Traditional Washing Formulations Outstand Commercial Ones for Washing Antheraea assamensis (Muga) Silk Cloth

Safe silk washing is an issue faced by its users for long because silk is prone to get damaged during conventional washing. The current study focused on the possible Antheraea assamensis (Muga) silk washing formulation which was a rare event until people realized the importance of cleaning and hygiene with the onset of covid-19 pandemic. Kolakhar, lemon (citrus) juice, and some commercially available washing products were studied for bond changes by FTIR, surface changes by SEM and colour deviations from control samples. The study showed that there was formation of new bands in all treated samples (except water wash) between 1513-1518 cm^-1 that is attributed to β-sheets; and 1698-1703 cm^-1 linked with β-turn conformation in all the treatments. The morphological observation illustrated fibrillation and peeling off fibers in the commercial washed fabrics. Colour change (δE) was least in fabric conditioner (0.85) <citrus wash (1.06) <Kolakhar wash (1.13) and maximum for fabric whitener (5.46). Overall, the traditional agents proved excellent washing factor and has the potential in opening a window for optimized formulation that can be employed for Muga washing.