Solvent assisted approach for greener decoloration of textile and fashion waste

There is a growing interest in the decolorization of pre-consumer textile waste, which includes manufacturing scraps with diverse compositions. This study investigates the effectiveness of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a solvent for removing dye molecules from both polyester and cotton fabrics. Our findings demonstrate that DMSO significantly decolorizes 100 % PET textile waste after multiple treatment cycles, while its impact on cotton is less pronounced, underscoring the influence of dye-fiber bonding and the behaviour of DMSO on fiber. Nevertheless, DMSO can be effectively used as a pre-treatment on cotton and may even eliminate the need for a separate bleaching step. A notable advantage of using DMSO for blended textiles is its ability to reduce overall color intensity without the need to separate the blend components. This approach presents a sustainable solution for the decoloration of textile waste, emphasizing fewer processing steps, reduced chemical usage, and lower energy consumption during recycling of textile waste. • Our research uses DMSO solvent to effectively remove dyes from real textile waste, including polyester, cotton, and blends, without separation—simplifying and reducing recycling costs. • DMSO swells polyester fibers, breaking van der Waals forces to release disperse dyes. • While reactive dyes in cotton resist removal due to covalent bonds, DMSO pretreatment improves subsequent alkaline extraction. • This solvent-based method offers a viable water-saving alternative to traditional harsher bleaching methods using peroxide or chlorine.