What is Scouring ?

Scouring :

Natural impurities such as waxes, pectins and proteins must be removed. Raw cotton may
contain between 4 and 12% of these impurities by weight (Karapinar and Sariisik 2004). Hot
sodium hydroxide, a complexing agent and a surfactant (act as wetting agents) are generally
used though enzyme based approaches exist (Karapinar and Sariisik 2004). The process can
take from six to twelve hours making it energy intensive. As stated earlier wool may be
scoured with organic solvents or aqueous solutions of detergents.

In the case of synthetics processing oils must be removed with detergents, again, enzyme
based alternatives exist. Waste streams are rich in residues from the polymers production,
such as un-reacted monomers, low molecular weight oligomers and residual catalysts. The
resultant environmental burden is discussed later.