Effect of Dyebath Ph on Colour Characterization of Silk Fabric Dyed with Natural Dyes Using Cold-Pad-Batch Dyeing Technique

Silk is considered as Queen of textile fiber owing to its smooth and lustrous appearance. Traditionally it can be dyed with synthetic as well as natural dyes to impart a variety of colours. In recent years finding of researches conducted shown that chemicals used in synthetic dyes may contain toxic elements. These dyes may cause an environmental problem as well as adversely affect the health of living beings. To overcome the adverse effect of synthetic dyes researchers all over the world have been focused on substitute preparation of synthetic dyes. Dyes of natural origin are environment-friendly in nature and have no side effects on the skin. Natural colorants are often criticized for limitations in the available colour range. The present study deals with the application of two natural dye extracts from Madder and Kamala by a Cold–pad-batch technique of dyeing. The effect of different auxiliaries on the dyeing has also been investigated by selecting two mordents applied by the meta-mordanting technique. Commercially available natural dyes have been applied with four different formulations to produce a variety of shades. Shades of pink to dark red have been produced using Madder and Shades of Cream to dull yellow have been produced by Kamala as a natural dye. The dyeing characterization of silk dyed with Madder and Kamala using the Cold-Pad-Batch technique has been done in terms of colour strength value (K/S) as well as the overall colour fastness properties. The samples dyed with energy-efficient Cold-Pad-Batch technique give different shades on silk fabric using natural dyes. The different formulations of dye liquor result in a change in shades of dyed fabric with satisfactory light, wash, and rubbing fastness properties.