Production of dyed cotton fibers

Abstract

In a method of dyeing and finishing cotton fibers, emulsion copolymer treated cotton fibers are prepared by contacting the fibers with an emulsion copolymer and curing the copolymer under conditions to chemically anchor the emulsion copolymer to the cotton and thereby form copolymer-treated cotton fibers. The copolymer-treated cotton fibers are then contacted with a dye material under conditions sufficient to affix at least a portion of the dye material to the copolymer component of the copolymer-treated cotton fibers and produce dyed cotton fibers. Thereafter, the dyed cotton fibers are treated with a surfactant-stabilized aqueous acrylic polymer dispersion to give the fibers a worn or vintage character.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.