Textile Industry

One of the most common uses of Maize Starch is in the textile industry. Maize starch provides stiffness and adds weight to cloths. Starch is also used in conjunction with thermoplastic or thermosetting resins to obtain a permanent finish. In textile industry, starch is used in sizing to strengthen the warp yarn, in finishing and changing the appearance of fabric after it is bleached, dyed or printed, in printing and increase the consistency of printing pastes. Also starch is used as a component in finishing agent to glaze and polish sizing thread.

There are many advantages of using Maize Starch in the textile industry such as the following:

• Maize Starch has low ash and protein content.
• Maize Starch does not thin down during the process of sizing (whereas tapioca starch breaks down substantially on cooking, which results in an uneven pick up on the yarn).
• Maize Starch, unlike other starches does not require steeping and long cooking time and is transformed into a smooth paste within an hour or in even lesser time under pressure-cooking.
• Maize Starch has uniform viscosity, from lot to lot, ensures uniform pick up and penetration into the interstices of yarn to ensure good weaving performance.
• Maize Starch does not foam saves the requirement for antifoaming agents as it is pH is maintained in the neutral range (tapioca starch has high pH it foams and requires antifoaming agents).
• Maize Starch is easily removed during the normal process of de-sizing.