An attempt was made to render wool fibers shrinkproof without causing any damage to the hydrophobic nature of the scale surface. To this end, wool fibers were treated with a water soluble multifunctional epoxide, i.e., glycerol polyglycidyl ether (GPE) in concentrated salt solutions, where the prominence of scale edges was depressed. The role of GPE is not to chemically modify the fiber surface, but to crosslink the cuticular cells to prevent their edges from prominence in aqueous media. Excellent shrink resistance can be imparted to wool by applying GPE in saturated NaCl solution in the presence of a reductive agent such as Na2S2O5, while the hydrophobic nature of the surface remains unchanged.
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