Kannanmarikani, Uma Sangareswari Kannan and Rajarathinam Kanniappan
In India, traditionally some plants were used for dyeing the fabrics. According to dye yield and fastness properties the plant was chosen for fabric dyeing. Most of the synthetic dyes showed strong allergy and pollutant to the environment. So, for the current need we are chosen the plant Lawsonia inermis to colour the fabrics in this work. First, the dye was obtained through the extraction methods and studied the physicochemical properties of the dye. The dyeing properties were optimized for colouring the cotton and cotton thread. Different colour fastness parameters were also noted. In this work, we found the red dye obtained through alkaline extraction has better colour strength i.e. the maximum colour intensity at 3M NaOH. The peak at 1.907 from HPLC result confirmed the lawsone compound present in the dye. During dyeing the fabrics showed brighter colour after 24 hours. In fastness studies while washing with soap and dried under sunlight for a day and 2 days later, the colour was slightly faded in all fabrics. Still, due to its nontoxic and eco-friendly features the henna dye can be an effective natural dye for clothing.
