Abdul Azeem / National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

An Overview of Colour and Textile Dyes

Introduct ion
Co lou r is a very impo rt ant pro pert y o f mat erials aro und us but we o f t en neglect it s s t
udy s o cially and s cient if ically. We perceive co lo ur jus t as we perceive t hings like t as t
e, s mell, and t o uch et c. co lo ur can inf luence our emo t io ns , act io ns and ho w we res
po nd t o vario us t hings , peo ple and ideas . Co lo ur is ext emely vers at ile in it s us es . It
can be us ed t o make a s t at ement , creat e an at mo s phere, o r call fort h a res po ns e.
Co lo ur expres s es o ut wards t o wards t he wo rld, but it als o helps us t o t ravel inwards
t o wards s pirit ual st at es , towards ours elf . We can us e co lo ur t o get what we want f ro
m t he wo rld, o r we can us e it t o f ind s o met hing in o urs elves .

Co lo ur pro vides a vial enhancement t o t he wo rld in which we live. Every day mat erials
we us e – Text iles , paint s , plas t ics , paper, and f o o ds t uf f s – are es pecially appealing
if t hey are co lo rf ul. So , imagine a wo rld where all t he mat erials are black, whit e o r grey;
ho w will t hat wo rld lo o k like?

Conce pt of Colour
Co lo ur is t he bye- pro duct o f t he s pect rum o f light , as it is ref lect ed o r abs o rbed, as
received by the Human eye and pro ces s ed by t he human brain. T he wo rld is f ull o f light
. Vis ible light is made o f seven wavelengt h gro ups . T hes e are t he co lo ur we s ee in t
he rainbo w. When light hit s an o bject , some o f t he wavelengt h are abs o rbed while o t
hers reflect ed, depending o n materials in t he o bject . The ref lect ed wavelengt h is what
we s ee as t he o bject co lo ur.

Newt o n’s pris m experiment pro ves t o be very helpf ul in unders t anding co lo ur. Newt o
n realiz ed that colours o t her t han t ho s e in t he s pect ral s equence do exis t , but he no t
ed t hat all t he co lo urs in t he universe which are made by light , and depend no t o n t he
po wer o f imaginat io n, are eit her t he co lo urs of ho mo geneal light s [i.e., s pect al
colours ], o r co mpounded o f t hes e.
Abdul Azeem / National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Newton als o recogniz ed t hat : rays , t o s peak pro perly, are no t co lo ured. In t hem t here
is no t hing else than a cert ain po wer… t o s t ir up a s ens at io n o f t his o r t hat co lo ur.

S/N Wave le ngt h (nm) Colour Absorbe d Colour O bse rbe d

1 400 – 435 Vio let Yello w- Green

2 435 – 480 Blue Yello w

3 480 – 490 Green- blue Orange

4 490 – 500 Blue- green Red

5 500 – 560 Green Purple

6 560 – 580 Yello w- Green Vio let

7 580 – 595 Yello w Blue

8 595 – 605 Orange Green- Blue

9 605 – 700 Red Blue- Green

Te xtile Dye s
Colour is o bt ained in t ext iles and o t her mat erials by t he us e o f co lo urant s (Dyes and
p ig ment s). Indigo and aliz arin o bt ained f ro m t he t ree Tinctoria indigo f era and t he ro o t
o f Madderres pect ively, were us ed by t he ancient s f o r dyeing s ince t he beginning o f
reco rded his t o ry. Ho wever, f ro m t he year 1856 when William Perkin pro duced
Mauviene f ro m s imple o rganic co mpo unds o bt ained f ro m pet ro leum and co al t ar dis
t illat es , t he us e o f t hes e nat ural pigment s was jeo pardiz ed.

A dye can be refered as a wat er- s o luble co lo ured o rganic co mpo und t hat has af f init y
f o r t he s ubs t rat e whereas pigment s are us ually wat er ins o luble. Fo r a co mpo und t o
be a dye, it mus t fulf ill t he fo llo wing co ndit io ns :

1. Mus t be s o luble in aqueo us eit her permanent ly o r during applicat io n.

2. Mus t be int ens ely co lo ured
3. Mus t have s ubs t ant ivit y (abilit y t o be abs o rbed by t he s ubs t rat e) o r be able
to react wit h t he s ubs t rat e chemically.
4. Mus t po s s es s reas o nable f ast n e ss p r op e r t ie s.

