Dyeing of Silk Fabric with Natural Colorant from <i>Dimocarpus longan</i> Leaves

Abstract

Natural dye solution from longan leaves was applied to the simultaneous dyeing of silk fabric and using alum, copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate and stannous chloride as a mordanting agents. The dyeing properties and effects of simutaneous-mordanting on the hue, colour strength and colour value were revealed. The results show that The K/S values increased with an increase of metal mordant concentration. The mordant activity sequence was CuSO4&gt; FeSO4&gt; AlK(SO4)2 &gt; SnCl2. The obtained colour values show that silk fabrics dyed without mordant exhibited dark brown colour, while those mordanted with aluminum potassium sulfate (alum), stannous chloride and copper sulfate showed a variety of medium to dark brown shades. With ferrous sulfate, the colour shade was darker and duller. The colour fastness results showed good to very good level.