Eight mono-reactive and four bis-reactive 2,3-epoxy/3-chloro-2-hydroxy propyl derivatives of quaternary ammonium salts have been synthesised by reacting epichlorohydrin with suitable tertiary amines and diamines.Mono-reactive derivatives also contain cyano and carboxylic groups in addition to 2,3-epoxy/3-chloro-2-hydroxy propyl groups. The structures of these quaternary ammonium salts have been characterised using IR and 1H NMR spectroscopic techniques. These quaternary ammonium chlorides have been applied to the cotton fabrics as pretreatments and aftertreatments and promising results have been obtained.