Fiber and Textile Processing

Overview
Polyglycols are key raw materials or used as additives for the production of spin finish lubricants for synthetic fibers and fiber finishing processes.

Products
The following products can be used in fiber and textile processing applications. Although each product has unique properties based on molecular weight and the monomer used, they all share some common properties.

Specific Applications
Spin Finish Lubricants
Polypropylene glycols are preferred base stocks for spin finish lubricants, due to their excellent lubrication properties and non-varnish formation at high temperatures. Water-soluble PAGs are used primarily as base lubricants for spin finishing of textured fibers.

Surfactants, Wetting, and Emulsifying Agents
EO/PO block copolymers and fattyalcohol alkoxylates are used as surfactants, wetting, and emulsifying agents in various processing steps within textile processing, such as scouring, pretreatment and dyeing. Low-foaming surfactants are preferable, to avoid excessive foaming.

Defoaming
Polypropylene glycols and EO/PO block copolymers are very effective defoamers in textile processing applications, where elimination of excessive foam is critical.

Also see UCON™ Fluids for textile fiber lubrication and textile machinery lubricants. CARBOWAX™ PEGs and MPEGs are also available for textile applications.

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