Oxidative steeping:Starch and other added impurities are hydrolyzed through oxidation process followed by washing process. Following oxidising agents may be used:

Sodium Hypochlorite: 2.0-5.0 gm/lit. at room temperature at pH 7.0

Hydrogen peroxide:3.0-6.0 gm/lit of H2O2 and 7.0-15.0 gm/lit Sodium Hydroxide, 40 degree C for 12-16 hours

Drawback: It is a time consuming process and some time bleaching of fabric occured which other wise not required. As in the process, oxidising agents are used , there are chance of fibre damage.

Enzymatic desizing: The enzymatic desizing is the most widely practiced method of desizing starch based sizing material. Enzymes are high molecular weight protein biocatalyst that are very specific in their action. This means that a given enzyme only will work on a certain substrate and only do a very particular job. Secondly it should be remembered that, although they take part in a chemical (enzymatic) reaction, they do not change during that reaction. They are what we call biological catalysts that accelerate or facilitate chemical reactions.Enzymes are named after the compound they break down. Some of the examples are given below:

• Amylase breaks down amylose and amylopectin,
• Maltase breaks down maltose and
• Cellulase breaks down cellulose.

The starch based desizing is carried out using amylase and maltase enzymes.