Conventional scouring is harsh on fabrics and the environment. For more sustainable textiles, choose enzymatic scouring, also known as biopreparation. Pretreatment with our gentle Bioprep® enzymes gives you consistent, reliable results. They're suitable for cotton knits, woven yarn and towels.
Biopreparation uses pectinase to remove the pectin and wax from cotton fiber. The process produces fabrics with instant absorbency for an even dyeing result. It works in undyed cotton and in a wide range of colors – from dark to medium shades. A pectin test kit is available for process benchmarking and consistency control.
BioPrep® is a tailor-made and complete solution for knits. It's designed for use in jet dyers or similar equipment. BioPrep® gives your mill optimal pre-treatment along with water, time and energy savings. With BioPrep®, you no longer need separate handling and optimization of wetting agents and emulsifiers.
Conventional scouring involves thorough rinsing, with up to three baths. That's why it accounts for 25% of water used in cotton knit manufacturing. BioPrep® products only need one bath, for water savings of up to 67%. Fewer baths save you time, which helps products in the Bioprep® family to cut pretreatment time in half.
Conventional scouring involves chemical neutralization. The strong alkaline and bleaching chemicals involved add high chemical loads to mills’ effluent. With Bioprep® products, you can eliminate harsh chemicals from your scouring process. Conventional scouring also needs very high temperatures, leading to high energy spend. Bioprep® products further improve your sustainability through energy savings of up to 50%.
Fabrics scoured with enzymes lose less strength and 1% to 2% less weight than conventionally pretreated fabrics. That's because enzymatic scouring is a gentle process that takes place at neutral pH. With biopreparation, cotton textiles also keep their natural softness for longer. That means there's no need for chemical softeners.
Tirupur is one of India's biggest textile hubs. In 2011 it faced a crisis after a High Court decision to close over 750 dyeing units until they could meet environmental regulations. When Novozymes launched a new enzymatic scouring process in 2016, these mills quickly adopted it. With enzymatic scouring, they were able to produce more in a cleaner way, with less pollution.
