During the processing of automotive interior non-woven fabrics, due to the influence of chemical binders, additives or high-temperature drying, it will cause the shortcomings of rough hand and rigidity, which limits the application of non-woven fabrics in certain fields. Many nonwovens for hygiene and protection, such as sanitary napkin fabrics. All kinds of cleaning wipes will require non-woven fabrics to have good softness, so non-woven hygiene materials need to be softened. Commonly used methods include mechanical and chemical methods.
Mechanical rubbing and soft finishing：
Mechanical rubbing and soft finishing is mainly to reduce the rigidity of the non-woven fabric to achieve the purpose of softness by rubbing or compressing it. There are mainly two mechanical treatment methods for this kind of flexible wheel finishing, namely the Krapike method and the Michaelis method.
1. Clapike method
The krapac method Z was first used in the paper industry, and then transplanted into wet-laid non-woven fabrics, imitating the pre-shrinking finishing of the Sanfrey machine. As shown in the figure below, after treatment, the non-woven fabric can obtain good softness and improve the hand feeling. The finishing effect of this method depends on the thickness, elasticity, fiber characteristics, pressure, web structure and heat and humidity conditions of the rubber belt.
2. Mike Rex method
The Mike Rex method has a strong extrusion effect on the non-woven fabric, thus producing obvious crepe on the surface of the non-woven fabric, improving the extensibility of the non-woven fabric, increasing the weight per unit area and the surface area. This method better improves the softness of the nonwoven fabric. The crepe effect of the Mike Rex method can be checked and evaluated by optical means, by measuring the degree of increase in unit area or by measuring the degree of elongation of the nonwoven fabric. Therefore, the finishing effect of this method depends largely on the geometric dimensions of the crepe area and the input and output speeds of the non-woven fabric.