阅读说明：本技术 赋予憎水性的纤维制物品 (Fiber article having water repellency ) 是由 田中雅仁 鬼头哲治 大谷宪一 中西浩文 于 2017-12-22 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明的赋予憎水性的纤维制物品(10)具备纤维制物品(1)以及附着于该纤维制物品(1)的憎水性赋予剂,该纤维制物品(1)含有吸水性纤维、且具有肌肤对向面(1a)及非肌肤对向面(1b),其具有通过JIS L-1907的滴加法测得的吸水时间为30秒以下的吸水性。在纤维制物品(1)的非肌肤对向面(1b)具有包含上述憎水性赋予剂的附着部的非肌肤侧憎水区域(2)。在纤维制物品(1)中,在俯视下与非肌肤侧憎水区域(2)重叠的部位且较该非肌肤侧憎水区域(2)更靠近使用者肌肤一侧具有上述吸水性得以维持的吸水层(11)。关于非肌肤侧憎水区域2的表面,与水的接触角为80度以上,且吸水速度为10秒以上。(A fiber article (10) for imparting water repellency, which comprises a fiber article (1) and a water repellency imparting agent attached to the fiber article (1), wherein the fiber article (1) contains water-absorbing fibers, and has a skin-facing surface (1a) and a non-skin-facing surface (1b), and has a water absorption property in which the water absorption time measured by the dropping method according to JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less. The non-skin-side hydrophobic region (2) having an attachment portion containing the water repellency imparting agent is provided on the non-skin-facing surface (1b) of the fibrous article (1). The fiber article (1) has a water-absorbing layer (11) that maintains the above-described water-absorbing property at a portion overlapping with the non-skin-side hydrophobic region (2) in a plan view and on a user skin side of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region (2). The surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 has a contact angle with water of 80 degrees or more and a water absorption rate of 10 seconds or more.)

1. A fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto, which comprises a fiber article and a water repellency imparting agent attached to the fiber article,

the fiber article contains water-absorbing fibers, has a skin-facing surface disposed on a side relatively close to the skin of a user when in use, and a non-skin-facing surface disposed on a side relatively far from the skin of the user, and has a water absorption property that a water absorption time measured by a dropping method according to JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less,

a non-skin-side hydrophobic region having an attachment portion containing the water repellency imparting agent on a non-skin-facing surface of the fiber article,

the fiber article has a water-absorbing layer in which the water-absorbing property is maintained at a portion overlapping the non-skin-side hydrophobic region in a plan view and closer to the user's skin than the non-skin-side hydrophobic region,

the non-skin-side hydrophobic region has a surface with a contact angle with water of 80 degrees or more and a water absorption rate of 10 seconds or more.

2. The fiber product imparted with water repellency of claim 1, wherein an adhering portion and a non-adhering portion of the water repellency imparting agent are present in the non-skin side water repellent region in a mixed manner.

3. The fiber product imparted with water repellency according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a proportion of a total area of the attachment portions of the water repellency imparting agent in a region of 50mm square arbitrarily selected from the non-skin-side hydrophobic region to the entire area is 10% or more and 80% or less.

4. The fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the thickness of the attachment portion of the water repellency imparting agent in the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is 5% or more and 60% or less of the thickness of the fiber article.

5. The fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the thickness of the attachment portion of the water repellency imparting agent in the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is 50% or more and 60% or less of the thickness of the fiber article.

6. The fiber product provided with hydrophobicity according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an air permeability of a portion where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is formed is 2 sec/100 ml or more and 30 sec/100 ml or less.

7. The fiber product having water repellency according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a region where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is formed has a stiffness of 60mm or less and is smaller than or equal to a stiffness of a hydrophobic region non-formation portion which is a region where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is not formed in the fiber product.

8. The fiber product provided with water repellency according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein an amount of the water repellency-providing agent attached is gradually decreased from a non-skin-facing surface to a skin-facing surface of the fiber product.

9. The fiber product imparted with water repellency of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein a skin-side water repellent region including an attachment portion of the water repellency imparting agent is provided on a skin-facing surface of the fiber product, and the amount of the water repellency imparting agent attached to the skin-side water repellent region is smaller than that of the non-skin-side water repellent region.

10. The fiber product provided with water repellency according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein a non-skin-facing surface of the fiber product has an uneven structure, and the water repellency imparting agent forming the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is attached to a convex portion constituting the uneven structure.

11. The fiber article imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the hydrophobicity-imparting agent is a composition containing a modified polysiloxane.

12. The fiber article imparted with hydrophobicity according to claim 11, wherein the hydrophobicity-imparting agent contains a volatile solvent in which the modified polysiloxane is soluble.

13. The fibrous article imparting hydrophobicity according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the composition comprises a water-soluble binder.

14. The fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto is stirred and immersed in a liquid containing ion-exchanged water and 0.1 mass% of a commonly available detergent for clothing for 10 minutes at a rotation speed of 350rpm, then the fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto is lightly wrung, and further stirred and immersed in the ion-exchanged water for 10 minutes at a rotation speed of 350rpm, in which case the content of the water repellency imparting agent in the fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto after the stirring and immersion is: the content of the water repellency-imparting agent in the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted before the agitation impregnation is 20% by mass or less.

15. The fiber product imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the fiber product contains natural fibers and synthetic fibers as constituent fibers.

16. The fiber article imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the fiber article contains only natural fibers as constituent fibers.

17. The fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto according to any one of claims 1 to 16, which contains 1 or more selected from a deodorizing component, an aromatic component, an antibacterial agent, a bactericide, and a refreshing agent.

18. The fiber article imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the fiber article is underwear.

19. The fiber article imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the fiber article is a sports garment.

20. The fiber article imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the fiber article is a urine leakage treatment pad.

21. A method for producing a fiber product imparted with water repellency according to any one of claims 1 to 20,

the method comprises the following steps: and a step of applying a water repellency-imparting agent to the non-skin-facing surface of a fiber article exhibiting a water absorption property with a water absorption time of 30 seconds or less as measured by a dropping method according to JIS L-1907.

22. The method for producing a fiber product having water repellency imparted thereto according to claim 21, wherein after the water repellency imparting agent is imparted to the fiber product, the fiber product is dried under conditions in which the product temperature of the water repellency imparting agent is 50 ℃ or lower.

23. The method for producing a fiber product imparted with water repellency of claim 21 or 22, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fiber product is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent.

24. The method for producing a fibrous article according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fibrous article is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by a pump spray type agent imparting mechanism for filling a container provided with a sprayer with the water repellency imparting agent.

25. The method for producing a fibrous article according to any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fibrous article is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by an aerosol spray type agent imparting mechanism for filling the pressure-resistant container for aerosol spray with the water repellency imparting agent and the propellant.

26. The method for producing a fibrous article according to any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fibrous article is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by a manual spray type agent imparting mechanism that fills a container provided with a manual spray type sprayer with the water repellency imparting agent.

27. The method for producing a fiber product according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein the application of the water repellency imparting agent to the fiber product is performed by using an agent application mechanism formed of a rod-shaped solid material containing the water repellency imparting agent and bringing the solid material into contact with a treatment target.

28. The method for producing a fiber product according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fiber product is performed by a bead-type agent imparting mechanism that fills the bead-type container with the water repellency imparting agent.

29. The method for producing a fiber product according to any one of claims 21 to 28, wherein information on a method of using the agent applying means is provided in the agent applying means used for applying the water repellency applying agent to the fiber product so as to be visible from outside.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a fiber article having water repellency, which is obtained by subjecting a fiber article used in close contact with the skin, such as various clothing materials and urine leakage treatment pads, to water repellent treatment.

Background

Underwear, as represented by underwear, is one of typical examples of fiber articles composed mainly of fibers and used by being directly adhered to the skin. Further, there is known an absorbent article of a type which is placed inside underwear or inside a diaper or a diaper cover and mainly absorbs urine, and this absorbent article is also one of fiber articles. Patent document 1 describes, as one of the absorbent articles, a male incontinence pad which has a structure (leak-proof cuff) for blocking the flow of excreted urine and which does not leak even when a large amount of urine is excreted at one time. Such a fibrous article is desired to absorb bodily fluids such as sweat, urine, and blood, and to have no moist or sticky feeling on the surface in contact with the skin.

Patent document 2 describes the following fabric as a fabric having no sticky feeling even when a large amount of sweat is produced during wearing: the surface of the fabric has a plurality of water-absorbing island-like portions in a sea-like portion having water repellency, and the area of the island-like portions and the total area ratio of the island-like portions on the surface are set to specific ranges. The fabric described in patent document 2 can be produced by: a cloth having water absorbency is subjected to a printing process on the surface thereof by a known method such as a rotary screen printing method using various water repellents such as fluorine-based and silicone-based water repellents.

Patent document 3 describes the following: a woven or knitted fabric having less moist feeling and moisture absorption can be obtained by subjecting a woven or knitted fabric containing cotton fibers to alkali treatment to remove cotton wax contained in the cotton fibers and then partially attaching a water repellent to at least one of the front and back surfaces of the woven or knitted fabric. According to patent document 3, the water repellent agent is preferably attached only to the surface of the knitted fabric which is in contact with the skin, and a polygonal continuous pattern or a lattice pattern is preferred as the attachment pattern of the water repellent agent.

Patent document 4 describes, as a sweat-proof fabric for preventing sweat generated during sweating, a sweat-proof fabric made of polyester fibers, in which a water repellent is attached to only one surface of the fabric, and the other surface is formed into a textured structure. The sweatband fabric described in patent document 4 is used in such a manner that one surface to which a water repellent is attached is located on the external air side and the other surface of the uneven structure is located on the skin side. According to patent document 4, since the surface that contacts the skin during use has an uneven structure, the contact area between the skin and the fabric is reduced, and the feeling of stickiness is reduced, and further, since the drying speed is increased by diffusing sweat along the concave portions of the uneven structure, the effect of preventing sweat from wetting is improved. Further, patent document 4 discloses the following water repellent: in terms of obtaining an excellent perspiration-moisture preventive effect, it is preferable to adhere to the entire surface rather than to the surface locally adhered to the fabric.

Patent document 5 describes a fluoride compound composition which can impart resistance to stains or stains caused by body fluids such as sweat, specifically, properties such as oil repellency, water repellency, stain release property, and stain resistance to a fiber article. According to patent document 5, when the fluoride composition is applied to a fiber article to form a coating film, the coating film can be maintained even if the fiber article is washed several times.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention relates to a fiber article for imparting water repellency, which comprises a fiber article and a water repellency imparting agent attached to the fiber article, wherein the fiber article contains water-absorbing fibers, has a skin-facing surface disposed on a side relatively close to the skin of a user when in use, and a non-skin-facing surface disposed on a side relatively far from the skin of the user, and has a water absorption property in which the water absorption time measured by the dropping method according to JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less.

The non-skin-side hydrophobic region has an attachment portion containing the water repellent agent on the non-skin-facing surface of the fiber article.

The fiber article has a water-absorbing layer in which the water-absorbing property is maintained at a portion overlapping the non-skin-side hydrophobic region in a plan view and closer to the user's skin than the non-skin-side hydrophobic region.

The non-skin-side hydrophobic region has a surface with a contact angle with water of 80 degrees or more and a water absorption rate of 10 seconds or more.

The present invention also relates to a method for producing a fiber article having water repellency of the present invention, including a step of applying a water repellency-imparting agent to a non-skin-facing surface of a fiber article exhibiting water absorbency for which a water absorption time measured by a dropping method according to JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a view schematically showing a state of wearing underwear having water repellency as one embodiment of the fiber product having water repellency of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view schematically showing a state in which trousers as an outer garment are worn from the pants having water repellency shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the thickness direction of another embodiment of the fiber product to which water repellency is imparted of the present invention, and is a view schematically showing a state of being used in combination with an outer garment.

