2

DYEING
INTRODUCTION
Textile materials are usually coloured to make them attractive or for functional reasons. The aesthetic appeal provided by the colouration techni ues finally increase the value of the textile material. !ife "ould be borin# and dull$ i textiles "ere only used in their natural colours. %olouration helps in creatin# fashionable and fascinatin# #arments. There are t"o "ays of addin# colour
to

a textile substrate vi&.$ 'rintin# and Dyein#. 'rintin# adds colour to the surface of the textile material in

selected portions to #enerate a desi#n or pattern "hereas dyein# provides uniform sin#le colouration throu#hout the surface of the textile material. The substances used to colour textiles can be broadly classified into dyes and pi#ments. 'i#ments are "ater insoluble and possess no specific affinity for any particular fibre type. They usually adhere to the surface of the fibre. (o these are #enerally used in printin# of all textile fibres. Dyes are #enerally "ater soluble. Even if some dyes are insoluble by their chemical nature$ they can he converted into soluble ones before they are used for dyein# process. %ertain dyes have attraction to certain fibre types. Dyes are usually absorbed into the fibre.

)efore "e #o into the details of classification of dyes and their application procedure$ let us have an understandin# about the basic terms used in the field of dyein#.

2*

Affinity
+ffinity is the term used to express the attraction bet"een the dye and the fibre. ,or example$ direct dyes have stron# affinity to"ards cotton. This means that direct dyes have very hi#h attraction for cotton.

Subs tantivity
Technically$ affinity and substantivity mean the same. Dyes "hich have a hi#h attraction for a particular fibre and "hich "ill #enerate a full depth shade "ith it are said to be hi#hly substantive on the fibre.

Percent shade
It is the amount of dye taken in the dye bath based on the "ei#ht of the material taken for dyein#. Thus to produce -. shade on -// #m textile material$ l#m of dyestuff has to be taken in the dye bath. The dyein# produced here is called -. shade.

Percent exhaustion
'ercent shade and percent exhaustion are different terminolo#ies$ but closely related to each other. 0hile the percent shade refers to the amount of dye taken in the dye bath$ percent exhaustion #ives a clear picture about the amount of dyes acivally entered into the fibre.

,or example$ to produce 2. shade on a textile material "ei#hin# 1// #m$ -/ #m of dyestuff has to be taken in the dye bath. If 2/. is the percent exhaustion$ then 2 #m of the dyestuff enters into the fibre and l#m is left out in the dye bath at the end of the dyein#.
25