What is “antimicrobial fabric”?
Antimicrobial fabric is a fabric with a function that can inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria and fungi. The antimicrobial fabric is usually treated with antimicrobial finishing or mixed with antimicrobial materials.
Classification and application of antimicrobial fabrics.
According to the source of raw materials, antimicrobial fabrics can be divided into two categories: natural and synthetic.
Natural fabrics such as cotton, hemp, wool, silk, etc. can achieve antimicrobial function by finishing with a liquid antimicrobial agent.
Synthetic fabrics can be divided into woven fabrics, non-woven fabrics, and leather categories. Woven fabrics are mainly used for various medical bed sheets, bedspreads, curtains, surgical gowns, nurses’ uniforms, etc. Nowadays, antimicrobial woven fabrics are also widely used in daily household supplies, such as antimicrobial underwear, antimicrobial bedding, and antimicrobial duster cloth. Non-woven fabrics are mainly used for disposable protective clothing, masks, filters, etc. Antimicrobial leather, usually PVC or PU is mainly used for seats in public places, etc.
antimicrobial non-woven fabric
Treatment methods of antimicrobial fabrics
Commonly used fabric antimicrobial treatment methods are mainly: modified fiber method and finishing method.
Modified fiber method
Modified fiber method is to mix the antimicrobial agent and yarn so that the yarn has excellent antimicrobial properties. The advantage is that the antimicrobial powder is evenly dispersed inside the fiber, so it has good durability, stable antimicrobial efficacy, washing resistance, and long-lasting. These antimicrobial agents are mainly inorganic antimicrobial agents, such as silver ion antimicrobial agent, zinc ion antimicrobial agent, copper ion antimicrobial agent, compound metal ion antimicrobial agent, etc.
Finishing method
The finishing method is to use an antimicrobial finishing agent to impregnate/dipping or coating method to finish the fiber, which is simple to operate and can be treated with other functional finishing agents.
