AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE WASH FASTNESS OF RED DYES USING REAL TEXTILE WASTE WATER

Abstract

In this paper, the effectiveness of discarded wastewater from a cotton bleaching mill
was evaluated for the removal of unfixed dyes from textile fabrics in order to achieve high level of
fastness properties. Research was carried out on four selective reactive red dyes i.e. C.I. Reactive Red
194, C.I. Reactive Red 195, C.I. Reactive Red 231, and C.I. Reactive Red 141. Several fabrics were
dyed using both conventional and new method under investigation, and comparison was made in terms
of rubbing fastness, washing fastness, and colour difference properties. The results of experimental
studies revealed that using discarded bleaching wastewater in the washing of red shades could be an
efficient and cost-effective method which can attain fastness values of dyed samples up to an optimum
value (4.5 – 5.0) without altering their colorimetric values (ΔL
*
, ΔE*
).