What Textile Enzymes are Usually Used in Textile Industry and What are Their Performances?

Enzyme is very important raw material for textile industry, it can be applied in the procedures of pre-treatment, during processing, and finishing. Different enzymes will have different performances on these steps. On this blog we will introduce the correlation of enzymes and textiles.

What is Enzyme?

Enzyme is a catalyst consisting of proteins, and is mainly produced through biological fermentation.

Enzyme activity plays an essential role in the application performance, and enzyme activity is influenced by many factors, such as pH, temperature, storage time, substrate concentration, enzyme concentration etc.

Enzyme plays outstanding roles in many industries, such as textiles, food, detergent, pulp & paper, diesel, fats & oils, feed, pharma, ethanol& alcohol etc. Enzyme also has a numerous variety, different industries also use different kinds of enzymes. Here we will have a look what enzymes are mainly applied for textile industries.

Introduction of Textile Industries

Textile is a well-known field, it is closely related to our daily life. The clothes we wear everyday, the jeans, the T-Shirts, the Yoga clothes etc, and the yarns and other fibers used to make clothes. They are belonging to the conception of textiles.

What Garments/Fabrics Need Textile Enzymes?

The garments and fabrics needs the performances of desizing, scouring, bio-polishing , H2O2 residue removal , enzyme washing, remaining grease removal etc, will require textile enzymes to help achieve the better functions.

What Kinds of Enzymes Can be Applied in Textile Industries

Different textile enzymes will be applied on different textile procedures to achieve the desired performances according to the specific processing requirements.

Pretreatment

Amylases

1. Application: Desizing, to remove the sizing from the fabric.

2. Performance: Hydrolyzing starch is soluble sugar, it can reduce the consumption of chemicals, will be very eco-friendly and efficient.

Pectinases

1. Application: Pectinase is a useful bio-scouring enzyme, can be used to remove natural impurities such as pectin and waxes.

2. Performance: It can act as the substitute of the traditional chemical scouring agent, reducing the pollution of waste water, and protecting the strength of the fibers.

Cellulases

1. Application: Cellulases are often used for the bio-polishing on the pre-treatment stage of cotton/line fabrics, remove the pilling, and have an excellent de-pilling effects, very clean and soft hand feel.

2. Performance: Improve the hand feel of the fabrics, and reduce the pilling and balling.

During Processing

Catalases

1. Application:  Catalase is primarily used to remove the remaining H2O2 after hydrogen peroxide bleaching. For the bleaching process, the process needs large quantity of hydrogen peroxide to achieve the desired whiteness of fabrics, thus there will be some H2O2 remained and left, and also required to be removed effectively, thus, under this situation, catalase is indispensable.

2. Performance:  In order to prevent the remained H2O2 impacting the dyeing quality, catalase is required to kill the rest H2O2, it is much more eco-friendly then the traditional chemicals and at the same time, catalase can save washing time and energy consumption.

Proteases

1. Application: On this stage, the fibers like silk and wool, needs degumming and softening treatments, proteases are required to give the performance.

2. Performance: Protease is used to remove the silk proteins ( for silk scouring) or wool scales ( for shrink-proof treatment), enhancing the fabric’s luster and hand feel.

Laccases

1. Application: Laccases can be used for the denim bio-stoning or to remove the Liglin.

2. Performance: It can replace pumice stone during the denim stone washing, decreasing the washing equipment abrasion( wear and tear), achieving environmental-friendly aging treatment.

Finishing

Cellulases

1. Application: Cellulase can be applied for the bio-polishing of knitted fabrics and stone washing of denim fabrics and jeans.

2. Performance: It can remove the pilling on the surface of fibers, giving the cleanliness and softness, achieving the vintage faded effect of jeans.

Laccases

1. Application: Laccases are used for anti-static, anti-mold finishing or wastewater treatment( to degrade the dyes).

2. Performance: The main function is to catalyze and oxidize dye molecules, enhancing the color fastness, or degrading pollutants.

Lipases

1. Application: Lipase is applied to remove the remained greases on the fabrics, improving the hydrophilicity.

2. Performance: It is to improve the uniformity of the dyes and enhance the dyeing quality.

Conclusion

Textile enzymes is a driving force to turn the textile industry to green, innovative and sustainable manufacturing. They not only partially replace the traditional chemicals, reduce the chemical usages, decrease the water and energy consumption, but also give a mild work condition to the technical processing and reducing the fiber damages.

In the context of global environmental protection policies and the growing environmental pressure, the application of textile enzymes will contribute to the green textile industry.

About us

If you need good quality, Oeko-Tex Standard , ZDHC certified enzyme preparations, please kindly contact UniRule Biotech (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. specializing in the research, development, and production of eco-friendly products for the textile industry, with a firm commitment to advancing sustainable development. Our core product portfolio includes textile enzyme preparations and various textile chemical auxiliaries, which are suitable for a wide range of fabrics such as cotton, denim, nylon, spandex/Lycra, and modal.