Abstract:
The major problem regarding natural dyes was lack of availability of standard shade cards and
reproducibility of shades; as a result the synthetic dyes have captured the market. Because
clothing is in constant contact with our skin, the chemicals used in dyeing are absorbed into our
skin through the pores and these create various skin diseases. The alternative to the problem is
natural dyes which are more aesthetic and safe for dyers as well as wearers. The aim of this
research is to investigate the suitability of natural dyes on a range of different fabric types and
their storage stability for industrial purposes. An attempt has been made in laboratory scale and
in pilot plant also using some selected flowers like Mari-gold for dyeing of textile fibre to get a
clear idea of preparation of dye from these flowers & using it in Textile Industry and making the
process economically viable. Tegetus erecta (marigold) belongs to family Asteraceae. It
produces natural dye from its stem, which has been used for dyeing textiles. In this research
innovative dyeing with tegetus was shown to give good dyeing results. Pretreatment with 1-2%
metal mordant and by using 5% of plant extract (owf) was found to be optimum and showed
very good fastness properties for cotton, wool and silk dyed fabrics. As the first step, a
comprehensive analysis, which describes the nature of selected natural materials, was carried out
inorder to select the suitable mordant to obtain the required colour. An analysis was done on the
dye extraction method. Secondly it`s very vital to present detailed specification which contain
the characteristics of the dye which will be indicative of the life time of a dye and colour fastness
for washing and sunlight. This made easier to analyze the fabric requirements for the particular
dye and justify the selections as well. The ultimate aim of this research is to come up with a
technically viable solution to provide natural dyes with shelf stability to be used as textile dyes.
In addition, it is proven that the method of freeze drying is capable of converting liquid dye extracts into
soluble powder. According to the results it can be concluded that best method for the converting
liquid dye solution to the powder form is by using rotary evaporator and freeze drying. And it is
obvious that by converting a liquid in to powder form will increase the life time of the dye
solution since in the powder form there is no water which is necessary for the living of fungus
that makes the lesser life time. When observing the fastness properties all the fastness properties
are within the acceptable range. Thus it can be concluded that the stability of the dye can be
improved by converting liquid dye into powder form since dye powder is free from water.
