Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.46, No.9, 2710-2714, 2007
Continuous dyeing of cotton/polyester and polyester fabrics with reactive and disperse dyes using infrared heat
Continuous dyeing of cotton/polyester and 100% polyester fabrics was performed using mixtures of reactive and disperse dyes, or disperse dyes alone, respectively, and achieving dye fixation by heating, using an electric infrared oven situated in front of an electric hot air unit. Generally, the colors of the thermally produced dyeings were reasonably similar to those of the respective exhaust dyeings obtained using the same recipes. As expected, the thermally produced dyeings usually contained more unfixed dyes than the exhaust dyeings, largely a consequence of the quicker and less-efficient post-dyeing washing process. The results for pilot-scale dyeings are also compared with those obtained on an industrial scale in a finishing mill. Dyeing using infrared heating and hot air had no influence on the light stability of the colors or on the fabric handle. Most significantly, the negligible variation of color along the fabric length during continuous thermal dyeing illustrated that the process was well-controlled in all cases and could be valuable for the dyeing of small lots of fabric.