As an important auxiliary agent in the textile and leather industries, silicone softeners are mainly composed of polysiloxane and its derivatives. Its basic composition includes silicone oil, emulsifier, stabilizer and other functional additives. Silicone oil is the main active ingredient of softeners, while emulsifiers are responsible for dispersing silicone oil in water to form a stable emulsion, and stabilizers are used to prevent the emulsion from stratification or demulsification during storage and use.

According to different structures and properties, silicone softeners can be divided into many types. Among them, inactive silicone softeners are mainly represented by dimethyl silicone oil (PDMS). Although this type of softener can give fabrics softness and heat resistance, it has a low degree of polymerization and cannot form chemical bonds with fibers. Therefore, the finished fabrics have average hand feel, fastness and elasticity.

In order to overcome the shortcomings of inactive silicone softeners, active silicone softeners came into being. This type of softener introduces hydroxyl groups (-OH) at both ends of dimethyl polysiloxane to make it hydrophilic and more easily adsorbed on the fiber surface. The prepared emulsion, namely silicone hydroxy emulsion, can be used alone or cross-linked with other silicones to form a water-insoluble molecular film on the fiber, thereby giving the fabric better softness, water resistance and washability.

In addition, with the continuous changes in market demand, modified silicone softeners have gradually emerged. This type of softener introduces other active groups, such as amino and carboxyl groups, into the silicone molecular chain to give the fabric special functionality, such as antistatic, anti-oil and hydrophilicity. These new softeners not only improve the performance of the fabric, but also make chemical fiber fabrics have the advantages of natural fabrics, such as softness, breathability, moisture absorption, etc.

In summary, the basic composition and classification of silicone softeners are diverse, and different types of softeners have their own characteristics in performance and application, meeting the diverse needs of the textile and leather industries for softness, smoothness, anti-fouling, anti-wrinkle, etc.