The present work reports the coating of cotton fabrics with poly (ethylene glutarate) for the first time. Cotton fabric were soaked in diethyl glutarate and ethylene glycol diacetate without addition of extra solvent. The reactions were catalyzed by lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus at 40 degrees C in water bath during 7 h. The polyester coating was extracted and analyzed by MALDI-TOF and NMR. Monomers, dimers and trimers of poly (ethylene glutarate) were found. The modified cotton fabrics showed better hydrophobicity and an improvement in wrinkle recovery when compared with the untreated materials. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.