Fig. 4(a) is a photomicrograph of a non-skin side hydrophobic region of a specific example of the fiber product imparted with water repellency of the present invention, and fig. 4(b) is a photomicrograph of a skin facing surface of the specific example opposite to the side where the non-skin side hydrophobic region shown in fig. 4(a) is formed.

Fig. 5 is an image (EDS image) obtained by imaging a cross section in the thickness direction of a specific example of the water-repellent fiber article of the present invention with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDS).

Fig. 6 is an EDS image of the specific example of the fiber article imparted with water repellency shown in fig. 5 after washing, showing a state in which the water repellency imparting agent is removed by washing and the non-skin-side hydrophobic region disappears.

Detailed Description

Particularly, in men, there is a fear that urine is not completely discharged during urination and a small amount of urine leaks after the urination is completed, so that the shorts are stained. In particular, elderly men are very bothersome because residual urine easily remains in the urethra after urination due to urethral expansion or the like accompanying the increase in age, and the residual urine flows out from the penis due to some cause to soil the shorts. Such urine leakage caused by residual urine in the urethra is about several mL to 10mL, and most of the urine leakage is so-called "urine dribble" caused by a small amount of urine of about 1mL or less, which is different from incontinence that constantly wets shorts, so-called "urine pants", and it is not necessary to replace shorts, and it is not considered to be a problem that needs to be solved immediately depending on the individual. However, dripping urine after urination causes discomfort due to wetting of shorts, and urine may seep out to outer clothing such as pants worn on underwear such as shorts to stain the outer clothing or spread an odor to the surroundings, and there are few people who are bothersome to take measures against the above problem.

As a method for solving the problem of stains or odor in clothing caused by dripping urine after urination, use of a pad for male incontinence as described in patent document 1 is exemplified. In recent years, in order to make it difficult for others to know that an incontinence pad is worn, a miniaturized incontinence pad has been proposed, and the like, and in most men, the incontinence pad used is psychologically resistant to a small amount of leakage of urine at the level of dripping after urination, and it is actually highly desirable to solve the problem caused by dripping after urination without using the incontinence pad.

Further, the techniques described in patent documents 2 and 3 improve the dry feeling of the surface of the fiber article which is in contact with the skin by applying a water repellent to the surface of the fiber article, but the above-mentioned stains on the clothing caused by dripping urine after urination are not particularly considered, and these techniques are not sufficient as measures against dripping urine after urination. Further, the sweatproof fabric described in patent document 4 has a certain effect on sweatproof, but particularly in the case where a water repellent is attached to the entire surface of the fabric, there is a concern about a decrease in air permeability, and for example, in the case where the fabric is used as a component of a wearing article, there is a concern about skin problems such as generation of odor, stuffiness, and inflammation of the skin. Further, since the sweatproof fabric described in patent document 4 is made of polyester fibers, the fabric itself lacks water absorbency and is inferior to a fabric using water-absorbent fibers such as natural cellulose fibers in terms of wearing comfort. Further, when the fluoride composition described in patent document 5 is applied to a fiber article such as shorts and a part thereof is hydrophobized, there is a possibility that it is effective to prevent stains on clothing caused by dripping urine after urination, but water repellency of the fiber article may be increased more than necessary, and as a result, water absorption, flexibility, air permeability and the like originally possessed by the fiber article may be lowered.

As described above, the problem of leakage of a relatively small amount of body fluid such as urine or sweat to the clothing is often bothersome, but the use of special measures such as incontinence pads or underarm pads tends to be worried. There has not been provided a technique for solving the above-mentioned problems even when a garment such as ordinary underwear is used without using such a special countermeasure product.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a fiber article having water repellency as follows: which can effectively prevent the bad condition that the body fluid excreted by the body is leaked to the dress material to be visible from the outside.

The present invention will be described in detail below. Fig. 1 schematically shows a state in which the shorts 10 for imparting water repellency as one embodiment of the fiber product for imparting water repellency of the present invention are worn, and fig. 2 schematically shows a state in which the pants 20 as an outer garment are worn from the shorts 10 for imparting water repellency. The shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted are provided with shorts 1 as a fibrous article of the present invention (fibrous article not subjected to water repellency imparting treatment), and a water repellency imparting agent (non-skin side water repellent region 2) attached to the shorts 1.

The pants 1 as one embodiment of the fibrous article of the present invention are basically configured in the same manner as ordinary men's pants for sport use as underwear, and have a front body, a rear body, and a crotch therebetween, and further have a waist opening and a pair of leg openings. The pants 1 are so-called closed-front type sports pants having no front opening, and are provided with stretchability by disposing linear elastic members or the like at waist end portions defining a waist opening. The pants 1 have a skin-facing surface 1a disposed on a side relatively close to the skin of the user in use and a non-skin-facing surface 1b disposed on a side relatively far from the skin of the user, and as shown in fig. 2, when the pants 1 are worn, the skin-facing surface 1a comes into contact with the skin of the pants wearer 100, and the non-skin-facing surface 1b comes into contact with the pants 20. The pants 1 are the main body of the pants 10 provided with water repellency, and basic functions of the pants 10 provided with water repellency, such as appearance, texture, and wearing feeling, are basically derived from the original performance of the pants 1 that are the basis thereof.

The fiber article which is the basis of the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted in the present invention is not particularly limited, and the pants include not only sport pants in which the front body panel is of a single-layer structure as shown in fig. 1 and 2, but also so-called briefs in which the front body panel is of a double-layer structure, for example, and when the front body panel of the pants 1 is of such a multi-layer structure, the surface (outer surface) of the outermost layer farthest from the skin of the wearer in the multi-layer structure becomes the non-skin-facing surface 1b which comes into contact with the pants 20. The consideration of the skin-facing surface and the non-skin-facing surface of the fibrous article having the multilayer structure can be applied to other fibrous articles other than shorts.

When the shorts 1, which is a fiber product to be the basis of the shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted, is further described, the shorts 1 include 1 fiber sheet 11 mainly composed of fibers including water-absorbent fibers. The fiber sheet 11 forms the main body of the pants 1, and the front body, the rear body, and the crotch of the pants 1 are each formed of the fiber sheet 11. The skin-facing surface 1a of the pants 1 is a skin-facing surface of the fiber sheet 11, and the non-skin-facing surface 1b of the pants 1 is a non-skin-facing surface of the fiber sheet 11. The following description of the fiber sheet 11 is directly applied to the pants 1 (fiber product) unless otherwise specified.

The fiber sheet 11 is mainly composed of fibers including water-absorbent fibers. The content of the fibers in the fiber sheet 11 is preferably 50% by mass or more, more preferably 70% by mass or more, and may be 100% by mass, that is, may be composed only of the fibers. As the constituent fibers of the fiber sheet 11, fibers generally used in various fiber products such as clothing can be used without particular limitation, and natural fibers or chemical fibers may be used, and 1 kind of fibers may be used alone or 2 or more kinds of fibers may be used in combination.

The natural fiber can be plant fiber or animal fiber. Examples of the plant fiber include wood pulp such as softwood pulp and hardwood pulp; non-wood fibers such as cotton and hemp. Examples of the animal fibers include silk and wool.

Examples of the chemical fiber include: synthetic fibers made of resins such as polyester, acrylic resin, acrylic, nylon, vinylon, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, vinylidene compounds, and polyurethane; regenerated fibers such as rayon, high wet modulus viscose, cuprammonium, lyocell and the like; semi-synthetic fibers such as acetate and triacetate; inorganic fibers such as glass fibers, metal fibers, and carbon fibers.

The fiber sheet 11 contains water-absorbent fibers. In the present invention, the "water-absorbent fibers" are fibers having water absorption properties as defined in the text, and more specifically, fibers having a predetermined water content of 5% or more. The water-absorbing fibers may be fibers having an inherent water-absorbing property, or fibers having an inherent water-absorbing property imparted thereto by processing fibers having no water-absorbing property. The natural fibers and the regenerated fibers and semi-synthetic fibers among the chemical fibers can be used as the water-absorbent fibers in the present invention.

Further, examples of synthetic fibers usable as the water-absorbent fibers in the present invention include: synthetic fibers that are inherently hydrophilic, such as polyvinyl alcohol fibers and polyacrylonitrile fibers; fibers (hydrophilized fibers) obtained by hydrophilizing synthetic fibers which are inherently hydrophobic, such as polyethylene terephthalate fibers, polyethylene fibers, polypropylene fibers, and polyester fibers. Examples of the hydrophilized fibers include synthetic fibers mixed with a hydrophilizing agent, synthetic fibers having a hydrophilizing agent adhered to the surface thereof, and synthetic fibers subjected to plasma treatment. The hydrophilizing agent is not particularly limited as long as it is a conventional hydrophilizing agent used for various fiber products including clothing. The synthetic fiber may be a single fiber containing 1 kind of synthetic resin or a blend polymer in which 2 or more kinds of synthetic resins are mixed, or may be a composite fiber. The composite fiber described herein is a synthetic fiber obtained by simultaneously spinning 2 or more synthetic resins having different components by compounding them with a spinneret, and a plurality of components are bonded to each other in a single fiber in a structure continuous along the longitudinal direction of the fiber. The form of the composite fiber is not particularly limited, and may be a core-sheath type, a side-by-side type, or the like.

The form of the fiber sheet 11 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a woven fabric (woven fabric), a knitted fabric, a nonwoven fabric, or paper. In the case of a woven fabric or a knitted fabric, the weaving method or the knitting method is not particularly limited. Examples of the woven fabric include woven fabrics such as plain woven fabrics, twill woven fabrics, and satin woven fabrics. Examples of the woven fabric include: flat knitting, rubber knitting, double-reverse knitting, double-sided knitting and other weft knitting; the weaving cloth is warp-knitted, such as single warp knitting, single thread knitting, Cukete half-furrow knitting, Cukete plain knitting, Queen overcoat knitting and the like. Examples of the nonwoven fabric include: hot air nonwoven fabric, spun bond nonwoven fabric, spunlace nonwoven fabric, melt blown nonwoven fabric, resin binder nonwoven fabric, needle punched nonwoven fabric.

The fiber sheet 11 may have a single-layer structure or a laminated structure in which a plurality of single-layer structure sheets are laminated. For example, as the nonwoven fabric having a laminate structure, a spunbond-spunbond laminate nonwoven fabric (SS nonwoven fabric), a spunbond-spunbond laminate nonwoven fabric (SSs nonwoven fabric), a spunbond-meltblown-spunbond laminate nonwoven fabric (SMS nonwoven fabric), and a spunbond-meltblown-spunbond nonwoven fabric (SMMS nonwoven fabric) can be exemplified.

The fiber sheet 11 has a water absorption time of 30 seconds or less, preferably 20 seconds or less, and more preferably 15 seconds or less, as measured by a dropping method according to JIS L-1907. The shorts 10 (shorts 1) having water repellency can absorb water and various aqueous liquids, for example, sweat, urine, and blood which are body fluids excreted by the body, by including the fiber sheet 11 having the water absorption property.

From the viewpoint of reliably imparting the above water-absorbing property to the fiber sheet 11, it is preferable to contain a certain amount or more of water-absorbing fibers in the fiber sheet 11. Specifically, the proportion of the water-absorbent fibers to the total constituent fibers of the fibrous sheet 11 (the percentage of the water-absorbent fibers) is preferably 50 mass% or more, more preferably 70 mass% or more, and may be 100 mass%, that is, all the constituent fibers may be water-absorbent fibers.

