THIAGARAJAR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

(Autonomous Institution) Salem-636005.

Paper presentation by M.SURESH M. SUNDARAMOORTHY FINAL YEAR DEPARTMENT OF TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY Title

SPACE DYEING

Submitted to
Indian Institute of Handloom Technology Salem-636001. 1 Salem-

1.0 What is Space Dyeing? Space dyeing is a technique used to give yarn a multi-colored effect. A typical hank of yarn has the same color throughout its length, while a hank of space dyed yarn consists of two or more different colors that repeat themselves throughout the length of the yarn. Space dyed yarn is sometimes referred to as dip dyed yarn or commercially known as tie & dye yarn. The term "space-dyeing" refers to a dyeing process whereby dye is applied intermittently along the length of yarn such that, when the yarn is woven or knitted into a fabric, a more or less random color pattern is produced in the fabric. The space dyeing yarn involves the use of a special chemical called a mordant. The purpose of a mordant is to help permanently fix the dye to the yarn after the space dyeing process. Since different colors of dye require different types of mordants, this makes it possible to dye the same hank of yarn with many different colors. 2.0 Mordants The main purpose of a mordant is to make interact the fibers of a given material with the dye solution. This interaction helps to ensure that the dye sets properly, without bleeding or running. Some mordant are better suited for use with particular types of fabrics. Cotton is often treated with tannic acid or some type of oil before introducing one of the metallic types of mordant. This process allows the metallic compounds to permeate the cotton fiber with a higher degree of efficiency. Wool typically does not require the use of oil or tannic acid as part of the process, and tends to be very receptive to mordant such as iodine and tin. Silk can be a little more complicated, as it does not respond well to the use of mordant such as potassium. However, chromium agents are generally understood to work very well in the task of setting color in silk material.

There are various methods available to perform space dyeing depending on the raw material to be space dyed and the nature of dyestuffs. So creativity plays an important role with the technology of dyeing. Here some of the basic methods are discussed which may not be relevant to the industrial bulk production practice. 3.0 Space dyeing cotton yarn or fabric using reactive dyes 3.1 Recipe for preparing dye solution: Salt acts as a levelling agent, promoting the migration of the dye out of solution and into the fibre. 200 g salt/litre. Alkali (washing soda) acts as a fixative; once it is added, the dye molecule reacts with the fibre or water. sodium carbonate - 250 g washing soda/litre water. Water Temperature Time for even dyeing use about 20:1 by weight. not necessary Preferably leave the dyebath at least an hour, without stirring.

3.2 Process for space dyeing: First wash or scour the yarn or fabric. Yarns can be hanked or wound in balls for different effects, fabric can be crumpled, ironed smooth, carefully pleated, or tied as in tie dyeing. Rinse the materials to be dyed in washing soda and squeeze out thoroughly. For different effects, painted warps, etc where little dye migration is wanted, the material can be painted with soda solution and allowed to dry before dyeing. Arrange the hanks or fabric in a shallow container - plastic/stainless.

 Mix up small amounts of dye solution use teaspoon dye or less to start with, mix first in a few drops, then add 10-20 ml water or salt solution and stir to dissolve. Start with the palest colour, as it is difficult to lighten colours. Pour the dye in patches. The colours may not come out quite as expected, particularly on silk. It may be easier to pour spoonfuls to control the placing of the dye. Blue tends to be very strong. Leave for 15 minutes, then press down over the whole area. Add more soda solution so that all the fabric has been wetted, and press down gently over the whole area to make sure that as much as possible of the dye has reacted fabric/yarn. Leave for at least hour, for the dye to react. The dye colour will go on strengthening for an hour or the dyebath may be left overnight at this stage. Pour off the dyebath. Rinse the materials thoroughly in several changes of cold water. If overdyeing required, dry at this stage and repeat the dyeing process. Finally boil or wash in hot soapy water to remove any remaining dye, and rinse thoroughly.

4.0 Space dyeing Silk yarn or fabric using Acid dyes 4.1 Preparation of dye-liquor For Cushing's acid dye of 10grams, one liter of water is taken. Steps to make dye liquor with Cushing's acid dyes : 1. put dye powder into a bottle. 2. add 100ml of hot water 3. Dissolve the dye powder. 4. add 100ml of vinegar, swirl to blend. 5. add 700ml of water (room temperature, cold, hot - whatever you like!), swirl to blend. Put the color, brand, and date on the bottle.

 Now the dye liquor is enough to dye 1 pound of silk.

