Phenolic Yellowing of Textiles During Storage. Part 1 – Occurrence, Characterisation and Causes

The present paper concerns the nature and causes of one particular type of yellowing that was found over a period to be the most prevalent and most troublesome within the Courtaulds organisation, especially on nylon garments stored in cardboard boxes. We have called this type ‘phenolic yellow’ because it is produced by the action of nitrogen oxides on certain complex phenols. Later papers will deal with factors affecting the susceptibility of nylon fabrics to phenolic yellowing, and with the occurance of phenolic yellow on substrates other than nylon