In the present study, to successfully produce pleated silk fabrics that have the softness of silk while maintain the pleats, a pleating method was examined that uses swelling agents. The pleating method using swelling agents utilizes steam to set the pleats in silk fabric given swelling agents. Urea, ethylene glycol, and dimethyl sulfoxide are used in the agent. This paper discusses the results, the relation between pleat retention and swell, processing conditions, and practical performance. The results show that it is possible to achieve pleated silk fabrics that have the softness of silk while maintain the pleats. Especially, the process using urea gave excellent pleat retention in the silk fabrics. The relation between pleat retention and swell showed a trend for pleat retention to increase as more swelling agents remain in the material during setting. We examined processing conditions for pleating methods that used urea. The current investigation produced excellent results using values of 40% aqueous solution concentration, a pleat set temperature of 130℃ and pleat set time of 30 min. Additionally, practicability is satisfactory. It was discovered that pleated silk fabrics can achieve the softness of silk while retaining pleats through the use of swelling agents.

References
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(2) 特開2002-371460
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(4) 林良之,:「絹の防縮加工」染色工業,Vol.42, No. 4, pp4-5 (1994)
(5) 林良之,清水富男,老田達生,樽井栄満,谷口由希子,岡川逸郎,浅井紀夫,笹倉忠雄:「有機溶媒による絹布の膨潤」繊維学会誌,Vol.48,No. 1, p38 (1992)

Questionnaire 2014/Shinshu University Faculty of Textile Science and Technology Fii