DENIM WASHING

Abinash Mohanty
Anurag Singh
Avinash Kumar
DFT-4
 INTRODUCTION OF DENIM…
• Denim is a rugged
cotton twill textile, in
which the weft passes
under two or more
warp fibres, producing
the familiar diagonal
ribbing identifiable on
the reverse of the
fabric.
Types of Denim
1. BUBBLE GUM DENIM (Lycra containing denim that has
between 35 to 50% stretch)
2. COLOURED DENIM (fabric is woven with dyed yarn either
warp or weft, It can also be obtained by Piece dyeing process.)
3. CRUSHED DENIM (Textured effect achieved through a special
fabric construction coupled with wet processing, Fabric is woven with an
over twist weft yarn, The effect can also be improved by bleach and
stone )
4. DENIM FROM FOX FIBRE (Denim fabric manufactured by
coloured cotton fibre that grows naturally developed and patented by
California cotton breeder Sally Fox. NITRA, India has also done work on
this line.)
5. MARBEL DENIM (It is an another name for acid wash, Some
crushed denims, if strongly bleached, are also called marble.)

6. ECRU DENIM (The denim, which is not having dyed yarn i.e. only
grey yarn in warp & weft.)

7. REVERSE DENIM (Where the face side and reverse side look
alike.)

8. VINTAGE DENIM (A denim treatment that applies heavy stone

washing or a cellulose enzyme wash with or without bleach for an old and
worn outlook.)
BUBBLE GUM DENIM REVERSE DENIM
COLOUR DENIM
 DENIM WASHING
• Denim washing is the aesthetic finish given to
the denim fabric to enhance the appeal and to
provide strength.
• In denims, garment washing is done to
produce effects like color fading with or
without patchiness, crinkles, seam puckering,
hairiness, de-pilling, softened-hand feel,
stabilized dimensions etc.
• Denim washing is known
as one of the finishing
treatment that has vast
usage because of creating
special appearance and
updating clothes.

• There is different methods

of denim washing.
Types of Denim Washing…
Denim washing are of two types.
1. Mechanical washes
• Stone wash
• Micro sanding
2. Chemical washes
• Denim bleaching
• Enzyme wash
• Acid wash
 Other mechanical washes-
LASER TECHNOLOGY

SUPER STONEWASH

Scrubbing

Grindings-
 Laser technology

grinding

Scrubbing

Tagging on pockets
 OTHER CHEMICAL WASHES
RINSE WASH

Ozone fading

Over dye- tinting

Sun washing

Quick wash denim

Water jet fading

Vintage etc.
 Stone Washing
• This method is most
common and is used to
give denim an 'old-look'.
• Pumice stone is one of the
most important
components used to
abrade the surface of the
fabric to obtain a surface
pattern effect with color
contrast and soft - handle.
• In this process, the fibres
on the surface of the
fabric are broken and
removed and the inner
white fibres of the warp
yarn are gradually
exposed.
• Natural patterns can be
formed as the degree of
abrasions varies in various
parts of the garment.
 Selection of Stone
• According to the end product
& effect required.
• Large, hard stones last longer
and may be suited for heavy
weight fabrics only.
• Smaller, softer stones would
be used for light weight
fabrics and more delicate
items.
• Stone wt. /fabric wt. = 0.5 to
3 /1

15
 Recommended Specification for Stones-

• Moisture content-less than

5%
• Surface properties-less
than 5% fines
• Apparent Density-0.5-
0.75gm/cm3
• Abrasion loss-35%
• Impurities –
when exceed 10% they
increase apparent density
1 gm/cm3, the stone will
not float in water during
process.
 Stone Wash Cycle
• Loading of denim garment and stones
• Desizing for about 15 minutes- Detergent plus
enzymes.
• Rinsing
• Stone wash- 30 to 60 min
• Rinsing
• Softening
• Extraction
• Unloading and removal of stones from garment
• Tumble drying
 Limitations
• Outcome of a load of jeans is never uniform.
• Damage to wash machineries and garment due to
stone to machine abrasion.
• Increase in labor to remove stone particles from
finished garments.
• Water pollution during disposal of used liquor.