The fiber sheet 11 may be in the form of a constituent fiber including both natural fibers and synthetic fibers. The synthetic fibers described herein include both water-absorbent fibers and fibers that are not water-absorbent (non-water-absorbent fibers). The natural/synthetic mixed fiber sheet 11 is characterized by less dimensional shrinkage or deformation during wetting and after repeated wetting and drying (after repeated use). From the viewpoint of sufficiently exhibiting the characteristics of the natural/synthetic mixed form, the natural/synthetic mixed form fiber sheet 11 preferably has a natural fiber/synthetic fiber content mass ratio of 1/9 to 9/1, more preferably 2/8 to 8/2.

Further, the fiber sheet 11 may be in a form including only natural fibers as constituent fibers. The fiber sheet 11 of such a single fiber form is characterized by excellent repeated water absorption and less skin irritation. As the natural fibers in the fiber sheet 11 of a single fiber form, woven fabrics or woven fabrics produced by spinning kapok fibers and weaving them by various weaving methods are particularly preferable.

As one of the main features of the shorts 10 for imparting water repellency according to one embodiment of the fiber product for imparting water repellency of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the following can be mentioned: the shorts 1 (fiber product) has a non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 including an attachment portion of a water repellency imparting agent on a non-skin side facing surface 1b which is an outer surface of the shorts 1, and has a water absorbing layer in which the above water absorbency is maintained, that is, "the water absorbency with a water absorption time of 30 seconds or less as measured by a dropping method according to JIS L-1907" is maintained on a skin side of a shorts wearer (shown by reference numeral 100 in the figure) of the shorts 1 at a portion overlapping with the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 in a plan view and closer to the shorts wearer than the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2. In the shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted, a fiber sheet 11 functions as the water-absorbing layer. In this way, the pants 10 having water repellency from the skin of the pants wearer have the fibrous sheet 11 as a water absorbing layer and the non-skin side water repellent region 2 in this order in the thickness direction.

In the shorts 10 imparted with water repellency, the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 functions as a body fluid barrier layer for preventing liquid from leaking out of the fiber sheet 11 as a water-absorbing layer. For example, as shown in fig. 2, when a so-called "urine dribble" occurs in a state where pants 20 as an outer garment are worn from pants 10 as an inner garment to which water repellency is imparted, and a small amount of urine of about 1mL or less is excreted from an excretion portion (penis) of a pants wearer indicated by reference numeral 100 in the figure, there is a fear that: this excreted urine oozes out in the thickness direction of the fibrous sheet 11 as the water-absorbing layer and reaches the pants 20, and the following problems occur: urine stains (wet stains) visible from the outside are generated in the pants 20, urine odors are diffused to the surroundings, and the like. However, in the shorts 10 having water repellency, the non-skin side water repellent region 2 functions as a body fluid barrier layer, more specifically, a stain barrier layer, and thus urine can be prevented from seeping into the pants 20, and therefore, the occurrence of such a trouble can be prevented.

In addition, although the shorts 10 provided with water repellency adopts the measure for preventing body fluid from seeping out to form the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2, the basic structure thereof is substantially the same as that of the shorts 1 (fiber article) which is the base, and therefore, the shorts are not easily known by others even though the measure for preventing body fluid from seeping out is adopted, and can be used with the same feeling as ordinary underwear. Further, since the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is formed only on the non-skin side facing surface 1b of the pants 1, the influence on the pants 1 due to the formation of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 can be minimized, and therefore, the basic performances of the pants 10 to which water repellency is imparted, such as appearance, wearing feeling, and water absorbency, are not inferior to the respective performances originally possessed by the pants 1, and may be improved, and the pants 10 to which water repellency is imparted are excellent in terms of touch, use feeling, and the like.

In the shorts 10 having water repellency, the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is formed locally on the non-skin facing surface 1b of the shorts 1 (the non-skin facing surface of the fiber sheet 11), specifically, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, only in a portion of the front body of the shorts 1 facing the excretory part (penis) of the shorts wearer indicated by reference numeral 100, and is formed in a substantially quadrangular shape in plan view.

In the fiber product to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention, the non-skin side water repellent region of the stain blocking material such as a body fluid may be formed at least on the non-skin facing surface of the fiber product, and the formation site thereof is not particularly limited, and in short, may be formed so as to include a site for which liquid leakage is to be prevented. For example, in the shorts 10 having water repellency, the non-skin side water repellent region 2 may be formed in the entire region of the non-skin facing surface 1b of the front sheet of the shorts 1. The portion of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 of the non-skin facing surface 1b that is formed may be set to any portion such as a portion that is particularly concerned about leakage of body fluid to the wearer, instead of the portion corresponding to the wearer's pudendum (the front center portion of the pants 1) as shown in fig. 1. Specifically, for example, the body of the wearer may be divided into two parts in the width direction, and the non-skin side water repellent region 2 may be formed on the right side or the left side of the virtual center line extending in the height direction.

In the shorts 10 having water repellency, the contact angle with water of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 needs to be 80 degrees or more, preferably 85 degrees or more, and more preferably 90 degrees or more. The contact angle is an index of the degree of hydrophobicity of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2, and the larger the value of the contact angle, the stronger the hydrophobicity (the lower the hydrophilicity), and the smaller the value of the contact angle, the weaker the hydrophobicity (the higher the hydrophilicity). If the contact angle with water of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is less than 80 degrees, it is impossible to prevent the liquid from seeping out from the water absorbing layer (the fiber sheet 11), and it is impossible to prevent the body fluid excreted from the body from seeping out to the clothing and causing troubles such as visibility from the outside.

Conventionally, "water repellency" when water repellency is imparted to a workpiece (a fibrous article) is generally set to a range exceeding 90 degrees when the contact angle with water is used as an index, and in the technical idea of the present invention, it is sufficient to prevent liquid from permeating from the underwear side such as underwear to the outer clothing side such as pants and to retain the liquid in the underwear, and therefore, it is sufficient to impart hydrophilicity (high hydrophobicity) sufficiently lower than hydrophilicity possessed by the outer clothing to the underwear. This finding is obtained as a result of various studies by the present inventors, and a preferable range (80 degrees or more) of the contact angle between the surface of the non-skin-side water repellent region 2 and water is known based on this finding. The contact angle can be measured by the following method.

< method for measuring contact Angle (contact Angle of sheet surface) >

A planar square shape having a machine direction (MD direction) of 150mm and a cross direction (CD direction) of 70mm was cut out from a fiber article to be measured as a measurement sample, and the sample was allowed to stand for 1 day and night in a specific measurement environment to adapt to the environment. The measurement environment was set to a temperature of 23. + -. 2 ℃ and a relative humidity of 50. + -. 5% RH. A droplet of ion-exchanged water was attached to the surface to be measured (non-skin-side hydrophobic region) of the contact angle of the measurement sample, the droplet was recorded, and the contact angle was measured based on the recorded image. More specifically, a microscope VHX-1000 manufactured by KEYENCE corporation was used as a measuring apparatus, and a medium magnification zoom lens was placed therein in a state of being laid down at 90 °. The measurement sample is set on the measurement stage of the measurement apparatus such that the measurement surface faces upward and the measurement sample can be observed from the CD direction of the measurement sample. Then, a droplet of 3 μ L of ion-exchanged water was attached to the surface to be measured of the measurement sample on the measurement stage, and an image of the droplet was recorded and introduced into the measurement apparatus. At this time, the image is imported within 3 seconds. From among the plurality of recorded images, 10 images in which both ends or one end of the droplet in the CD direction was clear were selected, contact angles of the droplet were measured on the basis of the reference plane for each of the 10 images, and the average value of the contact angles was set as the contact angle of the surface to be measured (surface of non-skin-side hydrophobic region) of the fiber article to be measured.

In the method of measuring the contact angle, there is a possibility that the surface unevenness is large depending on the woven structure of the fabric of the fiber product to be measured, and the reference plane cannot be specified in the enlarged view. In this case, the amount of droplet deposition of ion-exchanged water was changed from 3 μ L to 0.1mL, and the droplet deposition method was changed to static deposition by a safety pipette, and an image was introduced without enlargement (1/1). In addition to the above aspects, the measurement can be performed in the same manner as described above.

In addition, as an index of the degree of hydrophobicity of the surface of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region, "hydrophobic angle" measured by the following method may be used instead of the above "contact angle with water". The term "hydrophobic angle" as used herein may also be interchangeably referred to as "slip angle". The hydrophobic angle may be measured closer to the actual state than the contact angle with water, depending on the type of the fiber-made article having the non-skin-side hydrophobic region, and the like, and the degree of hydrophobicity of the surface of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region may be more appropriately expressed.

< measuring method of hydrophobic Angle (slip Angle) >

A planar square shape having a machine direction (MD direction) of 150mm and a cross direction (CD direction) of 70mm was cut out from a fiber article to be measured as a measurement sample, and the sample was allowed to stand for 1 day and night in a specific measurement environment to adapt to the environment. The measurement environment was set to a temperature of 23. + -. 2 ℃ and a relative humidity of 50. + -. 5% RH. The measurement sample was fixed to one surface of a 1mm thick acrylic resin plate having a smooth surface. The measurement sample is preferably fixed to the acrylic resin plate by stretching the four sides of the measurement sample and fixing the measurement sample with an adhesive tape or the like so that no wrinkles are generated in the measurement sample.

The acrylic resin plate to which the measurement sample was fixed in a state in which the fixing surface of the measurement sample was set to the upper side and inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and 0.1mL of ion-exchanged water was gently dropped on the measurement sample from a position 10mm above the measurement sample. The operation of dropping the liquid droplet was continuously performed a plurality of times while appropriately changing the "measurement sample inclination angle" which is the angle formed by the acrylic resin plate and the horizontal plane, and the measurement sample inclination angle when the dropped liquid droplet was not absorbed by the measurement sample at the dropping position and slipped down over the inclined surface of the measurement sample by 30mm or more was set as the hydrophobic angle (slip angle) of the surface to be measured (surface of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region) of the fiber article to be measured.

In general, the hydrophobic angle (slip angle) is in the range of more than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees, and it can be judged that: the smaller the value of the hydrophobic angle, the more hydrophobic the measured surface (surface of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region) is, and the more likely it is to repel the dropped droplets. Therefore, if the surface of the non-skin side hydrophobic region of the present invention is a hydrophobic surface having a relatively small hydrophobic angle, liquid leakage to the garment side such as pants can be effectively prevented. From this viewpoint, in the shorts 10 for imparting water repellency, the water-repellent angle of the surface of the non-skin side water-repellent region 2 of the non-skin facing surface 1b needs to be 45 degrees or less, preferably 40 degrees or less, and more preferably 30 degrees or less.

On the other hand, as described above, the skin-facing surface 1a of the pants 1 is excessively water-repellent, and thus, if it is considered that the fibrous sheet 11 needs to have a water-absorbing layer that maintains the above water-absorbing property (water-absorbing property with a water absorption time of 30 seconds or less as measured by the dropping method of JIS L-1907) at a portion overlapping with the non-skin side water-repellent region 2 in a plan view and closer to the user's skin than the non-skin side water-repellent region 2, and a comfortable use feeling that requires no moist feeling against the non-skin-facing surface 1b, and the like, the excessive water-repellent property is not preferable. From this viewpoint, the contact angle with water of the skin facing surface 1a is preferably 60 degrees or less, more preferably 40 degrees or less, and the following forms are most preferable: when droplets of ion-exchanged water are deposited on the skin-facing surface 1a as the surface to be measured in the above-described measurement method, the droplets are absorbed into the shorts 1 via the skin-facing surface 1a substantially simultaneously (instantaneously) with the deposition. That is, the skin-facing surface 1a of the pants 1 preferably has a high water absorption property, which is not possible to measure by using the contact angle of ion-exchanged water. From the same viewpoint, the hydrophobic angle (slip angle) of the skin facing surface 1a is preferably 50 degrees or more, more preferably 55 degrees or more, and the following forms are most preferable: regardless of the hydrophobic angle, the liquid droplets dropped on the measurement sample in the above-described measurement method do not slip off the inclined surface but are rapidly absorbed at the dropping position.

