Determining the whiteness index of pesticide contaminated cotton fabrics

A study was conducted to compare the whiteness index of unstarched and starched cotton fabric. Half of the cotton samples were given barrier treatment with 10% arrowroot starch solution, while half of these were kept unstarched and pesticide was sprayed on all these samples. These pesticide contaminated cotton samples were given different laundering treatments with 5% salt solution and 2% heavy duty detergent at 50°C and 80°C for one hour each. The results revealed that the whiteness index of cotton fabric laundered with 2% detergent at 50°C was the highest with the value of 100.40 amongst the unstarched cotton samples whereas, the highest value was 105.47 amongst the starched cotton samples. Overall, it was found that the maximum value of whiteness index was observed in the case of starched cotton sample laundered with 2% detergent at 50°C for one hour.