COLOR STABILITY OF

NATURALLY DYED DENIM FABRICS

Author: Subtirica Adriana Ioana
Published on: Annals of the University of
Oradea, Fascicle of textiles - leatherwork,
Romania, 2014 XV(1), 103-108
Submitted by
Sanyukta Basak
 Objective
• Textile coloring

• Environmental & health

issues with Textile coloring

• Limitations of Synthetic dyes

• Dyeing with natural dyes

• Denim- A wardrobe staple

• Study the performances of

naturally dyed denim
 Introduction
• The desire to color textiles is as
old as spinning and weaving

• Natural dyes have been used

since thousand of years for their
long endurance , soft and
elegant colors.

• Invention of synthetic dyes has

limited the application of
natural dyes

• Synthetic dyes are hazards to health and environment

• Textile industry is one of the most pollutant releasing

industries of the World. 2nd largest polluter in the world.
 Environmental issues with Synthetic dyes
• Synthetic dyes release heavy metals and other toxic
chemicals to environment.
• Popularity of using ecofriendly textile , increase the use of
natural dyes.
• European regulations are more stringent in terms of dye
environmental impacts.
• Many countries are rich in natural and renewable
resources.
• More detailed studies and scientific investigations are
needed to assess the real potential & availability of natural
dye-yielding resources.
 Dyeing with Natural dyes
• There are more potential uses of
natural dyes on textile material, which
attracts more scientists to study on
natural alternative for dyeing due to the
following reasons:
- wide spread of natural dyes sources
and huge potential
- available experimental evidence for
allergic and toxic effects of synthetic dyes.
• Natural dyes having two limitations
- Colour fastness
- Reproducibility
• Available information on different natural colorants,
including methods for their extraction and purification.
 Denim Dyeing
• In the last few decades,Denim
garments has gained huge
popularity in fashion due to its fit
comfort, price and longer life span.
Which was initially wore for
protection.
• In 2010 Greenpeace published e
report denouncing the pollution
caused by denim industry.
• Three natural dyes have been use to
Dye denim –
Punica Granatum(pomegranate
bark powder),
Indigofera Tinctoria(Leave powder)
Juglans regia(Walnut dried shell)
 Experimental Part
• In the last ten years, the demand
for natural dyes and the interests
generated by them has been
going hand in hand with fashion
trends.

• Considering latest option ,

MODAZEN INC company started
to gain interest on using natural
dyes within the industrial denim
garment production , they
initiated VEGDENIM project
financed through ERANET
CROSSTEXNET programe.
 • In the present work vegetable materials of
Punica Granatum(pomegranate bark powder),
Indigofera Tinctoria(Leave powder)
Juglans regia(Walnut dried shell)
color fastness of the dyed denim samples was evaluated
(Colour fastness to washing, aid & alkaline perspiration and
light)
 Material used
• Denim naturally dyed samples
dyed with natural dyes
supplied by MODAZEN
INC(Dyeing process is
protected by a patent owned
by the project coordinator)

• Adjacent multi-fiber, purchased

from James Heal, UK

• ECE Detergent with phosphte,

without optical brightners,
From James Heal, UK
 Testing equipments
• Scourotester- for washing fastness
• Memmert oven – for water and perspiration fastness
• Xenitest Appolo-for light fastness
• Hunterlab-used for measuring color fastness
• 9 nos of denim samples dyed with vegetable dyes
prepared by MODZEN INC , were tested by INCDTP in
order to evaluate their colour fastness properties.
Naturally dyed Sample details

• Indigo dyed
• Pomegranate
bark powder
dyed
• Walnut shell
dyed
Color fastness test results
An interpretation of
the attributed grades

1= Poor durability of
the color

2= Moderate durability
of the color

3=Good durability of
the color

4= Very good durability

of the color

5=Excellent durability
of the color
Graphic representation of color fastness results
 Conclusion
• There is clear evidence that
opportunities exist for optimizing the
use of natural resources, which can
be cost saving
• There is huge demand for ecofriendly
dyed clothing because of
environmental and health issues with
synthetic dyes
• As a conclusion generated from this
experiment that, color fastness of
denim dyed samples are generally
poor.
• Optimization of the dyeing procedure is necessary.
Thank you