The document discusses various preparatory processes for cotton textiles including desizing, scouring, and bleaching. Desizing involves removing starch sizes added during weaving using hydrolysis or oxidation. Scouring uses alkaline solutions to remove natural impurities like fats, waxes, pectins and proteins. Bleaching removes color pigments through oxidation, with hydrogen peroxide being a commonly used bleaching agent. Modern preparatory processes often combine and continuousize these steps for improved efficiency and environmental performance.