Non-transparent fabrics comprise for example a weave provided with a discontinuous pattern of dots which lie at a determined mutual distance.

However, it is difficult to manufacture from such fabric clothing which is comfortable to wear and which is not irritating to the skin, especially professional clothing for heavy use like hospital clothing or shirts for the police.

This is caused by the"touch"of the fabric after manufacturing. The term"touch", as is generally used in the art, indicates the combined effect of the stiffness, the deformability, the suppleness, and the handling characteristics of the fabric.

It is now the object of the present invention to provide a method to improve the"touch"of a non-transparent fabric comprising a weave provided with a discontinuous pattern of dots which lie at a determined mutual distance.

The term"non-transparent"as used herein is defined as any reduction in see-through of a fabric after applying a discontinuous pattern of dots which lie at a determined mutual distance as compared to the original fabric.

This is achieved according to the present invention by a method comprising subjecting the fabric to a mechanical treatment after drying and condensing of the pattern of dots.

The mechanical treatment of the fabric influences the arrangements and the fibers, the physical characteristics of the dots and the fibers, and the length of the fibers resulting in an improved"touch"of the fabric. This improved "touch"renders the non-transparent fabric very well suited

for the fabrication of clothing especially for professional use. The clothing manufactured from the non-transparent fabric obtainable by the method of the present invention is comfortable to wear and not irritating to the skin even during prolonged wearing.

According to one embodiment of the present invention the non-transparent fabric is subjected to a water jet under high-pressure and continuous rotation. The use of a high- pressure water jet in combination with rotation ensures an even distribution of the mechanical forces resulting in a uniform improvement of the"touch"of the fabric. In addition, this combination of a high-pressure jet and rotation yields a highly controllable process resulting in a reproducible quality of the obtained non-transparent fabrics.

By controlling the water pressure, the manufacturing process can be accelerated resulting in a higher production rate and consequently lower costs or can be more precisely controlled which is especially beneficial in case of delicate fabrics. The high-pressure needed to obtain the desired "touch"is higher than 0.5 bar. Lower pressures do not yield the desired result. Especially pressures of 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.8 and 2.0 bar yield good results. Therefore, pressures in the range of 0.5-2. 0 bar are used according to the present invention. When pressures in the range of 1.0-2. 0 bar, like 1.0, 1.2, 1.8, and 2.0 are used, also optimal incubation times are achieved.

The process can be further controlled by varying the temperature. Increasing the temperature will yield a more heavy mechanical load on the non-transparent fabric using the same water pressure thus reducing the time needed to obtain the desired"touch"of the non-transparent material. In addition, lowering of the temperature enables for a more

precise controlled mechanical loading which is especially beneficial for delicate fabrics.

The temperature can be any temperature, but is preferably between 20 and 100 °C. Temperatures of 20,30, 40, 60,70, 80,90 and 100 °C can be achieved using simple heating mechanisms and yield optimal results.

It is appreciated by the person skilled in the art that by varying both the water pressure and the temperature a highly efficient and controllable mechanical treatment can be achieved.

Mechanical treatment is not restricted to a high- pressure water jet. Also techniques like sanding, roughening and tumbling can be used to improve the"touch"of the non- transparent fabric.

The fabric obtainable by the present invention is especially suited to be used for the manufacture of professional clothing like hospital clothing or police shirts, although the invention can also be applied to consumer textiles. Clothing manufactured from the fabric therefore also forms part of the invention.

The invention will now be illustrated by an example which follows below.

EXAMPLE A roll of the following fabric: Material: warp x weft PES/Co 65/35% Thread count: warp x weft 20 x 20 Ne Density: warp x weft 38 x 29 threads per cm.

Weight: 225 gram/m2 was provided, by means of a rotary printing machine via a template with openings of 60 microns, with a dot design of 1 mm diameter with a uniform mutual distance of 0.2 mm printed

with a printing paste consisting of 250 g/Kg titanium dioxide in Acrylate. After drying the transparency was compared with that of the original material. It was found that the transparency of the printed material can be reduced by about 80%. The transparency can even be reduced to practically 100%, although this may adversely affect other advantageous properties of the fabric.

The non-transparent fabric thus obtained was further treated using a jet dyeing machine. A jet dyeing machine allows for the combined control a high-pressure water jet, the temperature and the rotation.

After drying and condensing of the applied paste the fabric was placed into the jet dyeing machine (thies). The fabric was rotated at approximately 300 rpm and a high- pressure water jet of 70°C was directed at the fabric during 30 minutes. After the physical treatment the fabric was dried. The obtained fabric had an improved"touch"and was very well suited for further processing into for example clothing.