Sustainable low liquor ratio dyeing of cotton with C.I. Reactive Blue 21 using dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate

Low liquor ratio (material to liquor ratio = 1:5) dyeing of cotton fabric with C.I. Reactive Blue 21 using dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate as a surfactant was thoroughly analyzed. The dye–surfactant interactions in the micelles during low liquor ratio dyeing were investigated by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and the chemical mechanism of the process was evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Cotton fabric was subjected to low liquor ratio dyeing and conventional dyeing by varying the temperature, pH, treatment time, and non-identical chemical concentration. The effectiveness of the process was assessed based on the color strength ( K/ S), exhaustion (%), fixation (%), and levelness. Low liquor ratio dyeing afforded superior dyeing compared to conventional dyeing, attributed to the anti-agglomeration effects of the former, which also had no adverse impact on the fastness of the dye. The lower environmental impact due to the lower effluent footprint (biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total dissolved solids, and dissolved oxygen) is another benefit of low liquor ratio dyeing. High-pressure liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses revealed that the low liquor ratio dyed fabric is free of toxic substances (alkylphenol ethoxylates and formaldehyde). Moreover, low liquor ratio dyeing is more cost-effective and outperformed conventional dyeing in all aspects, while being a sustainable process.

Optimizing the Dyeing of Silk Fabric with Gemstone Powder using Exhaustion Process

The silk fabrics were modified by a cationic reagent, N-(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride in order to prepare the fiber to be dyed with gemstone powder (i.e. malachite, lapis lazuli and jasper) by an exhaustion process. The effect of dyeing conditions such as temperature, dyeing time, pH and gemstone powder concentration on colour strength were investigated. Optimum results were achieved when dyeing at a liquor ratio of 1:100 at pH 3 (for malachite and jasper) or pH 5 (for lapis lazuli), at 90 ºC for 60 min. The color fastness to crocking of cationic treated silk fabric dyed with gemstone powder was fair to good, whereas the color fastness to washing was poor to fair. However, the colour fastness to light was very good. This study demonstrated that cationic treated silk fabric can dyed with gemstone powder by exhaustion process.

Sustainable ultrasound-assisted ultralow liquor ratio dyeing of cotton fabric with natural turmeric dye

Natural dyes are environmentally friendly and have become important alternatives to synthetic dyes in some dyeing products. Therefore, better extraction and dyeing techniques need to be developed for the dyeing process of natural dyes. In this work, cotton fabric was dyed using turmeric extraction solution under an ultralow liquor ratio (materials to liquor ratio of 1:5) and ultrasonic-assisted conditions. Dye extraction using different dispersants and pH values has been investigated and three-factor-three–level Box–Behnken design was employed to explore the dyeing conditions. It was found that sodium dodecyl sulfate systems and ultrasonic waves can effective improve the dyeing depth under neutral condition. The K/ S value can reach 2.53 with ultrasonic power of 200 W, dyeing time of 30 min and temperature of 40℃. Scanning electron microscope images showed that the application of ultrasound did not cause obvious fiber damage. The developed technique could be used in the textile industry to make dyeing cotton fibers with natural dyes more sustainable than it is at present.

The relationships between washing parameters, fabric movement, and wrinkling in a top-loading washer

Easy care for clothing is increasingly important, but the major problem is still the severe wrinkles formed on garments after machine washing. In this research, orthogonal tests and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 95% confidence level were used to determine the critical parameters that affect fabric smoothness. We developed a video capturing and processing system for dynamic measurements of fabric in a top-loading washer to find the relationship between fabric movement and wrinkling performance during laundering. The ANOVA results showed that the smoothness of woven cotton fabrics was mainly affected by the washing load and the drum rotating speed, with p values of 0.000 and 0.036, respectively. Additionally, a relation models for fabric movements suggested by a curvilinear regression analysis indicated that the main causes of fabric wrinkling during top-loading washing were liquor ratio and the centrifugal force imposed on the fabric. The smoothness grade increased with the decrease of washing load and drum rotating speed, since these settings led to lower liquor ratio with a constant water volume and less stress on the fabric. The results of this study provide valuable information for the optimization of washing programs for fabric smoothness.

Optimization of alkali treatment condition on jute fabric for the development of rigid biocomposite

Jute fiber has poor compatibility with hydrophobic thermosetting polymeric resin for the development of a biocomposite. In this present study, plain weave jute fabric was treated with 1% sodium hydroxide (owf) in three different time (30, 60 and 90 minutes), temperature (30, 40 and 50℃) and material-to-liquor ratio (1:5, 1:10 and 1:15) as per orthogonal array and the treated jute fabrics were used for the preparation of the biocomposite sheet by hand laying-cum-compression moulding method. Developed biocomposite sheets were evaluated for their mechanical properties as per ASTM standards and results were analyzed by Taguchi model to optimize the sodium hydroxide treatment condition. Results inferred that jute fabric reinforcement treated with 1% sodium hydroxide at 50℃ for 60 minutes in 1:10 material-to-liquor ratio could be the optimum condition to develop the biocomposite sheet with higher mechanical properties than other conditions.

Effect of Cationization Conditions on Dyeing Properties of Hemp Fabric with Natural Dye Extracted from Arabica Coffee Ground

The purpose of this research is to investigate the optimum conditions of cationization on hemp fabric which affect staining with natural dye solution extracted from Arabica coffee ground. For this work, three conditions for cationization on hemp fabric were investigated including temperature, time and concentration of cationic with liquor ratio of 1:100. Then, the cationized fabrics were dyed with 50% on weight fabric (owf) of coffee ground dye at 90°C for 60 min by using liquor ratio of 1:100. Dyed fabrics were measured color strength (K/S value) and color value (CIELAB color-different value) to indicate staining and to compare to non-cationized hemp fabric. It was found that the optimum conditions of cationization on hemp fabric for staining were 5%owf of cationic concentration at 90°C for 30 min providing the highest K/S value.