Full-enzymatic three-in-one cascade finishing for woolen textiles: anti-felting, low-temperature dyeing and...

Woolen textiles have excellent warmth retention property, however, they are highly susceptible to irreversible felting shrinkage during washing. Although enzymatic anti-felting finishing provides eco-friendly advantages over chemical methods, hydrolase molecules tend to degrade the low-crystallinity components of cell membrane complex, potentially causing unacceptable fiber damages. Herein, a full enzymatic, integrated three-in-one cascade finishing strategy is proposed. Specifically, enzymatic removal of wool scales was achieved by using mild reducing agent and protease, the wool was then dyed with reactive dyes, followed by horseradish peroxidase-initiated grafting of vinyl-modified polyethyleneimine. The resulting fabric demonstrated a low felt shrinkage rate and acceptable strength loss, while maintaining long-lasting antimicrobial properties, with a bacterial inhibition rate against Staphylococcus aureus exceeding 95 % even after 50 washing cycles. Additionally, the subtraction-addition treatments facilitate low-temperature reactive dyeing of wool fabric while maintaining satisfactory colorfastness. Thereby this study providing an eco-friendly strategy for the development of multifunctional woolen textiles.