Low temperature reactive dyeing of silk: An investigation into dyeing conditions, and strength loss and friction damage of fabric

The low temperature dyeing of textiles has obvious energy-saving effect. Silk fabric suffers from friction damage in the rope dyeing process, and additionally silk is complained about unsatisfactory color fastness. To address the aforementioned issues, the reactive dyeing of silk fabric at low temperatures was studied in terms of dyeing conditions, dye selection, alkali resistance of silk, and strength loss and friction damage of fabric. Reactive dyes exhibited higher fixation to silk in alkaline bath than acidic and neutral baths. The breaking strength and whiteness of silk fabric was less affected by sodium bicarbonate, but greatly affected by sodium carbonate. Silk fabric treated with sodium carbonate at 50–60 ℃ had acceptable loss of breaking strength (< 10%). Silk fabric dyed at 60–80 ℃ using sodium bicarbonate exhibited higher color depth than that dyed at 50–60 ℃ using sodium carbonate. The high temperature dyeing in alkaline bath caused the friction damage and fuzz appearance of silk fabric, which did not occur in low temperature and alkaline conditions. The reactive dyes selected from commercial products could be applied at 50 ℃ and met requirements for high fixation, high color fastness and a variety of colors.