Professional Documents
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Dyeing
Harry MercerMay 19, 20111
Until 1915, most Indigo dyeing was conducted in skein machines for
cotton or loose fiber dyeing for wool. Skein dyeing of Indigo is still the
best method for dyeing Indigo on very fine yarns for the delicate high-
fashion fabrics. In 1915, the first rope dyeing machine appeared and
only in the 1970s was sheet dyeing introduced. The relative
advantages of rope as opposed to sheet Indigo machines is a common
subject of debate. Based on my 30 years of experience in this area,
including as a consultant in about 40 denim operations worldwide,
here are some basic observations that I have made in companies that
had only sheet or rope dyeing, but also in many denim companies
that employed both. These evaluations included mass-balance
studies, benchmarking, weaving efficiency and overall fabric quality.
Also available are specially designed dye boxes that allow the
simultaneous dyeing of 2 different sulfur applications, such as one set
of yarn with a sulfur topping and the other set without topping, or
with only a sulfur color, which allows flexibility in production. Rope
ranges are also easily adaptable for random effects such as space
dyeing of yarn. With the rope design, yarns from different dyeings
such as Indigo only and sulfur only, can be blended for producing
stripe patterns.