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To cite this Article Hussain, Tanveer and Ali, Rashid(2009) 'Comparison of properties of cotton fabric dyed with pigment
TECHNICAL NOTE
Comparison of properties of cotton fabric dyed with pigment and reactive dye
Tanveer Hussain and Rashid Ali
Department of Textile Chemistry, National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
(Received 15 March 2007; final version received 23 July 2007)
Bleached cotton fabrics were dyed in light, medium and dark shades with pigment and reactive dye systems. The properties
of the dyed fabrics were compared. It was found that in terms of fabric pilling and light fastness, particularly in deep shades,
pigment dyeing is superior to reactive dyeing. However, in terms of fabric stiffness, tear strength and rubbing fastness,
pigment dyeing is inferior to reactive dyeing. In terms of fabric tensile strength and washing fastness, both the dyeing
systems have comparable performance.
Introduction
Cotton fabrics are most commonly dyed with reactive dyes.
Bright colors in wide shade range, good all-round fastness
properties and ease of application are some of the reasons
for the popularity of reactive dyes (Aspland, 1992b, 1993).
Despite their several advantages, reactive dyes still suffer from a limitation of hydrolysed dye formation during
dyeing, which must be removed by a subsequent thorough
wash-off treatment. A significant proportion of the total cost
of reactive dyeing is attributed to washing-off stages and
the treatment of the resulting effluents (Shamey & Hussain,
2005).
Pigments have been used for textile printing for many
decades (Aspland, 1992a). One of the advantages of pigment coloration is that the subsequent washing-off can be
avoided. Another possible advantage in dyeing with pigments is that some finishes may also be combined with
the dyeing process. Some of the disadvantages of pigment
dyeing include their poor build-up in dyeing in comparison
with reactive dyes, poor rubbing fastness properties, loss in
fabric tear strength and deterioration of fabric handle. The
problem of poor build-up is more marked in pigment dyeing
than in printing. Increasing the amount of pigment applied
does not necessarily produce a proportionate increase in
depth of color except for very light shades.
Since pigments have neither any affinity for the fibre
nor any chemical bonding, binders and cross-linkers have
to be used in pigment dyeing, which are major cause of
increased fabric stiffness, particularly for deep shades. The
most suitable method for pigment dyeing is pad-dry-cure,
the problem of migration during drying being an important consideration. In recent years, there has been much
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Pigment
3
2
1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
100
Rubbing fastness
Light fastness
4
3
2
1
0
10
AATCC blue wool Lightfastness standard. Washing fastness was determined according to AATCC 61-2006. The
dry and wet fastness to crocking was evaluated in accordance with AATCC 8-2005. Tear strength was measured in
the warp and weft direction in accordance with the procedure described in ASTM D1424-96. Fabric tensile strength
was measured in the warp and weft direction in accordance
with the procedures in ASTM D5034-95. The pilling rating
of the fabric specimens was determined in accordance with
ASTM D4970-02 using Nu-Martindale pilling tester. Stiffness values were determined in accordance with method described in ASTM D1388-96. Fabric crease recovery angle
was measured in the warp and weft direction in accordance
with procedure described in AATCC 66-2003.
20
30
40
50 60 70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
100
Rubbing fastness
A comparison of rubbing fastness of fabric dyed with reactive dye and that with pigment is shown in Figure 3. It
can be noticed that both dry and wet rubbing fastness of
pigment are poor in comparison to reactive dye.
Tear strength
As shown in Figure 4, the tear strength of the fabric dyed
with reactive dye stays almost same in the light and dark
shades whereas the tear strength of the fabric dyed with pigment decreases with increase in shade depth. The decrease
in tear strength with increasing depth of pigment can be
attributed to the higher amount of binder used for deeper
shades, which results in decrease in yarn slippage for consolidation during tearing.
Pigment
Reactive dye
Staining to cotton
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
100
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
10
20
30
40
50 60
70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
100
40
30
20
10
0
10
20
30
40
50 60 70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
Pigment
Pilling rating
A comparison of tensile strength of fabric dyed with reactive dye and that with pigment is shown in Figure 5. It can be
seen that there is no decreasing trend in the tensile strength
of the fabric dyed with either reactive dye or pigment. The
fabric tensile strength stays the same for light as well as
deep shades. Moreover, there is no significant difference of
tensile strength, either warp ways or weft ways, between
fabric dyed with reactive dye and that dyed with pigment.
Pilling
A comparison of pilling rating of fabric dyed with reactive dye and that with pigment is given in Figure 6. As
can be noticed, there is slight increase in pilling rating with
increase in reactive dye concentration, which can be attributed to cross-linking of cellulose molecules. However,
in the pigment dyeing, the pilling rating is significantly
improved with increase in shade depth. This increase may
be attributed to the increased amount of binder in deeper
pigment shades.
4
3
2
1
Fabric stiffness
0
10
20
30
40
50 60 70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
100
Pigment
Stiffness
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
10
20
30
40
50 60 70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
100
Tensile strength
100
97
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Shade (g/L)
80
90
100
Conclusions
On the basis of the results given above, it can be concluded
that in terms of fabric stiffness, tear strength and rubbing
fastness, pigment dyeing is inferior to reactive dyeing. The
deterioration of physical properties of fabric is greater at
higher shade depth with pigment; however, there is no deterioration in desirable properties of fabric dyed with reactive
dye with increase in shade depth except in the case of light
fastness. In terms of light fastness and fabric pilling, pigment dyeing is superior to reactive dyeing while in terms of
tensile strength and washing fastness, there is no significant
difference between the two types of dyeing. While pigment
dyeing can be a good alternative to reactive dyeing for light
shades, some further improvements are still required in pigment dyeing system if it has to compete with reactive dyes
in deeper shades.
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Acknowledgement
The authors thank to BASF and CIBA for providing finishing
chemicals for this study.
References