In the case where the portion of the skin-facing surface on the side opposite to the non-skin-side hydrophobic region (the portion to which the water repellency imparting agent is attached) has a contact angle with water of more than 60 degrees, or a water-repelling angle of less than 50 degrees, or has a high water absorbency such that the measurement of the contact angle becomes impossible as described above, the fiber article is judged not to have "a water-absorbing layer which maintains the water absorbency on the user skin side rather than the non-skin-side hydrophobic region at a portion overlapping the non-skin-side hydrophobic region in a plan view".

As described above, as an index of the degree of hydrophobicity of the surface of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region, in other words, the skin facing surface or the non-skin facing surface of the fiber article, a contact angle with water may be used, and a hydrophobic angle (slip angle) may also be used. In the shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted, the contact angle with water of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is preferably in the above-described preferred range, and the water repellent angle is preferably in the above-described preferred range.

Further, the surface of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 is preferably: the contact angle with water is 80 degrees or more or the water repellent angle is 45 degrees or less, and further the water absorption rate is required to be 10 seconds or more, preferably 25 seconds or more, more preferably 40 seconds or more. The water absorption rate used here is expressed as the time required to absorb a specific amount of water (water absorption time), and the larger the value of the water absorption rate (the longer the water absorption time), the slower the water absorption rate is judged. Since the water absorption rate of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is 10 seconds or more, the water absorption amount is relatively small in comparison between the non-skin facing surface 1b side of the pants 1 provided in the non-skin side water repellent region 2 and the skin facing surface 1a side positioned on the opposite side, and therefore, the liquid absorbed on the skin facing surface 1a side can be effectively suppressed from permeating to the non-skin facing surface 1b side, and as a result, the liquid can be more effectively prevented from permeating to the pants 20. If the water absorption rate of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is less than 10 seconds, it is impossible to prevent the liquid from leaking out of the water absorbent layer (the fiber sheet 11), and it is impossible to prevent a trouble such as the body fluid excreted from the body leaking out to the clothing and being visible from the outside. The water absorption rate can be measured by the following method.

In addition, from the viewpoint of further enhancing the effect of preventing the liquid from oozing out into the pants 20, the water absorption rate (water absorption time) of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is preferably lower by 5 seconds or more than the water absorption rate of the surface of the portion of the skin facing surface 1a of the pants 1 located on the opposite side of the non-skin side water repellent region 2. In addition, the water absorption rate is preferably 600 seconds or less, and more preferably 300 seconds or less, from the viewpoint of achieving both the prevention of liquid leakage to the pants 20 and the breathability.

< method for measuring Water absorption Rate >

5 pieces of a square shape in plan view having a machine direction (MD direction) of 200mm and a cross direction (CD direction) of 200mm were cut out from a fiber article to be measured as a measurement sample, and the sample was allowed to stand in a specific measurement environment for 1 day and night to adapt to the environment. The measurement environment was set to a temperature of 23. + -. 2 ℃ and a relative humidity of 50. + -. 5% RH. The measurement of the water absorption rate of the measurement sample is carried out according to the method described in JISL 1907. However, the height from the surface to be measured of the measurement sample to the distal end of the burette was changed to 5 mm. The measurement target surface is a surface to be measured of the water absorption rate of the measurement sample, and is a skin-facing surface or a non-skin-facing surface (surface of a non-skin-side hydrophobic region).

The contact angle with water and the water absorption rate of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 can be adjusted by appropriately adjusting the type, the amount of adhesion, the range of adhesion, and the like of the water repellency imparting agent forming the non-skin side water repellent region 2. As described below, the non-skin side water repellent region 2 can be formed by applying a water repellency-imparting agent to the non-skin facing surface 1b of the shorts 1 (fibrous article) which is the base of the shorts 10 for imparting water repellency, and the contact angle with water and the water absorption rate of the surface of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 can be adjusted by a method of imparting such as the viscosity of the water repellency-imparting agent and the imparting pressure at the time of application.

The amount of attachment (basis weight) of the hydrophobicity-imparting agent to the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 is preferably 0.02g/m²Above, more preferably 0.05g/m²Above, and preferably 1.5g/m²Below, more preferably 1.2g/m²The following.

The non-skin side water repellent region 2 is a region including the "attachment portion of the water repellent agent" on the non-skin facing surface 1b of the pants 1, and may take a form of i) having no attachment portion of the water repellent agent and ii) having an attachment portion and a non-attachment portion in which the water repellent agent is mixed, with the water repellent agent continuing in the plane direction of the non-skin facing surface 1 b. In the form of ii) above, the water repellency imparting agent is not present continuously on the non-skin facing surface 1b, that is, a plurality of attachment portions are present intermittently, and the plurality of attachment portions are present collectively to a degree that can be recognized by an observer as 1 collective region called a non-skin side water repellent region 2. Fig. 4(a) shows a photomicrograph (observation magnification 50 times) of a specific example of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region in the form ii) described above. In the non-skin-side hydrophobic region shown in fig. 4(a), a state in which the attached portions (non-white portions) and the non-attached portions (exposed portions and white portions on the surface of the fiber article) of the water-repellent agent are mixed is seen.

By forming the non-skin side water repellent region 2 by applying the water repellent agent to the non-skin facing surface 1b of the pants 1, as described above, it is possible to prevent a trouble that body fluid excreted from the body seeps into the clothing to be worn and is visible from the outside, and, on the other hand, there is a concern that the air permeability or flexibility of the portion where the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is formed may be lowered. In this respect, if the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is mixed with the adhering portion and the non-adhering portion of the water repellent agent as in the above configuration ii) (see fig. 4(a)), the reduction in air permeability and flexibility due to the application of the water repellent agent can be suppressed, and the original air permeability and flexibility of the pants 1 can be substantially maintained. The attachment portion and the non-attachment portion where the water repellent agent is mixed in the non-skin side water repellent region 2 can be formed by intermittently attaching the water repellent agent to the non-skin facing surface 1b of the pants 1, for example, in the production of the pants 10 having water repellency. This intermittent application of the water repellency imparting agent can be performed, for example, by a method of spraying the water repellency imparting agent onto the non-skin surface 1b using a non-contact agent application mechanism such as a sprayer, a bead-laying method described below, or a method of applying the water repellency imparting agent solidified into a rod shape by direct contact, and by these methods, a form in which the adhering portions and the non-adhering portions of the water repellency imparting agent are mixed as shown in fig. 4(a) can be obtained.

Fig. 4(b) shows a photomicrograph (observation magnification 50 times) of the side opposite to the side where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region shown in fig. 4(a) is formed (side to which the water repellency imparting agent is applied), that is, the skin-facing surface (non-side to which the water repellency imparting agent is not applied) of the specific example of the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention. In fig. 4(a), the presence of the water repellency imparting agent (non-white portion in the figure) can be confirmed, but in fig. 4(b), the presence of the water repellency imparting agent cannot be confirmed, and only the surface (skin-facing surface) originally possessed by the fiber product is widened. In fig. 4(b), it is not confirmed that the water repellency imparting agent means that, for example, when the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is formed by imparting the water repellency imparting agent to the non-skin side surface 1b of the pants 1 by a bead running method or the like described below, it is difficult for the imparted water repellency imparting agent to penetrate through the pants 1 in the thickness direction and appear on the skin side surface 1 a. Namely, it can be said that: by applying the water repellency-imparting agent to the non-skin-facing surface of the fibrous article, there is a possibility that a "form in which the amount of the water repellency-imparting agent adhering decreases from the non-skin-facing surface of the fibrous article toward the skin-facing surface" can be obtained. This mode will be described later.

The proportion of the total area of the adhering portions of the water repellent agent in the 50mm square region (unit region) arbitrarily selected from the non-skin side water repellent region 2 to the entire area (the occupancy of the adhering portions of the water repellent agent) is preferably 10% or more, more preferably 15% or more, and preferably 80% or less, more preferably 60% or less. The form of ii) includes that the occupancy rate of the water repellent agent-attached part is in this range. The occupancy rate of the water repellent substance-attached portion in the form of i) above was 100%. If the occupancy rate of the water repellency imparting agent attachment portion is too low, the function as a barrier layer of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 becomes insufficient, and there is a possibility that a problem such as visibility from the outside due to leakage of body fluid excreted from the body into the clothing cannot be prevented. If the occupancy rate of the water repellency imparting agent attachment portion is too high, when a water repellency imparting agent capable of forming the non-skin side hydrophobic regions 2 is imparted to the non-skin facing surface 1b depending on the type of the pants 1 or the like, the imparted water repellency imparting agent may penetrate into the opposite skin facing surface 1a, and the effect of preventing liquid from oozing out into the pants 20 may be reduced. Further, if the occupancy rate of the water repellent agent attachment portion is high, the function as a barrier layer of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 becomes high, and conversely, the breathability and flexibility of the portion where the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is formed may become insufficient.

In the shorts 10 having water repellency, since the water repellency imparting agent is not attached to the skin-facing surface 1a on the side opposite to the side on which the non-skin-side water repellent region 2 is formed, or is attached in a very small amount, the occupancy rate of the water repellency imparting agent attachment portion on the skin-facing surface 1a is significantly lower than that of the non-skin-side water repellent region 2. Specifically, the ratio of the total area of the adhering portions of the water repellent agent in the region (unit region) of 50mm square arbitrarily selected from the skin facing surface 1a to the entire area (the occupation ratio of the adhering portions of the water repellent agent) is preferably 15% or less, more preferably 5% or less, and most preferably zero.

In the case of confirming the presence or absence of the attachment portion of the water repellent agent (non-skin-side hydrophobic region of the present invention) in the fiber product, the following confirmation method a or B can be used. The occupancy rate of the water repellent agent-attached portion can be calculated by any of the following confirmation methods a and B. However, in the case of the confirmation method B using a scanning electron microscope, the unit region is not 50mm square but 2mm square, and the occupancy rate of the water repellent-imparting agent-adhering portion in this case is preferably 10% or more, more preferably 15% or more, and preferably 80% or less, more preferably 60% or less.

The confirmation method A comprises the following steps: a droplet of the coloring liquid is dropped onto the surface (non-skin-facing surface) of the fiber article to be checked. The coloring liquid is prepared by dissolving or dispersing an appropriate coloring agent (dye, pigment, etc.) in water. When the water repellency imparting agent is not attached to the drop position of the droplet, the drop position is stained with the droplet, but when the water repellency imparting agent is attached to the drop position, the droplet is repelled by the water repellency imparting agent, and therefore the drop position is not colored and is the original color. In general, by performing the operation of dropping the coloring liquid a plurality of times, the non-colored region which is not colored can be visually recognized, and the non-colored region can be determined as an attachment portion of the water repellent agent (non-skin side hydrophobic region of the present invention). The ratio of the area of the non-colored region to the area of the unit region (50mm square) (the former/the latter) is the occupancy of the water repellent agent-attached portion.

Further, since it is difficult to use the ratio of the non-colored area in the confirmation method a, when it is difficult to calculate the occupancy ratio of the water repellent coating portion, it is sufficient to perform the following method. That is, about 20 droplets of the multi-droplet coloring liquid were dropped substantially uniformly in a unit area of 50mm square so as not to overlap each other, the number of droplets that were not absorbed for 3 seconds or more and remained in the unit area (the number of remaining droplets) was counted, and the ratio of the number of remaining droplets to the total number of droplets dropped was defined as the occupancy rate of the water repellent adhering portion.