4.2 Preparation of warp Synthrapol and dish soap have the property of wetting the fibers. For silk spun yarn or knitted tubes or blanks, soak it for at least 2 hours. The cones of silk yarn are placed in a creel, or feeder apparatus. The yarn is then warped.

4.3 Application of dyes

Warp Printing A printing process in which dye is applied to parallel strands of yarn. Then the warp strands of yarn are printed with dye, creating long expanses of color along them. Then, the dyed yarn is steamed to set the color, after which it is washed several times. In a final bath, finish and antistatic are applied, and the yarn is dried. The yarn is collected on beams and then rewound onto individual hanks.

4.4 Rewinding

Then the hank is rewound in to suitable packages for weaving or knitting. 5.0 Space dyeing and texturing synthetic yarns The process for space dyeing synthetic yarn such as polyester, is first treated by immersing the ends of the package into a solution of sublimatable ink, thereby dyeing the yarn located at the ends of the package but leaving the yarn at the center of the package undyed. And then at least two ends from at least two such packages are passed through conventional drawing and texturizing apparatus. Each yarn fed is intermittently dyed and undyed along its length, the color strength near the dye boundaries being attenuated and muted due to sublimation of the inks and diffusion and migration of the dyes through the yarn ends and into the package.By utilizing at least two feed yarn packages , very highly random dyeing effects are achieved in a knitted or woven fabric produced from such yarns. In the past, there have been many attempts to provide space-dyed yarn by applying tints and dyes to one or both ends of a yarn package which, upon being woven or knitted into a fabric, yielded an intermittent color effect. 5.1 Methods for space dyeing synthetic yarns Method 1

In a process yarn packages are treated with dyes followed by introducing heated steam for a sufficient time to cause the dyes to partially penetrate the yarn package. This process involves treating yarn in package from with one or more dyes in a reproducible manner to provide repeating contiguous sections of yarn having desired characteristics. Method 2 In a process space-dyed yarns are produced by contacting each of the flat ends of a wound yarn package with a coloring agent, withdrawing the yarn from the yarn package, and rewinding the yarn in reverse order into a second yarn package and then contacting each of the flat ends of the rewound yarn package with a color modifying agent, e.g. a dye. The colored yarn can then be withdrawn from the rewound yarn package and woven or tufted into a carpet, resulting in a carpet having random patches of contrasting color. Method 3 In a process partially oriented synthetic yarn such as partially oriented polyester yarn is fed continuously through a bath of a sublimatable dye, then to a first heated roll and then to a second heated draw roll to draw the partially oriented yarn, then to a texturizer and then to a takeup roll, all in one continuous operation, to produce a conditioned and texturized yarn. The term "sublimatable ink" as used herein refers to inks made primarily for printing applications. Generally the dye pigments are sublimatable anthroquinone, azo and methine dyestuffs.

6.0 Space dyeing wool 6.1 Requirements:

Yarn, fleece or wool top or sliver. Water. Acid: either vinegar (5% acid) or Acetic Acid (56 % acid) Dye Powder: Acid Wool Dyes in a range of mixable colors such as yellow, scarlet or magenta, blue or turquoise, black.

6.2 Preparation of Stock Solutions: Measure dye powder into jar. Use 15 gm for a quart jar Add warm water to powder a little at a time stir carefully to make a smooth paste.

Add enough warm water to make up a quart of solution

6.3 Preparation of Yarn, Fleece, Top, or Sliver

Take large canning pots which hold up to 1 lb of yarn of loose fleece or tops. A Clean fiber produces consistent results and absorbs the most dye. Greasy or partially clean fleece produces interesting streaks.

Wind yarn into hank form and tie loosely in several places. Fiber does not have to be wetted before dyeing. For "blurry" color effects, spray fiber with water or dip it into water for 5 seconds and squeeze out excess until damp, not wet. Dry areas do not take up dye and increase uneven effects.

6.4 Preparation of dye solution Fill the bottom of pot with 2 inches of water. Add 1 cup of vinegar or 5 tsp. of Acetic Acid (56%) or 3 tsp's. of Glacial 98% Acetic Acid. Put rack in pot, cover pot with tightly fitting lid. Add weight on top of lid if necessary to hold lid down tightly (such as a brick). Heat the pot.

