So far, these are desizing, alkaline decoction and bleaching. Especially the alkaline decoction necessitates large quantities of energy, water and chemicals and additionally involves a mechanical reduction of the cellulose.

Combined use of enzymes
The Deutsches Textilforschungszentrum Nord West e.V. DTNW is a research center for fundamental and applied research work as also for areas which are related to production, processing and service performance of textiles. This non profit registered association and its partners developed a process reducing the different cotton accompanying substances: The use of enzymes combined with the desizing replaces the alkaline decoction completely. The enzymatic pretreated product offers similar or even better quality features than conventionally pretreated cotton.
Consequently, it can be done without the ecologically questionable alkaline decoction without having to accept compromises in the preparation results - but followed by a considerable saving of time, accompanying chemicals, energy and above all process water.