Dyeing Properties to Wool Fabrics of Catechu Dye Purified by Micro-Filtration Membrane

Abstract

Catechu liquor, which is deep brown-red in color, was purified with a micro-filtration membrane and the stability of catechu dye to different levels of temperatures and pH were investigated in this paper. The effects of the dyeing conditions on color characteristic values and color fastnesses of the dyed wool fabrics were also investigated. The results show that the liquor of catechu dye is stable at pH values of 3-7 and its color changes to a deeper brown-red when its pH value is above 8. The preferable dyeing conditions for wool fabric with refined powder catechu dye are as follows: dyeing temperature of 100±C, pH value of 6.5 for the dye bath and catechu dye of 1-4% (o.w.f). The dyed wool fabric has good color fastnesses to washing, alkali perspiration and dry rubbing. However, its color fastness rating to wet rubbing is poor, ranging from 2-3. Further research will be needed on this aspect.