Classif ication of Text ile Dyes

There are vario us crit eria us ed in t he clas s if icat io n o f dyes . T hes e include: Origin,
chemical structure, methods of application, nuclear structure and indus t rial clas s if icat io n.
Ho wever, it should be not ed t hat each clas s o f dye has a very unique chemis t ry, s t ruct
ure and part icular way of bonding. While some dyes can react chemically wit h t he s
Abdul Azeem / National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

ubstrates fo rming s t ro ng bo nds in t he proces s , o t hers can be held by phys ical f o rces
. The t able belo w gives a s ummary o f t ext ile dyes and t heir s uit able s ubs t rates / area
of application.

Group Subst rat e

Direct Co t t on, Cellulo s ic and Blends

Vat dyes Co t t o n, Cellulo s ic and Blends

Sulphur Co t t o n, Cellulo s ic f ibers

Organic pigment s Co t t o n, Cellulo s ic, Blended Fabrics , paper

React ive cellulo s ic fibers and f abric

Dis pers ed dyes Synt het ic f ibers

Acid Dyes Wo o l, Silk, Synt het ic f ibers , leather

Az o ic Print ing inks and pigment s

Bas ic s ilk, wo o l,cot to n

Oxidat io n dyes Hair

Develo ped Dyes Cellulo s ic f ibers and Fabric

Mo rdant dyes Cellulo s ic f ibers and Fabric, Silk, Wo o l

Opt ical/Fluo res cent Bright
s ynt het ic f ibers , leat her, co t to n, s po rt s go o ds
eners
So lvent dyes Wo o d St aining, s o lvent inks , waxes , co lo uring o ils

Technique s of Dyeing

1) Bale Dyeing: T his is a low cos t method t o dye cotton clot h. The mat erial is sent wit
hout scouring or singeing, t hrough a cold wat er bat h where t he s iz ed warp has aff init y
for the dye. Imitation chambray and co mparable f abrics are o f t en dyed t his way.

2) Bat ik Dyeing: T his is one o f t he oldes t foms kno wn t o man. It originat ed in Java.
Port io ns o f the f abric are coat ed wit h wax s o t hat o nly un- waxed areas will take o n t
he dye mat t er. The operatio n may be repeat ed s everal t imes and s everal co lo rs may us
e f o r t he biz arre effects . Mo t if s sho w a mlange, mo t t led o r s t reaked ef f ect , imit at
ed in machine print ing.

3) Be am Dyeing: In t his met ho d t he warp is dyed prio r t o weaving. It is wo und o nt o

a perfo rat ed beam and t he dye is f o rced t hro ugh t he perf o rat io ns t hereby s at urat
ing t he yarn wit h co lo r.
Abdul Azeem / National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

4) Burl or speck Dyeing: T his is do ne mo s t ly o n wo o lens o r wo rs t eds , co lo red s

pecks and blemishes are co vered by t he us e o f s pecial co lo red links which co me in
many co lo rs and s hades . It is a hand o perat io n.

5) Chain Dyeing: T his is us ed when yarns and clo t h are lo w in t ens ile s t rengt h.
Several cuts o r pieces o f clo t h are t acked end- t o - end and run t hro ugh in a co nt inuo
us chain in t he dye co lo r. T his met ho d af f o rds high pro duct io n.

6) Cross Dyeing: T his is a very po pular met ho d in which varied co lo r ef f ect s are o bt
ained in t he one dye bat h f o r a clo t h which co nt ains f ibers wit h varying af f init ies f o r t
he dye us ed. Fo r example, a blue dyes t uf f might give nylo n 6 a dark blue s hade, nylo n
6, 6 a light blue s hade, and have no affinit y f o r po lyes t er area uns cat hed o r whit e.

7) Jig Dyeing: T his is do ne in a jig, kier, vat , beck o r ves s el in an o pen f o rmat io n o f
t he go o ds . T he fabric go es f ro m o ne ro ller t o ano t her t hro ugh a deep dye bat h unt
il t he des ired s hade is achieved.

8) Pie ce Dyeing: T he dyeing o f f abrics in t he cut , bo lt o r piece f o rm is called piece

dyeing. It follows t he weaving o f t he go o ds and pro vides a s ingle co lo r f o r t he mat
erial, s uch as blue s erge, a green o rgandy.

9) Random Dyeing: Co lo ring o nly cert ain des ignat ed po rt io ns o f t he yarn. T here
are t hree ways of do ing t his t ype o f co lo ring:

Skeins may be t ight ly dyed in t wo o r mo re places and dyed at o ne s ide o f t he dye wit h
o ne co lo r and at t he o t her s ide wit h ano t her o ne. Co lo r may be print ed o nt o t he s
keins which are s pread o ut o n t he blanket f abric o f t he print ing machine.

