If you have ever purchased a 100% cotton shirt before you know there are often problems associated with this fabric. The colors fade and become dull, the fabric shrinks, and after a few times of wearing and washing you can see millions of little fuzzies over the surface of your shirts. The process of Mercerization makes all these little annoyances go away.
Single Mercerization is a process in which the yarn used to make a shirt is run through the middle of an open flame at a very high speed. It passes through so quickly that the yarn itself doesn't burn but the millions of fuzzies and slubs on the yarn are eliminated instantly. This makes the yarn stronger. Since there is no fuzz on the yarn, it is held together better and can no longer unravel by itself. The yarn is also less prone to shrinking because the mercerization process literally pre-shrinks the fabric. Mercerization also cleans the yarn and gives it a strong affinity for dye. While normal cotton yarn has no clarity or depth to it's color, Mercerized yarn accepts the dye much better and the colors come out deeper, sharper and have a very clean look. The fabric now looks and feels ten times better. Single Mercerization is a huge step up from the quality of regular cotton shirts but Double Mercerization takes it even a step further.
During the knitting process some fuzzies will ultimately resurface. In Double Mercerization the knitted fabric undergoes a second Mercerization process to remove these. The fabric is placed in a chemical bath using caustic soda to once again remove any additional fuzzies or slubs and is then washed clean. This makes the fabric even stronger and makes it look and feel even better. It has a luster and sheen that is unmatched. Double mercerized fabric feels so soft and smooth its look and feel can easily be mistaken for silk.
