Caustic soda is also used in mercerizing, a process used to increase the strength, lustre and dye affinity of the fabric. In this process, caustic soda is added to the fabric to cause swelling of the fibres which in turn enhances the properties of the fabric.
Glacial acetic acid is used as a buffering agent in dyeing the cloth with color, and it is used to print various designs on clothes in the textile industry. In addition, the production of acetic anhydride also seeks the use of glacial acetic acid as a condensing agent, which is further used in synthetic textiles and photographic films.
Hydrogen peroxide is the prime bleaching agent in natural and synthetic fibers treatment, which include wool, linen, cotton, silk, and rayon. It gives the fibers a high degree of brightness while at the same time preserving their mechanical properties.
For industrial uses, Sodium Acetate is used in the textile industry to neutralize sulfuric acid waste streams, and as a photoresist while using aniline dyes. It is also a pickling agent in chrome tanning, and it helps to retard vulcanization of chloroprene in synthetic rubber production.
Sodium nitrite used in manufacturing diazo dyes, nitroso compounds, and other organic compounds; in dyeing and printing textile fabrics and bleaching fibers; in photography; as a laboratory reagent and a corrosion inhibitor; in metal coatings for phosphatizing and detinning; and in the manufacture of rubber chemicals. Sodium nitrite also has been used in human and veterinary medicine as a vasodilator, a bronchodilator, an intestinal relaxant or a laxative, and an antidote for cyanide poisoning.
Sodium sulfate is an important chemical in textile industry, widely used as an electrolyte or dye additive in dyeing of many materials for enhanced dye penetration and absorption onto fibers
Sodium bicarbonate is also used for tanning in the leather industry. Tanning helps preserve animal hides or skins, makes them immune to bacterial attack, raises the shrinkage temperature and prevents the collagen fibres from sticking together on drying. When treated with sodium bicarbonate, leather remains porous, soft and flexible.