The confirmation method B: the method is particularly effective when the water repellency imparting agent to be confirmed is a modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent. The surface (non-skin-facing surface) of the fiber article to be checked was observed with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and an attached energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDS), and the observation image was output as necessary to check the presence or absence of the element Si contained in the modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent. When the element Si is confirmed, this portion can be determined as an attachment portion of the water repellent (non-skin-side hydrophobic region of the present invention). The observation magnification of SEM is usually 50 to 100 times. The occupancy rate of the water repellency imparting agent adhering portion can be calculated, for example, by a method of transferring the water repellency imparting agent adhering portion to a transparent film and calculating the area ratio by an image analysis method. Specific examples of the observation conditions in the confirmation method B include conditions in which JSM-6510 of JEOL (manufactured by JEOL Ltd.) is used as SEM, EX-230BU (built-in apparatus) is used for EDS, the observation magnification is 50 times, and the acceleration voltage is 10 kV.

In addition, the following cases exist in both of the confirmation methods a and B: a step is generated due to unevenness of the surface (non-skin-facing surface) of the fiber product to be checked, according to the woven structure of the fabric of the fiber product to be checked; in this case, the occupancy rate of the water repellent coating portion is calculated based on the total surface area of the unit region including the step.

In the shorts 10 for imparting water repellency, if the thickness 2T (see fig. 2) of the portion of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 to which the water repellent agent is attached is too small, the function of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 as a barrier layer may be insufficient, whereas if the thickness 2T is too large, the air permeability and flexibility may be significantly reduced compared to the shorts 1 (fiber-made article) in the state before the water repellent agent is attached. In view of the above, the thickness 2T of the attachment portion of the water repellent agent in the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is preferably 5% or more, more preferably 10% or more, further preferably 50% or more, and further preferably 60% or less, with respect to the thickness 1T (see fig. 2) of the pants 1 (fiber product). Hereinafter, the ratio of the thickness 2T to the thickness 1T is also referred to as "thickness ratio of the water repellent. The preferable range of the thickness ratio of the water repellency imparting agent is 50% or more and 60% or less as described above. From the viewpoint of maintaining the properties of the pants 1 as underwear as much as possible and effectively utilizing the water absorption property which the pants 1 originally have, the thickness 2T is preferably small and relatively thinner than the pants 1.

The thickness 2T of the attachment portion of the water repellency imparting agent in the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 is preferably 0.05mm or more, more preferably 0.1mm or more, and further preferably 0.5mm or less.

The thickness 1T of the pants 1 (fiber sheet 11) is preferably 0.5mm or more, more preferably 0.8mm or more, and preferably 2mm or less, more preferably 1.7mm or less.

The thickness 2T can be measured by a known thickness measuring method, and can be measured smoothly by coloring the attached water repellent agent itself with an appropriate coloring agent before the measurement. In addition, when the water repellency imparting agent to be attached is a modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent, the measurement method using SEM-EDS is simple in the same manner as in the above-described confirmation method B. In this case, the measurement of the thickness 2T can be performed in the cross-sectional direction of the measurement sample. The observation conditions may be, for example, 100 times the observation magnification and 10kV of the acceleration voltage. When a measurement sample is prepared by cutting a specific shape from the shorts 10 having water repellency, the cut surface to be observed may be cut with a featter single blade razor (FAS-10) after freezing in liquid nitrogen, in addition to a cutting operation known to the manufacturer using a microtome or the like, so as not to be contaminated by the cutting operation.

The "ratio of the thickness 2T of the attachment portion of the water repellent agent to the thickness 1T of the fiber article in the non-skin-side hydrophobic region" (water repellent agent thickness ratio) can be measured using the SEM-EDS as described above in the following manner. That is, the measurement object (the fiber product to which the water repellency imparting agent is attached) was frozen with liquid nitrogen, and thereafter, the portion of the measurement object where the water repellency imparting agent is present (the non-skin side hydrophobic region) was cut in the thickness direction with a feater single blade razor (FAS-10), and the cut surface was observed with SEM-EDS in the same manner as in the above confirmation method B, and the thickness 2T was measured, and the thickness ratio of the water repellency imparting agent was calculated from the measured value and the thickness 1T. The thickness 2T is preferably measured by changing the observation position 5 times for each sample, and calculating the thickness ratio of the water repellent agent using the average value of the thickness 2T measurement values obtained by these 5 measurements. The observation of the cut surface (measurement of the thickness 2T) can be carried out, for example, by using JSM-6510 (manufactured by JEOL, Japan Electron Ltd.) as an SEM, and EX-230BU (built-in device) as an EDS with an observation magnification of 100 times and an acceleration voltage of 10 kV.

In the shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted, the air permeability of the portion where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 is formed is preferably 2 seconds/100 ml or more, more preferably 3 seconds/100 ml or more, and preferably 30 seconds/100 ml or less, more preferably 20 seconds/100 ml or less. The "formation site of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region" described here is a site including the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 and a site of the shorts 10 (fiber sheet 11) to which water repellency is imparted that overlaps with the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 in a plan view, in other words, a site of the shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted other than the non-formation site of the skin-side hydrophobic region 2.

When the air permeability of the portion where the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is formed is too low, it is judged that the occupancy rate of the water repellent agent attached portion of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is too high, and the air permeability and flexibility of the pants 1 (fiber product) are significantly reduced compared to the state before the water repellent agent is attached, and there is a possibility that problems such as stuffiness and skin inflammation occur in the skin of the pants wearer. In the case where the air permeability of the portion where the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is formed is too high (the air permeability of the portion where the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is formed is not substantially different from the air permeability originally possessed by the shorts 1), it is determined that the occupancy rate of the portion where the water repellent agent is attached to the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is too low, and the amount of the water repellent agent attached is insufficient, so that the function as a barrier layer of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 may become insufficient.

Air permeability is a value measured by JIS P8117 (1998) such that 100ml of air passes 6.42cm on a fixed pressure basis²Is defined by the time of the area of (a). Due to the fact thatHere, the greater air permeability means that it takes time for air to pass through, i.e., the air permeability is lower. Conversely, less air permeability means higher air permeability. Therefore, the magnitude of air permeability is inversely related to the level of air permeability. Air permeability can be measured using a joker air permeability meter.

In addition, in general, when a fiber product is subjected to a hydrophobic treatment such as a film coat, there is a problem that the original air permeability of the fiber product is significantly reduced, and skin problems such as stuffiness and skin inflammation are induced. In view of this, the difference in air permeability between the portions where the non-skin hydrophobic regions 2 are formed and the portions where the non-skin hydrophobic regions 2 are not formed (portions where the air permeability inherent in the pants 1 is substantially maintained) is preferably 5 seconds/100 ml or less in terms of the former/the latter, on the premise that the former > the latter.

In the shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted, the stiffness of the portion where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 is formed is preferably 60mm or less, more preferably 55mm or less, and preferably 10mm or more, more preferably 15mm or more. The stiffness of the portion where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 is formed may be an index of the occupancy of the water repellency imparting agent attachment portion of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2. That is, it is preferable that the water repellency imparting agent forming the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 (for example, a modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent to be described later) has a property that the flexibility of the attachment portion increases (the rigidity decreases) as the attachment amount increases, and in the case where the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is formed by such a specific water repellency imparting agent, when the value of the stiffness of the formation portion of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 decreases, specifically, when the stiffness of the formation portion of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is substantially not different from or smaller than the original stiffness of the shorts 1, it can be judged that the occupancy rate of the water repellency imparting agent attachment portion of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is high. On the other hand, in the case where the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is formed at a portion significantly lower than the stiffness originally possessed by the pants 1, that is, in the case where the rigidity (plasticity) is excessively softened to a significantly lower degree, it is judged that the occupancy ratio of the water repellent attachment portion of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is excessively high. Further, in comparison with the modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent described later, the conventional water repellent coating agent has a reduced flexibility at the attachment site in proportion to an increase in the amount of attachment, and this is because a resin film is formed at the attachment site. The stiffness can be measured by the following method.

< method for measuring stiffness >

The measurement of the stiffness was carried out according to JIS L1096 "8.21. stiffness measurement method" method A (45 ℃ cantilever method). However, in the present measurement method, only the stiffness in the longitudinal direction of the measurement sample is measured in accordance with the preparation (sampling) of the measurement sample. In the case where the measurement sample has wrinkles or creases, the measurement sample is ironed by ironing in advance before the measurement to eliminate the wrinkles or creases, and then left to stand in the measurement environment for a day and night to adapt to the environment.

In addition, from the viewpoint of preventing the presence of an excessive amount of the water repellent agent in the non-skin side water repellent region 2 and setting the occupancy of the water repellent agent attachment portion to an appropriate range, it is preferable that the stiffness of the formation portion of the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is 60mm or less as described above, and further, equal to or less than the stiffness of the water repellent region non-formation portion, which is the portion of the shorts 10 (shorts 1) where the non-skin side water repellent region 2 is not formed, of the water repellent region. More specifically, the difference in the stiffness between the non-hydrophobic region-forming portion and the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 is preferably 0 to 25mm, more preferably 0 to 20mm, in terms of the former and the latter, on the premise that the former > the latter. For example, as an example of a water repellency imparting agent that can establish the dimensional relationship "(stiffness of non-water repellent region non-forming portion) > (stiffness of non-skin side water repellent region 2 forming portion)", a composition containing a modified polysiloxane (modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent) described later can be cited, and when this composition is used as a water repellency imparting agent for forming non-skin side water repellent region 2, it is preferable that the former and the latter are different from each other — the latter is in the above-specified range. Examples of the modified polysiloxane contained in the composition include polyoxazoline-modified polysiloxanes and polyether-modified polysiloxanes having various molecular weights and branched structures, and 1 of these can be used alone or 2 or more of these can be used in combination.

In the fiber product to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention, as a part to which the water repellency imparting agent is attached in the fiber product to be a base, the non-skin-facing surface of the fiber product must be a part in which the non-skin side water repellent region is formed, and in the case of the shorts 10 to which water repellency is imparted which is shown in fig. 2, for example, the part of the shorts 1 (fiber sheet 11) which is overlapped with the non-skin side water repellent region 2 in a plan view, it is assumed that a water absorbing layer in which the above water absorbency is maintained, that is, the water absorbency time measured by the dropping method of JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less, is present in this part regardless of the presence or absence of the attachment of the water repellency imparting agent. Even if there is a portion to which the water repellency imparting agent is attached in the fiber product, the portion can maintain the water absorbency depending on the amount of attachment, the pattern of attachment, and the like.

As for the form of attachment of the water repellency imparting agent, the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention may include the following forms: in the shorts 10 (fiber product to which water repellency is imparted) to impart water repellency shown in fig. 2, the amount of the water repellency imparting agent attached decreases from the non-skin facing surface 1b toward the skin facing surface 1a of the shorts 1 (fiber product). The form in which the amount of the water repellency imparting agent attached is reduced may include the following forms: the water repellent agent is not attached to the skin facing surface 1a side (a region extending from the skin facing surface 1a in the thickness direction of the pants 1 by a predetermined length). As described later, the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 can be typically formed by applying a water repellency-imparting agent to the non-skin facing surface 1b of the pants 1 by a method such as a sprayer, and by applying a water repellency-imparting agent from the non-skin facing surface 1b side of the pants 1 in this manner, the water repellency-imparting agent applied is attached only to the non-skin facing surface 1b to form the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2, or is formed in the non-skin-side hydrophobic region 2 and then penetrates into the interior of the pants 1 (fiber sheet 11), and in either case, the above-described "form in which the amount of attachment of the water repellency-imparting agent is gradually reduced from the non-skin facing surface toward the skin facing surface" of the fiber product "can be obtained. As described above, fig. 4(a) shows a non-skin-facing surface of a specific example of this form, and fig. 4(b) shows a skin-facing surface on the opposite side of the non-skin-facing surface.

