By Baico Biotech | Textile Enzyme | BIO-SCOURING ENZYME | BBT-HK-Kathleen

Towels are an indispensable textile in our daily lives, and their most basic and core function is to absorb water for drying. Absorbency is one of the key indicators for evaluating towel quality. If a towel has poor absorbency and cannot quickly and effectively wipe moisture off the skin, it loses its practical value. The absorbency is measured by the time it takes for a sample to completely wet and begin to sink from the moment it contacts the water surface – the shorter the time, the better the absorbency. The absorbency of towels is influenced by raw materials, processing technology, and softening finishing processes.

The absorbency of a towel first depends on its material; the type and quality of fibre are the decisive first step. Cotton fiber is the most conventional and widely used raw material for towels, thanks to its natural hydrophilicity and hollow structure, which endow it with excellent water absorption. Bamboo fiber is a new typeof raw material that has attracted much attention in recent years; its internal unique ultra‑fine pore structure gives it remarkable capillary effect, and its moisture absorption and release properties are superior to those of ordinary cotton. In contrast, synthetic fibers have poor inherent absorbency and are generally not used as the main raw material for towels.

With high‑quality raw materials, reasonable processing technology is also needed to fully “awaken” and release the absorbency potential of the fibers. Pre-treatment, which includes desizing, scouring, and bleaching, is the core step that determines how good the final absorbency of the towel can be.

During weaving, the towel fabric retains size (starch or PVA size) on the yarns, and the surface of cotton fibers is covered with natural hydrophobic impurities such as cottonseed hulls, pectin, and plant waxes. These impurities act like a “waterproof coat” on the fibers; if not thoroughly removed, they seriously affect the towel’s absorbency. The purpose of desizing and scouring is to remove these hydrophobic impurities. The more thorough the desizing and scouring, the stronger thehydrophilicity of the cotton fibers and the higher the capillary effect. Industry standards require that the capillary effect of the treated towel fabric should reach 8–12 cm/30 minutes, and the indicators for high‑quality towels are often higher.

The conventional scouring process uses amylase for desizing at 70 °C for 30 minutes, followed by scouring with high‑concentration caustic soda at high temperature, and finally bleaching. Although the scouring effect is good, it suffers from high alkali concentration, significant fiber damage, and heavy wastewater treatment burdens. BBT has developed a Bio‑scouring enzyme, RF838‑W, which combines desizing and scouring functions into one step. Under mild conditions at 55 °C, it utilizes the synergistic action of amylase and pectinase to thoroughly remove size, cottonseed hulls, pectin, and plant waxes from the fabric, with almost no damage to cotton fibers, while significantly reducing COD and alkalinity in wastewater. RF838‑W offers superior desizing and scouring performance, markedly improving the capillary effect and absorbency of towels. With RF838‑W treatment, the absorbency of the towelfabric is significantly enhanced. As measured by the wicking test, the dyestuff solution soak 25px for 5 minutes and rises by 225px.

To achieve a soft and fluffy hand feel, manufacturers usually apply softeners as a finishing treatment to towels. However, conventional softeners are mostly cationic and their main components are hydrophobic. These softeners form an oil film on the fibre surface, which makes the hand feel smooth and soft, but also blocks the capillary channels between and within fibers, leading to a substantial decrease in absorbency.

It can be said that high‑quality cotton fabric is the starting point for towel quality, and the proper application of BBT bio‑scouring enzyme RF838‑W is an important guarantee to fully release this quality advantage. At the same time, towel factories should combine the proper selection and dosage control of hydrophilic softeners to preserve the absorbency advantage established in the pre-treatment stage to the greatest extent. For towel mills committed to improving product competitiveness and practising green production, RF838‑W is undoubtedly a trustworthy enzymepreparation choice.

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