Production of hydrophilic silicone softener with antibacterial properties and evaluation of its performance on fabrics

The goal of the present paper is to produce antimicrobial textile softeners by using a methanol extract of the bitter melon. For this purpose, hydrophilic silicone softeners, including bitter melon extract were prepared at different concentrations. The antibacterial silicone softener with the highest antibacterial activity was determined through a quantitative antibacterial test method (disc diffusion and AATCC 147). The antibacterial silicone softener was applied to 100% cotton knitted fabrics, and the fabric performances were investigated via hydrophilicity tests, bursting strength, bending rigidity, subjective handle tests, whiteness degree and CIEL*a*b* color values. Furthermore, the antibacterial activities of the fabrics were quantitively researched by using ATTCC 100 test method according to S. aureus and E. coli bacteria species. The results showed that it is possible to produce antibacterial silicone softeners by using methanol extract of the bitter melon, and the fabric samples gained antibacterial activity without adversely affecting their performance. The fabrics treated with antibacterial silicone softener killed 65.55% and 52.35% of bacteria after 24 h for S. aureus and E.coli, respectively.