Fig. 5 is an EDS image (observation magnification 100 times) of a cross section in the thickness direction showing a specific example of the "form in which the amount of water repellency-imparting agent adhering decreases from the non-skin-facing surface toward the skin-facing surface of the fibrous article". In fig. 5, a white portion extending in the longitudinal center of the image in the transverse direction is a fibrous article (constituting fiber), and fine dots (black dots) present in the substantially half portion of the white portion are elements Si contained in a modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent as a water repellency imparting agent, more specifically, one of water repellency imparting agents. In the specific example of the water repellent fiber product of the present invention shown in fig. 5, the number of the above-mentioned points is relatively large on the non-skin-facing surface side (the upper surface side of the sheet in fig. 5), and is relatively small on the skin-facing surface side (the lower surface side of the sheet in fig. 5). By thus decreasing the amount of the water repellency-imparting agent adhering from the non-skin facing surface 1b toward the skin facing surface 1a, the skin facing surface 1a side (the skin facing surface 1a and the vicinity thereof) of the shorts 10 imparted with water repellency is less likely to be affected by the water repellency-imparting agent, and therefore the original feel of the shorts 1 can be maintained, which is more preferable.

In addition, regarding the form of attachment of the water repellency imparting agent, the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention may include the following forms: in the shorts 10 (fiber product to which water repellency is imparted) shown in fig. 2, a skin-side hydrophobic region (not shown) including an attachment portion of a water repellency imparting agent is provided on the skin-facing surface 1a of the shorts 1 (fiber product). In this skin-side water repellent region formation form, the weight of the water repellent agent attached per unit area is smaller in the skin-side water repellent region than in the non-skin-side water repellent region 2. In addition, in this skin side water repellent region formation form, a water absorbing layer in which the above water absorbing property is maintained, that is, "water absorption time measured by dropping method in JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less" is present between the non-skin side water repellent region 2 and the skin side water repellent region. According to this form of forming the skin-side hydrophobic region, the skin-side hydrophobic region is formed on the skin-facing surface of the fibrous article to impart water repellency thereto, and therefore, the effect of reducing the sticky feeling on the skin of the user can be exerted. The ratio of the amount of the water repellency-imparting agent attached to the skin-side hydrophobic region to the amount of the water repellency-imparting agent attached to the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is preferably 1/5 or less, more preferably 1/10 or less, in terms of the former/latter, and it is also more preferable that no water repellency-imparting agent is observed in the former.

Fig. 3 shows another embodiment of the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention. In the other embodiment described below, the components different from those of the shorts 10 having water repellency described above are mainly described, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted. In particular, the description of the shorts 10 for imparting water repellency can be applied to the components not described as appropriate.

In the shorts 10A (fiber product to which water repellency is imparted) as underwear shown in fig. 3, the skin-facing surface 1A of the shorts 1A (fiber product) is a flat surface substantially free from irregularities, whereas the non-skin-facing surface 1b has an irregular structure including a plurality of convex portions and concave portions. The water repellency imparting agent forming the non-skin-side water repellent region 2A is attached to the convex portions constituting the uneven structure. The water repellency imparting agent is not attached to the concave portions constituting the uneven structure, or is attached to the concave portions in a small amount as compared with the amount of the convex portions. The uneven structure on the non-skin-facing surface 1b of the pants 1A can be formed by known embossing such as embossing with or without heat, ultrasonic embossing, and the like, and when the material of the fiber sheet 11 constituting the pants 1A is a woven fabric or a knitted fabric, it can be formed by considering a weaving method or a knitting method thereof.

The term "uneven structure" as used herein means a structure including a plurality of convex portions formed by a woven structure and concave portions formed between the plurality of convex portions. When 60% or more of the area of the plurality of recessed portions present on the surface (non-skin-facing surface) of the fibrous article is larger than a square having a side of 500 μm in a plan view and the depth (length from the top of the convex portion adjacent to the recessed portion to the bottom of the recessed portion) is 500 μm or more, the surface (non-skin-facing surface) of the fibrous article can be said to have a concavo-convex structure.

For example, in the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 shown in fig. 2, since the skin facing surface 1a of the pants 1 in which the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is formed is a substantially flat surface without irregularities, and therefore the surface of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 is also a substantially flat surface without irregularities, in this case, substantially the entire area of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2 can be in close contact with the pants 20 as an outer garment, and therefore, the vapor generated in the internal space of the pants 1 during wearing (between the skin of the pants wearer and the skin facing surface 1a of the pants 1) is difficult to be discharged to the outside, and therefore, there is a fear that the pants 20 are wet by the vapor, and further, there is a fear that skin problems such as stuffiness and skin inflammation are caused. The vapor is generated by evaporation of body fluid such as urine or sweat excreted by the wearer of the pants through body temperature. In contrast, since the surface of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2A shown in fig. 3 facing the pants 20 has the uneven structure, the contact area with the pants 20 is reduced compared to the contact area with the pants 20 of the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2, and a gap that can function as a ventilation duct is generated in the contact portion with the pants 20, so that the above-described fear can be eliminated. In this way, the shorts 10A provided with water repellency and having the non-skin side hydrophobic region 2A having an uneven surface are excellent in quick-drying property and further reduced in sticky feeling.

The water repellency imparting agent used in the present invention will be described below.

The water repellency-imparting agent used in the present invention is required to impart water repellency (water repellency) to a fiber-made article and to form a non-skin-side hydrophobic region having a contact angle with water and a water absorption rate within the above specific ranges.

In the fiber product to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention, as described above, it is necessary to provide a "water-absorbing layer" that can maintain the water absorbency inherent in the fiber product at a portion of the fiber product that overlaps with the non-skin side water repellent region in a plan view and is closer to the user's skin side than the non-skin side water repellent region, and when a water repellency imparting agent is imparted from one surface (non-skin facing surface) side of the fiber product by a sprayer or the like, if the imparted water repellency imparting agent permeates well into the other surface (skin facing surface), there is a concern that retention of the water-absorbing layer will become difficult, and further, the air permeability, flexibility, and the like of the fiber product will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, the water repellency-imparting agent is required to impart water repellency to the fiber product, and further, the fiber product has low permeability, and when the fiber product is imparted, the application is stopped at the position of the fiber product and its vicinity (non-permeability).

The water repellency imparting agent used in the present invention may be a composition containing a modified polysiloxane (modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent). The modified polysiloxane is a component that functions as a water repellent to impart water repellency to a fiber article. Examples of the modified polysiloxane include polyoxazoline-modified polysiloxanes and polyether-modified polysiloxanes having various molecular weights and branch structures, and 1 of these can be used alone or 2 or more of these can be used in combination. Among these modified polysiloxanes, polyoxazoline-modified polysiloxanes having a content of a dimethylsiloxane structure such as a polysiloxane unit of 55% or more and 98% or less are preferably used in the present invention because they can achieve both hydrophobic stability after treatment and washability by a general washing operation. The content of the modified polysiloxane of the water repellency imparting agent is preferably 25% by mass or more, more preferably 30% by mass or more, based on the total mass of the water repellency imparting agent, from the viewpoint of obtaining stable water repellency durability. In the case of using a composition containing a modified polysiloxane as the water repellency imparting agent, since the modified polysiloxane which is a component contained in the composition and becomes a main cause of imparting water repellency is deposited on the surface of the attachment portion (surface of the non-skin-side hydrophobic region) of the composition of the fiber article in preference to other components contained therein, there is an advantage that the amount of the composition used (amount of attachment) can be relatively small.

The above-mentioned modified polysiloxane-containing composition may also be one containing a volatile solvent in which the modified polysiloxane is soluble. That is, the water repellency imparting agent used in the present invention may be a liquid in which the modified polysiloxane is dissolved in a volatile solvent at normal temperature and pressure, and the liquid water repellency imparting agent is applied to the non-skin-facing surface of the fiber article to form a non-skin-side hydrophobic region, whereby the fiber article imparted with water repellency of the present invention can be obtained. However, there may be the following cases: in the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted obtained in this manner, the volatile solvent contained in the liquid water repellency imparting agent is volatilized and does not remain. Examples of the volatile solvent include ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, and water/ethanol mixed solutions in various proportions, and 1 of these solvents may be used alone or 2 or more of them may be used in combination. Among these volatile solvents, ethanol, in particular, can be preferably used in the present invention because of safety and high volatility (quick-drying property).

Further, the composition containing the modified polysiloxane may contain a water-soluble binder. The water-soluble binder is mainly used for fixing a modified polysiloxane as a water repellent to an object to which the composition is applied (a fiber article). As such a binder, there is a water-insoluble binder which is not dissolved at all or hardly dissolved in water, and in many cases, a water repellency imparting agent in a commercially available water repellent spray for clothing contains a water-insoluble binder, and when a water repellency imparting agent containing a water-insoluble binder is imparted to a fiber product, there is a concern that: yellowing, hardness, an unpleasant solvent odor, and the like of the fiber product are easily generated, and in addition, washing of the fiber product is limited in some cases, and the handleability of the fiber product is lowered. On the other hand, when a water-soluble binder is selected, such a problem due to the use of a water-insoluble binder is unlikely to occur.

Examples of the water-soluble binder include polyvinyl alcohol, acrylic resins, and acrylic resin latexes, and 1 of these may be used alone or 2 or more may be used in combination. Among these water-soluble binders, various acrylic resins such as a (vinyl methyl ether/butyl maleate) copolymer represented by "Gantrez ES-425" available from MATSUMOTO company, or an acrylic resin alkanolamine are particularly preferably used in the present invention because they are strongly adhered to the surface of the fiber product via an ester bond. These various acrylic resins are particularly remarkable in the case of fiber articles, in which they are firmly attached to the fiber articles via ester bonds in combination with a polyether-modified polysiloxane-based water repellency-imparting agent, and further, they are subjected to heating operations such as ironing or drying. The content of the water-soluble binder in the water repellency imparting agent is preferably 20% by mass or more, more preferably 30% by mass or more, and preferably 80% by mass or less, more preferably 70% by mass or less, with respect to the total mass of the water repellency imparting agent.

The water repellency (water repellency) possessed by the fiber article imparted with water repellency of the present invention can be removed by washing the fiber article imparted with water repellency with water by a conventional method. That is, the fiber product to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention may be washed to remove the water repellency imparting agent and to eliminate the water repellent region on the non-skin side, thereby obtaining the original fiber product. Such a fiber article imparted with water repellency that can be reset with water repellency by washing is particularly useful when water repellency treatment of a fiber article using a water repellency imparting agent (production of a fiber article imparted with water repellency) is performed not industrially but individually or in the home. That is, for example, an individual or a family can repeatedly perform the following series of operations: "after using a fiber article to which water repellency is imparted, the fiber article is washed, and the original fiber article is produced and stored, and then when it is necessary to impart water repellency to the fiber article, water repellency treatment of the fiber article is performed using a water repellency imparting agent".

The above-mentioned "fiber article imparted with water repellency which can be reset to water repellency by washing" can be defined more specifically as follows. That is, in a liquid containing 0.1 mass% of a commonly available detergent for clothing and ion-exchanged water, the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted is stirred and immersed for 10 minutes, and then the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted is lightly wrung, and then stirred and immersed in ion-exchanged water for 10 minutes at a rotation speed of 350rpm, in this case, when the content of the water repellency imparting agent in the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted after the stirring and immersion is 20 mass% or less of the water repellency imparting agent in the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted before the stirring and immersion, the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted is a fiber article to which water repellency can be reset by washing. As the "commonly available laundry detergent" described above, a surfactant containing a long-chain alkyl ether sulfate or the like as a main component can be used, and generally, most of commercially available laundry detergents can be used. Specifically, for example, "attach Neo" (registered trademark) which is a liquid laundry detergent manufactured by kao corporation is exemplified. The above-mentioned "lightly twisting a fiber article to which water repellency is imparted" is a method represented specifically by the following states: 20 pieces of filter paper "2" larger than the object were stacked, the wetted fibrous article was placed thereon, and the whole was pressed one by one with a 5kg roller (width 50mm) and drawn.

