Development of health care and hygiene curative finishing on textile material using Acalypha Indica

Abstract

This present work deals with an eco-friendly natural antimicrobial finishing of cotton terry towel that has been prepared from the plant extracts of Acalypha Indica. Herbal extracts from A. indica (kuppai meni) have been applied to the cotton fabric by the method of direct application along with citric acid is act as a cross-linking agent using the pad-dry-cure method. The treated samples were antimicrobial activities were evaluated through qualitative methods (zone of inhibition in mm) and quantitative methods (bacterial reduction %), from the results the finished cotton bath towel shows better antibacterial activity against both bacterial strains Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus, wash durability of the samples also good because the samples along with the extracts treated with citric acid act as a cross-linking agent so these cross-linking agents to form a bridge between herbal media and fibre assembly. After 10 washes the extract-treated samples show good antimicrobial properties for the fabrics.