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FINISHING

The finishing is the series of treatments that give the fabric the colour, the hand-feel and the final appearance.

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The finishing is done in Italy in the plant of Brebbia of Albini Group. The various finishing processes are classified as follows: preparation, colouring (dyeing and printing), colour fastening and final finishing.

During the preparation the fabrics are prepared for dyeing, printing or finishing. In this phase are eliminated the auxiliary substances used in the spinning, weaving or knitting (oils, waxes, sizing agents) and the natural impurities still present in the fibres, to obtain the degree of purity necessary for the subsequent processing. Also a part of this treatment stage is the gassing or burning off of hairy surface fibres to  obtain a smoother surface of the fabric, and also mercerisation, which serves to make the fabrics brighter and stronger.

The phase of colouration provides for the piece-dyeing in of the fabric or for printing that can be performed by various techniques (cylinders, screens, ink-jet). To dye a textile product is necessary to treat it with an aqueous solution or with colourant dispersions, with the addition of various substances: salt, alkali, acids and other auxiliaries. The dyes dissolved in the bath must be absorbed and penetrate the fibre.

After dyeing, printing and finishing processes other various operations to prepare the fabric for the next finishing process are necessary. The main stages are steaming, washing and heat setting.

The steam chamber enables the applied dyes and prints to be fixed, that is, the colour must bind on a permanent basis, with the fibre. This is mainly done with a steam treatment, with which the fabric is heated and rapidly impregnated by the steam which accelerates the diffusion of the dye into the fibre.

Washing: in the preliminary treatment and in those intermediate washes are needed to eliminate the impurities, the residues of oils and dressings, color residues not fixed and auxiliary substances used for printing.

With the thermal-finishing instead the mechanical tension within the fibres is regularised. The fixing can be carried out as a preliminary, interim or final treatment. With a heat treatment and a subsequent controlled cooling, the fibre is fixed in minimal tension conditions, which allows the fabrics to become non-shrink, with a good dimensional stability, and to remain smooth after washing.

The final finishing includes a number of processes to prepare the textile material for the intended purposes. In dry finishing (mechanical) the desired effect is obtained by means of physical processes. In the wet finishing, instead, they are chemicals used. Here are some final finishing processes.

Emerising or Brushing: These are operation of sanding or brushing used to produce a particular raised napp on the fabric surface which gives it a soft and warm hand touch.

Calendering: makes the fabric smooth, the compaction by compression also gives it shine. Depending on the conformation of the surface, the temperature and the different speeds of the cylinders,  it is possible to obtain different aesthetic effects.

Sanforising: The fabric passes through a rubber ring and a heated steel cylinder which, by means of a pressure on the fabric, compact the weft and stabilises the warp. By drying and final cooling it prevents the fabric from shrinkage when subjected to subsequent wet treatments. This process gives high dimensional stability to the articles, even after several washes.

Every machine and each stage of the finishing process is suitably adjusted and kept under control. For each fabric must be observed in fact the concentrations of chemical agents, the temperature, the timing and the speed of processes, so as to properly finish the tissue and enhance its particular characteristics.

Thanks to an excellent treatment plant, the water which the finishing uses is treated and released into the river even less polluted than when it was collected , largely exceeding the ecological standards required by the State.