In addition to the conditions for washing the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted, the conditions such as the capacity of the apparatus used for stirring and dipping the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted may be appropriately determined within the range of the conditions disclosed in the present specification, and as preferable conditions in the case of targeting one piece of fiber article, the following conditions may be exemplified: A2L beaker was used as a means for stirring and immersing a fiber article to be imparted with water repellency, and 1.5L of a washing liquid and a rinsing liquid was used. In addition, AS the agitation of the fiber-made article to which water repellency is imparted, an agitator capable of monitoring the number of revolutions may be suitably used, and it is preferable to use a magnetic stirrer HS-50D manufactured by AS ONE, and an AS ONE crosshead double rotor (diameter 60mm, product number 1-5409-07) AS the agitator.

Fig. 6 shows a specific example of the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention shown in fig. 5 (the "form in which the amount of the water repellency imparting agent adhering decreases from the non-skin-facing surface toward the skin-facing surface of the fiber article") in the form of an EDS image (observation magnification 100 times) of a cross section along the thickness direction of the specific example after the agitation and immersion (i.e., after washing) in the above-described order. Therefore, the following steps are carried out: in the fibrous article imparted with water repellency before washing in fig. 5, the water repellency imparting agent (element Si derived from the modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent) that can be confirmed in the form of a plurality of dots (black dots) on the non-skin-facing surface side (upper surface of white portion in fig. 5 and vicinity thereof) substantially disappears after washing in fig. 6. From this situation, it can be seen that: the specific example of the fiber article imparted with water repellency of the present invention shown in fig. 5 is the above-mentioned "fiber article imparted with water repellency that can be reset with water repellency by washing".

The remaining rate of the water repellency imparting agent in the fiber product imparted with water repellency after washing may be measured by an extraction method, and may be substantially replaced by observation of liquid absorption by droplet placement. Specifically, for example, when the water repellent state of the non-skin-facing surface (non-skin-side water repellent region) of the fiber product to which water repellent property is imparted shows a relatively strong water repellent property of 80 degrees or more by a contact angle meter with water measured by the above-mentioned method before the washing treatment, and when the same observation is performed on the same surface after the washing treatment, the same contact angle as that of the skin-facing surface of the fiber product to which water repellent property is imparted or a droplet of ion-exchanged water used for measuring the contact angle is instantaneously absorbed by the same surface to such an extent that the measurement cannot be performed, it can be judged that the water repellent property-imparting agent remaining rate on the same surface is zero.

The "fiber article imparted with water repellency which can be reset with water repellency by washing" can be obtained by using the water-soluble binder as a binder to be contained in the water repellency imparting agent. In addition, the above-mentioned "fiber article imparted with water repellency that can reset water repellency by washing" can also be obtained by using, as the water repellency imparting agent, a modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent having, as a modifying group, a hydrophilic side chain containing a hydrophilic polymer, in which case all of the water repellency imparting agents that can be used are the modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent, or the main component of the water repellency imparting agent that can be used is the modified polysiloxane-based water repellency imparting agent, and further, a smaller amount of water repellency imparting agent than the main component is used in combination. In the modified polysiloxane-based water repellency-imparting agent, the content mass ratio of the hydrophilic side chain to the polysiloxane main chain is preferably 55 mass% or more and 98 mass% or less.

The fiber product to which water repellency is imparted of the present invention may optionally contain 1 or more selected from the group consisting of a deodorizing component, an aromatic component, an antibacterial agent, a bactericide, and a refreshing agent as measures against odor. These deodorizing components and the like may be contained in the fiber article constituting the fiber article imparted with water repellency, or may be contained in the non-skin-side hydrophobic region. For example, in a fiber article for imparting water repellency obtained by imparting a water repellency imparting agent (composition containing a modified polysiloxane) containing a deodorant component or the like to a fiber article not containing a deodorant component or the like, at least the non-skin side water repellent region contains a deodorant component or the like, and the fiber article also contains a deodorant component or the like according to the conditions for imparting a water repellency imparting agent or the like. These odor countermeasures are also preferable in terms of the effect of suppressing skin inflammation and the like. It is preferable that which of the above components is used as the measure against the odor is determined in consideration of the influence of the safety and the like on the body of the user at the site where the component is used.

Examples of the deodorizing component and the deodorizing component include known deodorizing agents such as activated carbon, silica gel, zeolite, lamellar particles containing zirconium phosphate, steric particles containing silicate, and zinc oxide, and 1 of these may be used alone or 2 or more may be used in combination.

As the above-mentioned aromatic component, any of natural perfumes and synthetic perfumes may be used in an appropriate amount, and examples thereof include natural extracts such as green tea, benzoin, clove oil, jasmine essential oil, mate tea, mimosa pudica, jojoba (Tonquin Musk), frankincense, rosemary oil, sandalwood oil, vetiver oil, violet leaf essential oil, and various synthetic perfumes such as higher alcohols, aldehydes, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, cinnamic acid, cinnamaldehyde, cinnamyl alcohol, coumarin, esters, indoles, ketones, salicylic acid and related compounds, terpenoids, vanillin, and the like, and 1 of these may be used alone or 2 or more of these may be used in combination.

As the antibacterial agent and the bactericide, known antibacterial and bactericidal substances include, for example, silver, copper, zinc, silica, activated carbon, aluminosilicate compound, zeolite, electrolyte used as a moisture absorbent, alcohol, aldehyde, phenol, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, hypochlorite, a surfactant, and the like, and 1 of these may be used alone or 2 or more of these may be used in combination.

As the cooling agent, for example, those described in patent No. 6121269 can be suitably used. By incorporating a refreshing agent into a fiber article having water repellency, a refreshing feeling and a dry feeling are imparted, and the comfort can be further improved.

As described above, the fiber product imparted with water repellency of the present invention is a fiber product having water absorbency inherent in the fiber product and water repellency passing through the non-skin-side hydrophobic region, and can be applied to various uses by taking advantage of this characteristic, for example: underwear represented by underwear such as shorts, crotch fabric, shirts, bras, briefs, and socks; sportswear such as soccer jersey, golf jersey, tennis jersey, basketball jersey, table tennis jersey, badminton jersey, soccer shorts, tennis shorts, basketball shorts, table tennis shorts, badminton shorts, sports shorts, golf shorts, various sports under-shirts (undershirt), various sports under-shirts (innerwear), sweater, T-shirt, jersey (jersey), sports jersey (trainer), wind-blocking jacket, shorts, and leg protectors; a light incontinence product such as a pad for treating leakage of urine, a sanitary napkin analogue, a vaginal secretion pad analogue such as a sanitary pad, and a breast milk pad analogue. The region of the fibrous article having water repellency provided thereon, which is formed with the non-skin-side hydrophobic region, may be appropriately set according to the application of the fibrous article having water repellency, and at least the region of the non-skin-facing surface of the fibrous article, which is expected to allow liquid to seep out in the application, for example, the region corresponding to the excretory part such as the penis, the underarm, the back, the crotch part, the hip, and the nipple part.

A urine leakage treatment pad typically includes a front sheet disposed relatively close to the skin of a wearer, a back sheet disposed relatively far from the skin of the wearer, and an absorbent body interposed between the two sheets, and the back sheet can contact with a garment such as pants during wearing of the urine leakage treatment pad. Therefore, when the fiber product to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention is applied to a urine leakage treatment pad, the water repellency imparting agent may be imparted to the outer surface (non-skin-facing surface) of the back sheet of the pad to form a non-skin-side hydrophobic region.

The method for producing a fiber article having water repellency of the present invention includes a step of applying a water repellency-imparting agent to the non-skin-facing surface of a fiber article having the above-described water absorption property, i.e., a water absorption property in which the water absorption time measured by the dropping method of JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less. The fiber product imparted with water repellency of the present invention can be produced basically by performing only this step, and can be efficiently produced without requiring large-scale equipment or complicated procedures. Therefore, the method for producing a fiber article having water repellency of the present invention can be carried out not only industrially, but also individually or at home.

In the method for producing a fibrous article having water repellency of the present invention, the water repellency-imparting agent may not be applied to the skin-facing surface of the fibrous article, or a smaller amount of the water repellency-imparting agent may be applied to the non-skin-facing surface of the fibrous article. In this respect, as described above.

The method of applying the water repellency imparting agent to the fiber product is not particularly limited, and the agent applying mechanism may be a contact type in which the agent is brought into contact with the fiber product when the agent is applied, or a non-contact type in which the agent is not brought into contact with the fiber product when the agent is applied. As described above, from the viewpoint of air permeability, flexibility, and the like, the attachment pattern of the water repellency imparting agent to the non-skin side hydrophobic region is preferably a mixture of the attachment portion and the non-attachment portion where the water repellency imparting agent is present, as compared to a pattern in which the water repellency imparting agent is continuously present without a gap over the entire area of the non-skin side hydrophobic region (so-called flood coating of the water repellency imparting agent).

In the method for producing a fiber article to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention, the fiber article may be dried after the water repellency imparting agent is imparted to the fiber article. The drying of the water repellency imparting agent may be drying by heating, drying by reduced pressure, forced drying combining heating and reduced pressure, or natural drying. In the case of drying by heating, it is preferable to dry the fiber product within a range that does not damage the base material of the fiber product or the water repellent agent. In particular, when the water repellency imparting agent to be imparted to the fiber product is a liquid substance obtained by dissolving the modified polysiloxane in a volatile solvent, the volatile solvent can be reliably removed by introducing the drying step. In this case, the drying conditions of the fiber article after the water repellency imparting agent is applied may be appropriately set depending on the components of the water repellency imparting agent such as a volatile solvent, and from the viewpoint of sufficiently exhibiting the function of the water repellency imparting agent applied and attached to the fiber article to achieve both air permeability and water repellency and the viewpoint of preventing dimensional shrinkage or impregnation of the water repellency imparting agent, it is more preferable to dry the fiber article under conditions in which the product temperature of the water repellency imparting agent applied is 50 ℃.

Examples of the method of applying the water repellency-imparting agent to the fiber product and adhering the same include dipping in a solution, spray coating, dipping, bead-by-bead method, and coating by a known liquid coating apparatus such as transfer method, die coating, gravure coating, ink jet method, and screen printing method, and these can be freely used. Further, a method of applying the water repellency imparting agent by bringing the water repellency imparting agent, which is solidified, for example, into a rod shape, into direct contact with the fiber product, or a method of applying the water repellency imparting agent indirectly to the fiber product using a sponge or the like can be employed. Among these, the spray coating method is preferable in that the desired state can be efficiently formed by appropriately adjusting various physical properties such as viscosity of the water repellency-imparting agent, the shape of the nozzle for the sprayer, the amount of the coating thereof, and the like. In particular, the method of applying and attaching the water repellent agent using an aerosol spray, a manual trigger spray, an ultrasonic wave, or the like is more preferable in that the water repellent layer can be easily formed by the user. In addition, in order to control the permeability of the coating of the water repellency imparting agent, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the viscosity of the composition containing the water repellency imparting agent, the pressure applied to the fiber product such as a fabric, the moving speed of the spray nozzle, the printing speed, and the like.

One of the agent applying mechanisms that can be used in the production method of the present invention is a pump spray type agent applying mechanism in which a container equipped with a spray is filled with a water repellency-imparting agent (composition containing a modified polysiloxane). That is, in the method for producing a fibrous article having water repellency of the present invention, the application of the water repellency imparting agent to the fibrous article can be performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by the pump spray type agent application mechanism. In the present invention, a previously known pump spray type agent applying mechanism can be used without particular limitation.

