Body odor is an embarrassmentwhich every body would have faced in one or the other time. The stench of sweator dirt may put a person in discomfiture, while with others. People look forclothes that smell good, and remain fresh for a longer time, thereby boostingtheir confidence. They expect specialized finishes that control body odor andremain fresh for a longer time.

A recent survey reveals that 51%of the participated men expressed their willingness to pay more for apparelsmanufactured with special treatments to control body odor and enhancefreshness. Outfits such as socks, shirts, and slacks were their choice. 45% ofthe women participants were willing to pay more for specially treated clothingsuch as intimate apparels, tops, bed linens, etc. Both men and womencommunicated strong preferences for buying bed linens, towels and other hometextiles that are freshness enhanced.

Application of Anti microbialAgents:

Textile fibres induce the growthof microbes like bacteria, and viruses, which is aggravated by humid and warmenvironment. Therefore antimicrobial agents are used in textiles to protect thewearer and the textile substrate itself. Chitosan is an antimicrobial agentderived from Chitin, which is found in crustacean shells. Coating the textileswith Chitosan is advantageous as they posses immunological effect. Numerousnatural herbs are available which can be used to give special treatment tofabrics. Silver is a natural antimicrobial which is used for many centuries.With the technological advancements in nanotechnology, silver particles areproduced in nano scale such as 4nm which is used in dispersions of nano silverparticles to give special finishing in textiles.

Antimicrobial agents are appliedin textiles through exhaust, pad-dry-cure, spray, coating, and foam techniques.They can also be added directly into the fibre spinning dope. Antimicrobialfinishing in fabrics have potential applications in manufacturing uniforms,tents, defense textiles and geo textiles.

Apparels with Cyclodextrinfinish:

Cyclodextrin is produced fromstarch through enzymatic conversion. It posses a cylindrical structure whichacts like a host and can absorb guest molecules inside the structure andrelease them later on. This hydrophobic cavity present in cyclodextrinmolecules can react as odor impeding property in textiles. The hydrophobiccavities are capable to absorb and store sweat and odor from the environment.Once their storage capacity is finished, they will not work any longer. Theircapacity can be renewed through washing the garment. Yet another possibility ofcyclodextrin finishing on garments is to fill the substance with perfumethrough a spray or through a softener in laundry. When the apparel is worn, theperfume is released from the substance blocking the body odor.

Various special finishes areapplied on the textiles to remove bad odor. Textiles and apparels have thebiggest consumer base. Advances in this field and focus in customer orientedproducts has a lucrative market. Textile enhancement is expected to become atrillion dollar industry in the next decade, with incredible economic,technological and ecological benefits.

References:

1. 'Antimicrobial Textiles - An Overview', Dr. T. Ramachandran, K. Rajendrakumar, R. Rajendran, &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(1709)%>" target="_blank">http://www.ieindia.org
2. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(1709)%>" target="_blank">http://textile.2456.com
3. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(1709)%>" target="_blank">http://www.health911.com