Strong insect-resist property and wash-durability exhibited by wool fabric sustainably treated with a natural diterpenoid and a synthetic pyrethroid under subcritical CO2

To conserve wool textiles from insect attack, they are frequently treated with emulsions of natural and synthetic pyrethroid in an aqueous medium. Although the treatment is highly effective, it produces toxic effluent. In this work, insect-resist fabrics were produced by treating them a diterpene (totarol), (permethrin) subcritical carbon dioxide (subc-CO2) The totarol failed to provide any activity but permethrin even at 0.03% on weight fiber (owf) showed excellent properties mortality larvae was more than 98%. owf under subc-CO2 only marginally lost resistance after 20 washes (equivalent 80 domestic washes) 0.09% owf, still, However, fabric 0.05% traditional completely its insect-resistance property 5 washes. Soxhlet extraction dichloromethane GC-MS analysis extracted suggest that most absorbed into fiber. developed process could be durable sustainable for conservation textiles.