NATURAL DYES CATCHING UP WITH SYNTHETIC COUNTERPARTS
April 25th, 2022
Finishers are innovating to overcome the past weaknesses of natural and organic dyes such as low yields when extracting dyes from sources such as vegetation, insects or molluscs, inferior wash performance and weaker fastness in general, compared with synthetic dyes.
A key focus of progress has been the improved use of mordants fixing natural dye stuff onto yarns and fabrics. Common mordants in use are anything but organic, being based on heavy metals such as alum (the specific compound is hydrated potassium aluminium sulphate), iron (ferrous sulphate), copper ...
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