18
 MICROSANDING
There are 3 ways for this
technique:-
• Sandblasting
• Machine sanding
• Hand sanding or hand
brushing

19
 Used in Various Ways

- Flat surfaces (tables, ironing boards)

- On the dummy (inflatable dummies,
sometimes standing, sometimes flat,
sometimes 'seated')
- Various templates can be used to create a 3D
effect

20
 SAND BLASTING
• This technique is based
on blasting an abrasive
material (mostly sand) in
granular, powdered or
other form through a
nozzle.
• It is purely mechanical
process.
• It is a water free process.
• Variety of distressed or
abraded looks possible.
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 MACHINE SANDING
• In this fabric treatment
process, a series of
cylindrical rolls in a
horizontal
arrangement, either
wrapped with an
abrasive paper or
chemically coated with
an abrasive.
22
 HAND SANDING or HAND
BRUSHING
• Use of sandpaper to
abrade surface.
• Variety of looks and
designs can be created.

23
 Denim bleaching
• In this process, a strong oxidative
bleaching agent such as sodium
hypochlorite or KMnO4 is added
during the washing with or
without stone addition.
• Discoloration is usually more
apparent depending on the
strength of the bleach liquor
quantity, temperature and
treatment time.
• Proper after wash or anti-
chloring (incase of sodium
hypochlorite bleaching agent)
of bleached denim to
minimize subsequent
yellowing and tendering of
denim.
Process Cycle of Denim Bleaching
 Limitations
• Process is difficult to control
• Problem of yellowing
• Required antichlor treatment
• Causes corrosion
• Harmful to human health
• Source of environmental
pollution

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 Enzyme Washing
• This is a bio-catalytic
method where in an ultra-
soft handle effect can be
produced on denim.
• The hydrolytic effect of
enzymes causes the loss of
surface fibre, which
improves surface
smoothness and softness
of the fabric.
• Cellulase enzymes are natural
proteins, which are used in
denim garment processing to
get stone wash look on to the
denim garments without
using stones or by reducing
the use of pumice stone.

• Cellulase attacks primarily on the surface of

the cellulose fibre, leaving the interior of the
fibre as it is, by removing the indigo present in
the surface layer of fibre.
 ENZYME WASH CYCLE
• Loading of denim Garments (addition of Stones is optional)
• Desizing with- alpha-amylase Enzyme, or- Oxidative desize
• Rinsing
• Adjusting pH to 4.5 to 5.0 with- acetic acid, or- buffer system
• Heating to 50 to 60 C
• Addition of cellulose enzyme
• Tumbling for 30 to 60 minutes
• Hot rinsing at > 65 C
• Cold washing
• Softening
• Dry tumbling
 Advantages
• Prevents tendency of pilling after relatively short
period of wear.
• Can be applied on cellulose and its blend.
• Fancy colour-flenced surface can be obtained
without or a partial use of stone.
• Soft handle
• More reproducible results
• Increased luster
• Less corrosive
• Less damage to seams
• Less wear & tear of machinery
• Most economical due to more water
saving
• Reduction in pollution, waste, quality
variation
• Enzymes can be recycled unlike pumice
stones or acids
• Reduce labour engagement

Limitations
• Garment load size of the machine is limited.
• Post treatment required.
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 Acid Wash
• Acid wash can be
carried on Indigo &
Sulphur base fabric
garments.

• Acid wash is a chemical

wash on denim which
stripped the top layer of
color and make a white
surface while the color
remained in the lower
layers of the material,
giving it a faded look
• This wash is being carried out by pre
soaking stones in bleach and then
followed by neutralization.

• Acid wash of denim garment

normally carried out by
tumbling the garments with
pumice stones presoaked in a
solution which contains sodium
hypochlorite (5 to 10%) or
potassium permanganate (3 to
6%).
Contd…
• Non-uniform contrast.
• This finish gives indigo jeans sharp
contrasts.
• The process is achieved by soaking
pumice stones in chlorine and letting
these stones create contrast.

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 Acid Wash Garments

In this wash addition of water is not required. The color

contrast can be increased by optical brightening treatment.
 ACID WASH CYCLE
• Loading of garment With pumice tones
• Desizing for about 10 to 15 minutes
• Drying
• Dry tumbling for 10 to 30 minutes
• Cooling without Addition of water
• Per-oxide wash
• Optical Brightening
• Softening Treatment
Acid Wash – Limitations & Remedies
Limitations:
• Acid washed, indigo dyed denim has a tendency to yellow
after wet processing.
• The major cause is residual manganese due to incomplete
neutralization, washing or rinsing.
Remedy:
• Manganese is effectively removed during laundering with
addition of ethelene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid as chelating
agent.
• Acid washing jeans avoided some of problems of stone
wash, but came with added dangers, expenses, and
pollution.
References
1. www.fibre2fashion.com
2. Denim garment washing process-ATIRA
3. Denim garment processing –Express
Textile(march 2003)
4. Garment washing & finishing- Pearl Academy of
Fashion
5. www.textileworld.com
6. www.textileschool.com
THANK
YOU