Eng. Vittorio Cianci and his Staff are on hand to answer all your questions sent via email to the addresses indicated below. (Clear answers to complex problems) • Questions regarding technical problems related to the materials, defectiveness, toxicity, complaints, advance info on materials and care problems, textile chemistry applied to cleaning • Questions concerning disputes • General information • Textile care and industrial chemistry issues affecting washing
THE EXPERT’S ANSWER Questions should be sent to info@deterg.eu or lart@lartessile.it The most interesting questions and related answer will be published
ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS RECEIVED
Why do tumble dryer marks remain on garments?
Mr. Giorgio Grasselli, owner of the “Servizi 3 Più” laundry, answered this question himself: every so often some garments have round-shaped stains that are distributed evenly and geometrically and that correspond to the drum holes. This problem is called “TAMBURATO (DRUMMED)” from the mark left by the drum holes; the causes are: 1) the solvent is not clear enough or hasn’t been sufficiently filtered, the fabric therefore acts as a filter by withholding the suspended parts and drum rotation during spin drying leaves drum hole marks on the fabric. The filter is clogged up; 2) the drum discharge or pump impeller in the dry cleaning machine are clogged up and the pump is unable to clear the solvent from the tumbler: therefore during spin drying the solvent remains between the tumbler and the drum and the power of spin drying removes all the fluff that builds up inside the drum and remains on the fabric wedging itself in the fiber; this problem is difficult to overcome, the fabric thread is impregnated with small parts of fiber; 3) short time lapse between when the garments leave the drum (enter the tank) and spin drying.
Down composition and quality and its relation to defects after washing Washing problems that can arise and that are not caused by washing but depend on the down are: – feather loss – ringed stains – unpleasant smell. Feather loss is caused by a number of factors: – there is no bag containing the feathers – quality of the material used (not high density, not resin-coated etc.) which causes feather loss from the interspaces – badly stitched quilting – poor quality of the feathers with many feather fibers and down fibers (technically called “other than down and feathers”) The ringed stains are caused by the dirt in the feathers which can account for up to 5-6% of the weight. The smell is not caused by the dirt but by the type of feed that was used for the geese and ducks (fish flour, seaweed, etc.).
What is inkjet or digital printing and what problems can it give?
Exactly as in traditional printers, tiny drops of the coloring solutions are projected onto the fabric to create the design; the color is then fixed. Many technologies are used to place the small drops on the fabric. The parts of the machine are: – printing head: a number of nozzles or heads (more than 2,500) arranged in a small 11x 2 cm area that can project millions of tiny drops /sec; – printing machine: conveyor belt onto which the fabric to be printed has been glued and a carriage that holds the printing heads on several lines and that moves over the fabric from selvedge to selvedge, depositing the colored drops. After the carriage has passed, the conveyor belt and the glued fabric move to the next position and at this point the carriage passes over the fabric again in the opposite direction, still printing. When printing, 8 colors with 2 or more heads per color are generally used. The main problem arising with an inkjet-printed garment is low color fastness in terms of bleeding as well as deterioration.
Why do curtains often shrink after wet cleaning?
Most curtains are made of cotton or linen. If a fabric has not been machine-washed and only wet, before being sewn, it will not have relaxed completely, and will maintain its internal tension. The shrinkage, even if this is limited (1.5-2%), considering that the curtain is 2.5 to 3 m long, causes it to become a clearly visible 5-6 cm shorter which this is not acceptable. If a curtain is made of polyester it will not shrink when wet cleaned, but only when it is ironed at high temperatures (dry heat).
Problems when washing microfiber fabrics
If the yarn fibers are fine, there is a big space between these and the dirt that gets wedged inside is difficult to remove. Microfiber fabrics have low color fastness when washed because a larger surface is exposed to the various factors they are subjected to (soaps etc.) and as such deterioration and color bleeding may occur. Microfiber fabrics have low pilling resistance causing fuzz formation on the surface.
QUESTIONS RECEIVED
- What should you do to get reimbursed for a curtain that has been damaged from washing?
- What do detergents contain?
- Can you recognize the various kinds of stains?
- What should you look for when buying a washing machine?
Detergo Magazine – November 2013