Adsorpt ion of Dye f rom the Dye bath

Several dis t inct and ident if iable event s t ake place in t he dyeing o f a t ext ile mat erial. T
he event s are as f o llo ws :

Dif f us io n in So lut io n – Dye mus t mo ve o r dif f us e t hro ugh t he dyebat h in o rder t

o es t ablis h co nt act wit h t he t ext ile mat erial being dyed.

Ads o rpt io n o n f iber s urf ace – dye mo lecules are at t ract ed t o t he f ibre and are init
ially depo s it ed o n t he f ibre s urf ace.

Dif f us io n int o t he f ibre – dye depo s it ed o n t he s urf ace creat es a co ncent rat io n
gradient which is the driving f o rce f o r mo vement o f dye f ro m t he s urf ace t o wards t
he int erio r o f t he f iber. During dif f us io n, dye mo lecules migrat e f ro m place t o place o
n t he f ibre. T his migrat io n t ends t o have a levelling ef f ect o n t he dye applicat io n.
Dyes which migrat e readily are eas y t o apply unif o rmaly. However, dyes which migrat e
and level eas ily als o t ends t o have po o rer was h f as t nes s t han dyes which do no t
level eas ily.
Abdul Azeem / National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

Dis s o lut io n o f t he dye in t he dyebat h – dyes which are o nly s paringly s o luble in
wat er may have t o dis s o lve f ro m a dis pers io n o f highly aggregat ed part icles in o rder
t o be s mall eno ugh t o dif f us e into t he f ibre.

Fastne ss of Te xt ile Dye s

Co lou r f ast n e ss is def ined as t he res is t ance o f co lo ured mat erials t o f ading o r
running during proces s ing o r in s ubs equent us ef ul lif e. T he t erm is us ually us ed in t
he co nt ext o f clo t hes . T he fading o r co lo ur running is bro ught abo ut by Was hing,
rubbing, act io n o f light , ho t pres s ing and pers pirat io n. T heref o re, f as t nes s t es t s
include: was hing f as t nes s , rubbing f as t nes s , light f as t nes s , f as t nes s t o ho t pres
s ing and pers pirat io n f as t nes s .

Colour Me asure me nt
T he co lo ur o f t ext ile dyes is meas ured us ing t he s pect ro pho t o met er. T here are dif
f erent s pect ro pho t o met ers f o r dif f erent t ypes o f light e.g. Inf rared s pect ro met er,
ult ravio let - vis ible spectrometer et c. but t he wo rking principle is almo s t t he s ame.

A whit e s o urce s uch as t he t ungs t en lamp us ually pro vides t he light f o r t he s pect ro
pho t o met er. The mo no chro met er is a pris m, s pect rum f ilt er, o r dif f ract io n grat ing
which s preads t he light f ro m t he s o urce int o a s pect rum. Alt ho ugh, t he wo rd “mo no
chro mat ic” means o ne co lo ur o r o ne wavelengt h, t he mo no chro met er and s lit s elect
a narro w band o f light rat her a s ingle wavelengt h to be meas ured. The s lits can acro s s
t he s pect rum s elect ing t he band o f light t o be meas ured. T he mo no chro met er and s
lit may be placed eit her bef o re t he s ample po s it io n giving t he mo nochromatic illuminat
io n o r af t er t he s ample po s it io n, giving po lychro mat ic illuminat io n. Ho wever, o nly
polychromat ic illuminat io n f o llo wed by s eparat io n t he s eparat io n o f t he ref lect ed
light by a monochro met er gives an accurat e s pect ro pho t o met ric curve if t he s ample
is f luo res cent . T he detect o r is a pho t o elect ric device which co nvert s t he t rans mit t
ed o r ref lect ed light t o an elect rical s ignal in a chart o r co mput er records .

An abridged s pect ro pho t o met er meas ures a f ew narro w bands acro s s t he s pect
rum rat her t han scanning wavelengt h by wavelengt h. Typically abo ut 16 bands each abo
ut 20 nm wide are measured. T hes e ins t rument s us e s eries o f f ilt ers t o s elect t he
bands t o be meas ured o r may us e a s eries o f det ect o rs t o meas ure t he ref lect ance
at all o f t he wavelengt hs s imult aneo us ly. Abridged spect ro pho t o met ers are s impler
and les s expens ive t han s canning s pect ro pho t o met ers , but provide les s info rmation.
Abdul Azeem / National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan