Weight-Volume-Concentration on the Bacteriostatic Property of Fabrics

Quaternary nitrogen compounds are being widely used as sanitizers and toimpart bacteriostatic properties to fabrics. When properly applied, the residual quaternary may assist materially in clinical problems associated with the activities of microorganisms in infants' garments, bedding, and similar articles. Directions commonly furnished for the use of these agents specify a unit weight of product to a given weight of fabric with no limitations on the volume of water to be used. It seemed important, therefore, to determine whether such directions are adequate or whether there are certain limitations with regard to concentrations and volumes. This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between the amount of quaternary removed by cotton, wool, and nylon fabrics with the quaternary-fabric weight ratios kept at constant values and the volumes of solution varied. The amounts of quaternary adsorbed and absorbed under each condition were determined and these values correlated with those of bacteriostatic studies. Certain variations in technique were made in order to evaluate the procedure as a standard test method.