Abstract
Healthcare and hygiene products in the medical sector uphold a prime responsibility to prevent the passage of bacteria or other harmful organisms from non-sterile to sterile areas. This has been currently possible with increased awareness and concern about the healthcare/hospital textiles. Along with protection, various products are accommodated with several functional properties such as comfort, odour-free, and hygiene aspects. This manuscript presents an insight into the development of such textiles by application of the grapeseed oil (
Vitis vinifera
L.), a by-product of the winemaking industry. The fabric structures chosen for the study are relevant to the end uses of textile products in the medical applications such as 100% texturized polyester, 100% micro-polyester, polyester/viscose, and polyester/cotton woven fabrics. All polyester fabric samples have been pre-treated with an optimized concentration of trichloroacetic acid-methylene chloride (TCA-MC) solvent and further treated with four different grapeseed oil concentrations (5, 10, 15, and 20%). The antibacterial and comfort properties of the treated fabric samples have been evaluated and analysed. The treated fabric samples show the substantial antibacterial activity of 49 and 40%, respectively, against
S. aureus
and
E. coli
bacteria after 50 home laundry washing cycles.