Study on the Dyeability and the Colorfastness of Imported Commercial Raw Indigo Powder Dye on Cotton Fabric

The purpose of this research was to find the suitable dyeing method for dyeing cotton fabric into indigo blue color using the raw indigo powder dyes sold in the Korean market. The research focused primarily on the comparison of the non-reduced dyeing method and the reduced dyeing method. The dyeing effects using different dyeing temperatures ($2{\sim}80^{\circ}C$) and different concentrations of reducing agent and alkali were also investigated. It was found that the reduced dyeing method must be used for dyeing cotton into indigo blue color using the commercial raw indigo powder dyes. The best result was obtained by $20^{\circ}C$ dyeing with the $40^{\circ}C$ dyeing giving a comparable result. The intensity of the blue color could be enhanced by increasing the alkali concentration. The non-reduced dyeing could not dye cotton fabric into indigo blue color at any given dyeing temperatures ($2{\sim}80^{\circ}C$). The reduce-dyed cotton fabrics showed a gradual color change upon repeated washing and extended sunlight exposure, the most color change occurring after the first two washing cycles and the first 5 hours of sunlight exposure. The standard tests of colorfastness showed that the reduce-dyed cotton fabrics had good to excellent colorfastness whereas the colorfastness of the non-reduce-dyed cotton fabrics were mostly poor.