The development history of silicone softeners can be traced back to the 1940s, and its development has gone through several important stages.

As early as 1940, people began to try to impregnate fabrics with dimethyldichlorosilane in order to achieve a certain waterproofing effect. However, this technology was not widely adopted by the textile industry at that time. Subsequently, in 1945, researchers at General Electric Company in the United States impregnated fabrics with an alkaline solution of sodium methylsiliconate. Although a certain waterproof effect was achieved, there were still some shortcomings.

In the early 1950s, Dow Corning Corporation of the United States discovered that fabrics treated with polysiloxane containing Si-H structure have excellent waterproof effect and good breathability, but they feel hard and the silicone film is easy to fall off. To improve this, Dow Corning combined it with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which not only enhanced the waterproofing effect but also significantly improved the feel. The silicone softeners of this period, namely the first generation of silicone softeners, were mainly mechanical mixtures of dimethyl silicone oil. Although they were not firmly bonded to fabrics and were not washable, their appearance laid the foundation for the development of silicone softeners. The foundation.

Subsequently, researchers developed a second-generation hydroxyl-capped silicone emulsion. This type of softener can form a network cross-linked structure on the fabric surface, significantly improving the softness, washability and stability of the fabric. However, due to its single function and easy demulsification and oil leaching, it has not been widely used.

In recent years, the third and fourth generation silicone softeners have appeared one after another. The third generation of silicone softeners greatly improves the softness and overall performance of fabrics by introducing other segments or active groups on the main chain or side chain of polysiloxane. The fourth generation of silicone softeners has been further modified to introduce more active groups, so that they can meet the processing needs of fabrics in terms of softness, washability, elasticity, hydrophilicity, etc. without the need for compounding.