Water-soluble polymers have versatile application, viz., water-soluble polyacrylates have been widely used in the reactive dyeing of cellulosic fibers and the related soaping as an important component of the leveling and washing agent. In this article, one such water-soluble polymer, polyacrylic acid has been synthesized, characterized, and applied in conjunction with various types of reactive dyes, namely triazinyl, vinyl sulfone, high exhaustion, and bifunctional reactive dyes, along with crosslinking agents, namely glycerol 1,3-dichlorohydrin and hexamethylene tetramine-hydroquinone, respectively. One of the crosslinking agents (the former one) has been synthesized in the laboratory. Crosslinking agent is necessary to adhere the dye molecule onto the cellulose macromolecule. Different process sequences have been formulated and explored for dyeing purpose. All such dyeings were carried out at neutral pH. The dyed samples were assessed through color strength in terms of K/S values and their fastness properties were assessed by standard methods. All such dyeings were compared with conventional dyed samples. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 118: 1257-1269, 2010