DMDHEU (dimethyloldihydroxyethylene urea, 1,3-dimethylol-4,5-dihydroxyimidazolidin-2-one)-treated cotton fabrics were coated with hydrolyzed TEOS- or GPTMS-solutions in an attempt to reduce the release of the potential human carcinogen formaldehyde (two stage process). In addition, cotton fabrics were cured with solutions consisting of combinations of DMDHEU and TEOS or GPTMS in a one stage process. ATR-FTIR was used to investigate the coated cotton samples. The formaldehyde release as well as the textile physical properties (dry crease recovery angle, tensile strength, tear strength and whiteness index) of the fabrics were measured. To evaluate the properties of the coating material, pure xerogels of the treatment solutions were produced and tested by means of XRD and solid state Si-29 spectroscopy. The findings clearly give evidence that a reduction of the formaldehyde release is obtained when the cotton fabrics were treated with GPTMS-solutions. The hydrolyses of GPTMS in presence of DMDHEU results in a reaction of the epoxide group of GPTMS and the hydroxymethyl group of DMDHEU, consequently no durable press effect could be observed. SEM micrographs revealed that no microporous xerogel was produced when Triton X-100 was incorporated into the sol solution. (C) 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.