Further, another example of the agent applying mechanism that can be used in the production method of the present invention is an aerosol spray type agent applying mechanism in which a pressure-resistant container for an aerosol sprayer is filled with a water repellency-imparting agent (composition containing a modified polysiloxane) and a propellant. That is, the method for producing a fibrous article having water repellency of the present invention can apply a water repellency imparting agent to a fibrous article by spraying the water repellency imparting agent with an aerosol spray type agent applying mechanism in which a pressure-resistant container for an aerosol sprayer is filled with the water repellency imparting agent and a propellant. In the present invention, a conventionally known aerosol spray type agent applying mechanism can be used without particular limitation. Examples of the propellant include compressed gases such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and liquefied gases such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and dimethyl ether (DME).

Further, another example of the agent applying mechanism that can be used in the production method of the present invention is a manual spray type agent applying mechanism in which a container equipped with a manual sprayer is filled with a water repellency-imparting agent (composition containing a modified polysiloxane). That is, the method for producing a fibrous article having water repellency imparted thereto according to the present invention can impart the water repellency imparting agent to the fibrous article by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by means of a manual spray-type agent imparting mechanism in which a container provided with a manual sprayer is filled with the water repellency imparting agent. The manual atomizing agent applying mechanism is a sprayer which does not use a propellant such as a gas, and specifically, for example, a manual trigger sprayer and an ultrasonic type, and particularly, a pressure accumulating type manual atomizing agent applying mechanism can be preferably used in the present invention because the mist has a fine particle diameter and a uniform mist diameter. As an example of a method of using the manual spray type agent applying mechanism, a method of spraying by using compressed air or the like through a container having a compressing mechanism may be used.

Further, as another agent imparting mechanism that can be used in the production method of the present invention, a rod-shaped solid material containing a water repellency imparting agent (composition containing a modified polysiloxane) can be cited, and the solid material can be brought into contact with a treatment target to apply the water repellency imparting agent to the treatment target. That is, in the method for producing a fiber product to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention, the water repellency imparting means is used which is constituted by a rod-shaped solid material, and the solid material is brought into contact with the treatment target, thereby imparting the water repellency to the fiber product. The agent-applying mechanism including a rod-shaped solid material is configured similarly to a lipstick or a glue stick, for example, and includes a rod-shaped solid material including a water repellency-applying agent and a support portion for supporting the solid material.

Further, as another agent imparting mechanism that can be used in the production method of the present invention, there can be mentioned a bead-type agent imparting mechanism in which a bead-type container is filled with a water repellency imparting agent (a composition containing a modified polysiloxane). That is, in the method for producing a fiber product to which water repellency is imparted according to the present invention, the application of the water repellency imparting agent to the fiber product may be performed by a bead-type agent applying mechanism in which the above-described water repellency imparting agent is filled in a bead-type container. The ball-type container is a container in which a middle plug for rotatably holding steel balls is disposed at a container mouth portion, and a content (water repellency imparting agent) is distributed on the surfaces of the steel balls and applied to a desired portion. When the ball-type container is used, the content is dispensed onto the surface of the steel ball by bringing the steel ball into contact with the non-skin-facing surface of the fibrous article to which the content is to be applied while the container body is held upward and bringing the content into contact with the steel ball, and rotating the steel ball on the non-skin-facing surface. As the ball-type container, a known container can be used without particular limitation.

In the production method of the present invention, the agent applying mechanism used when the water repellency is applied to the fiber product, for example, the pump spray type agent applying mechanism, the aerosol spray type agent applying mechanism, the manual spray type agent applying mechanism, the agent applying mechanism containing the rod-like solid material, and the bead-type agent applying mechanism, can be provided with information relating to the method of using the agent applying mechanism so as to be visually recognizable from the outside. In particular, when the treatment method of the present invention is carried out individually or at home, if such information is provided in the agent applying means used for the execution so as to be visually recognized from the outside, it is possible to effectively prevent the erroneous use of the agent applying means by the user and smoothly perform the water repellent treatment of the fiber product.

The above-described preferred embodiment can be achieved by considering the composition of the water repellency imparting agent and the method of imparting the water repellency. For example, in the case where the water repellency imparting agent is an aerosol preparation, in order to selectively attach the water repellency imparting agent to the non-skin-facing surface of the fibrous article and maintain the water absorbency of the skin-facing surface on the opposite side, it is preferable to consider the following: the proportion of the volatile solvent to the water repellency imparting agent and the binder is 80 mass% or less, and the spray propellant (gas agent) is 1 to 3 times the weight of the main agent containing the water repellency imparting agent/binder/solvent when the dimethyl ether in which the modified polysiloxane is soluble is 50 mass% or more, so that the water repellency imparting agent is attached to the surface (non-skin-facing surface) of the fibrous article with high viscosity and quick-drying properties. It is also preferable to give attention to the nebulizer so that the nebulizer is separated by 15cm or more and the nebulizer is ejected within 3 back and forth cycles.

The present invention has been described above based on embodiments thereof, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified as appropriate. The following remarks are also disclosed with respect to the above embodiments of the present invention.

<1>

A fiber article having water repellency imparted thereto, which comprises a fiber article and a water repellency imparting agent attached to the fiber article,

the fiber article contains water-absorbing fibers, has a skin-facing surface disposed on a side relatively close to the skin of a user when in use, and a non-skin-facing surface disposed on a side relatively far from the skin of the user, and has a water absorption property that a water absorption time measured by a dropping method according to JIS L-1907 is 30 seconds or less,

a non-skin-side hydrophobic region having an attachment portion containing the water repellency imparting agent on a non-skin-facing surface of the fiber article,

the fiber article has a water-absorbing layer in which the water-absorbing property is maintained at a portion overlapping the non-skin-side hydrophobic region in a plan view and closer to the user's skin than the non-skin-side hydrophobic region,

the non-skin-side hydrophobic region has a surface with a contact angle with water of 80 degrees or more and a water absorption rate of 10 seconds or more.

<2>

The fiber product with water repellency of <1>, wherein an adhering portion and a non-adhering portion of the water repellency imparting agent are present in the non-skin side water repellent region in a mixed manner.

<3>

The fiber article with water repellency provided according to <1> or <2>, wherein a proportion of a total area of the attachment portions of the water repellency imparting agent in a region of 50mm square arbitrarily selected from the non-skin side hydrophobic region to the entire area is 10% or more and 80% or less.

<4>

The fiber product provided with water repellency according to any of <1> to <3>, wherein a thickness of the attachment portion of the water repellency providing agent in the non-skin side hydrophobic region is 5% or more and 60% or less of a thickness of the fiber product.

<5>

The fiber product provided with water repellency according to any of <1> to <4>, wherein a thickness of the attachment portion of the water repellency imparting agent in the non-skin side hydrophobic region is 50% or more and 60% or less of a thickness of the fiber product.

<6>

The fiber product having water repellency of any of <1> to <5>, wherein an air permeability of a portion where the non-skin side hydrophobic region is formed is 2 sec/100 ml or more and 30 sec/100 ml or less.

<7>

The fiber product having water repellency of any of <1> to <6>, wherein a region where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is formed has a stiffness of 60mm or less and is smaller than or equal to a stiffness of a region where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is not formed, that is, a region where the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is not formed.

<8>

The fiber product provided with water repellency according to any of <1> to <7>, wherein an amount of the water repellency-providing agent attached gradually decreases from a non-skin-facing surface to a skin-facing surface of the fiber product.

<9>

The fiber product provided with water repellency according to any of <1> to <8>, wherein a skin-side water repellent region including an attachment portion of the water repellency providing agent is provided on a skin-facing surface of the fiber product, and an attachment amount of the water repellency providing agent is smaller in the skin-side water repellent region than in the non-skin-side water repellent region.

<10>

The fiber product provided with water repellency according to any of <1> to <9>, wherein a non-skin-facing surface of the fiber product has an uneven structure, and the water repellency imparting agent forming the non-skin-side hydrophobic region is attached to a convex portion constituting the uneven structure.

<11>

The fiber article having water repellency of any of <1> to <10>, wherein the water repellency imparting agent is a composition containing a modified polysiloxane.

<12>

The fiber article imparted with hydrophobicity according to <11>, wherein the hydrophobicity-imparting agent contains a volatile solvent in which the modified polysiloxane can be dissolved.

<13>

The fibrous article imparted with hydrophobicity according to <11> or <12>, wherein the composition contains a water-soluble binder.

<14>

The fiber product with water repellency of any of <1> to <13>, wherein the fiber product with water repellency is stirred and immersed for 10 minutes in a liquid containing 0.1 mass% of a commonly available detergent for clothing and ion-exchanged water at a rotation speed of 350rpm, then the fiber product with water repellency is lightly twisted, and further stirred and immersed for 10 minutes in the ion-exchanged water at a rotation speed of 350rpm, and in this case, the content of the water repellency-imparting agent in the fiber product with water repellency after the stirring and immersion is: the content of the water repellency-imparting agent in the fiber article to which water repellency is imparted before the agitation impregnation is 20% by mass or less.

<15>

The fiber product imparted with water repellency according to any one of <1> to <14>, wherein the fiber product contains natural fibers and synthetic fibers as constituent fibers.

<16>

The fiber product imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of <1> to <14>, wherein the fiber product contains only natural fibers as constituent fibers.

<17>

The fiber article having water repellency of any of <1> to <16>, which comprises 1 or more selected from the group consisting of a deodorizing component, an aromatic component, an antibacterial agent, a bactericide and a refreshing agent.

<18>

The fiber product imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of <1> to <17>, wherein the fiber product is underwear.

<19>

The fiber product imparted with hydrophobicity according to any one of <1> to <17>, wherein the fiber product is a sports garment.

<20>

The fiber product imparted with water repellency according to any one of <1> to <17>, wherein the fiber product is a urine leakage treatment pad.

<21>

A method for producing a fibrous article having water repellency, which is the method for producing a fibrous article having water repellency described in any one of <1> to <20>,

the method comprises the following steps: and a step of applying a water repellency-imparting agent to the non-skin-facing surface of a fiber article exhibiting a water absorption property with a water absorption time of 30 seconds or less as measured by a dropping method according to JIS L-1907.

<22>

The method for producing a fiber product having water repellency of <21>, wherein after the water repellency imparting agent is imparted to the fiber product, the fiber product is dried under a condition in which a product temperature of the water repellency imparting agent is 50 ℃ or lower.

<23>

The method for producing a fiber product having water repellency of <21> or <22>, wherein the imparting of water repellency to the fiber product is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent.

<24>

The method for producing a fiber product according to any one of <21> to <23>, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fiber product is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by a pump spray type agent imparting mechanism for filling a container provided with a sprayer with the water repellency imparting agent.

<25>

The method for producing a fibrous article according to any one of <21> to <24>, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fibrous article is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by an aerosol spray type agent imparting mechanism for filling the water repellency imparting agent and the propellant in a pressure-resistant container for aerosol spray.

<26>

The method for producing a fibrous article according to any one of <21> to <24>, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fibrous article is performed by spraying the water repellency imparting agent by a manual spray type agent imparting mechanism for filling a container provided with a manual sprayer with the water repellency imparting agent.

<27>

The method for producing a fiber product according to any one of <21> to <23>, wherein the application of the water repellency imparting agent to the fiber product is performed by using an agent application mechanism configured by using a rod-shaped solid material containing the water repellency imparting agent, and by bringing the solid material into contact with a treatment target.

<28>

The method for producing a fiber product according to <21> or <22>, wherein the imparting of the water repellency to the fiber product is performed by a bead-type agent imparting mechanism that fills the bead-type container with the water repellency imparting agent.

<29>

The method for producing a fiber product according to any one of claims <21> to <28>, wherein information on a method of using the agent applying means is provided in the agent applying means used when the water repellency applying agent is applied to the fiber product so as to be visible from outside.