofriendly. Consumers in India are taking lead in prompting manufacturers to adopt clean technologies to produce ecofriendly products. Many natural plant products such as extracts from roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds shows antimicrobial properties. In the present study, anti-microbial finish has been imparted to cotton fabric using ethanolic and acetonic extracts of Cinnamon Bark and Garcinia indica by direct application and by microencapsulation. The ethanolic extract was prepared by using10 gms of herbal material in 100 ml of ethanol and allowed to stand for 24 hours. The acetone extract of the herbs was prepared by refluxing 40gms of each herb in 400 ml of acetone in a Soxhlet extractor. The extracts were applied by directly soaking the fabric in ethanol extract overnight and also by Microencapsulation (for acetone extracts). For microencapsulation, the herbal extract was used as the core material and Gum acacia as the wall material. The treated samples were then tested for their anti-microbial efficiency and also the wash fastness of the finish. It was observed that both the herbal extracts when applied on cotton fabric gives it an excellent anti-microbial property against both gram positive and gramnegative bacteria i.e. Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonaiae. Regarding the wash fastness of the treated samples, it was observed that the finish does not last long. The anti-microbial activity diminishes with every wash and at the end of 5th wash cycle no activity was seen against the selected microbes. However, the limitation of this herbal anti-microbial finish is that it needs to be applied on fabric that is used for disposable products or the products that requires very less washing. The results indicate that the treated fabric is 99.99% anti-microbial and can be used in hygiene products where less washing is required like pillows, curtains, disposable bandages and quilts.
Herbal Extract as an Ecofriendly Antibacterial Finishing of Cotton Fabric