6.5 Mixing of colours. Use 1-3 cups of "pouring colors" per batch. Fill the cup half of water. Add 1 to 8 Tblsp's of dye stock solutions (1 Tblsp for pastels, 8 Tblsp's for dark colors). Add either 3 Tblsp's vinegar or 1 tsp acetic acid to each cup. 6.6 Single color method: Add different amounts of the same color dye stock to each cup. For example: 1 Tblsp to 1st cup, 4 Tblsp's to 2nd cup, 8 Tblsp's to 3rd cup. 6.7 Multi-color method:

 Add different color to each cup. Try using colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel (triads). For example: add scarlet or magenta to 1st cup, yellow to second cup, turquoise or blue to 3rd cup. Lay fiber on rack - In steaming pot. Drizzle 1 or 2 cups of various pouring colors on top of fiber. Put on lid and let steam. More colors may be added in 5-10 mins Cover pot and steam for 10-15 mins. Weigh down yarn with dinner plate if pot is not full of yarn or fiber. If pot is tightly filled let steam extra 5-10 mins. Turn fiber over and drizzle on more colors. Steam another 5-10 mins. Let fiber cool to hand temperature, then rinse well to remove unfixed colors. Wash in warm soapy water with liquid, dishwashing detergent then rinse. 7.0 Dyeing Animal Fiber in a Crock Pot Materials Needed

A crock pot White vinegar Fiber - clean roving. Softer wools, such as merino. Dyestuff - acid dyes for wool and other protein fibers. Additional items needed for space-dyeing are pint-size glass jars. Four wide-mouth salad dressing jars fit into my shallow crock pot easily, and the domed lid covers them.

Step 1:

Divide the 100grams of roving into four roughly equal parts by folding in half.

Step 2:

Push the dry roving into each jar, using roughly one-quarter of the fiber in each. Squish each top part back and forth to get color on the parts that aren't in the jars. Fill each jar carefully with water to the top and push the roving down gently, so that the color is mostly uniform in the whole jar. Fill crock pot with tap water almost to the top. Step 3:

 Set control to LOW and leave alone for about 3 hours. Then turn crock pot OFF and leave alone for at least another 3 hours. Step 4: When fiber is cool, rinse it carefully in water at the same temperature. This is what the spacing of the colors looks like:

Step 5 - Review and Finishing After your fibers have dyed for 3 hours, let them cool Step 6 - Rinsing

In water the same temperature as the wool, rinse the dyed fibers until the water runs clear. Being careful not to wring or agitate the fiber, squeeze as much water as possible from it. Step 7 - Drying

 The space dyed roving is then dried in a drier. Hang the damp roving to air dry

8.0

Space Dyed Carpet

Space dyed carpet is a yarn dyeing process in which different colors are applied along a length of yarn at intervals. Space dyed yarn produces, in its subsequent tufted fabric form, an effect of random, unorganized design. 8.1 Method of Space Dyeing Knit de knit (KDK) A printing process in which filament yarn is knitted into a plain circular tube, or "sock," and printed with short sections of color in a multicolored pattern. The printed knit tube is then steamed, washed, extracted, and dried, after which it is "deknitted." The unraveled printed yarn is rewound onto cones and may be plied or entangled with other yarns before tufting takes place. Although the basic coloration techniques are the same, various types of printing heads are used, the most common being the engraved roller printer. Normally a base color is applied by a pad dyeing technique in which the knitted tube is completely covered in a solid dye or print bath, then forced through a press roller to give a

residual 90-100% take-up of pad dye liquor. This step is immediately followed by a wet-on-wet over printing in which stripe patterns of several other colors are applied with a series of engraved rollers. To fix the printed color onto the yarn, the knitted tubing is steamed for six to 12 minutes at 220 to 230 degrees F. It then goes through a series of wash boxes and/or pressure sprays to remove excess color. An anti-stat finish is usually added at this point, to assist in the subsequent de-knitting and tufting process. In the final step of the dyeing process, the tubing is dried. The knitted yarn is unraveled with great care and wound on to cones to be shipped to the tufting or weaving mill.

9.0 Traditional Dyeing

9.1 Space Dye effects achieved with Cold Water Dyes

Requirements Cold Water Dye Cold Dye Fix Salt Pre-washed natural fabric/garment Thread, string, elastic bands Dye bath(plastic bucket or bowl) Measuring jug 9.2 Swirl Effect Place fabric on a flat surface. Pinch up the centre and twist into a spiral.

 Secure the shape with 2 rubber bands to form 4 sections. 9.3 Marble Effect Place fabric on a flat surface. Crush the dry fabric tightly to form a ball and secure the shape with string or several rubber bands. 9.4 Striped Effect Place fabric on a flat surface. Starting with a wide edge, pleat the fabric in opposite directions in5-7cm deep folds forming a concertina effect. Bind tightly at regular intervals along the length of the folded strip with string or rubber bands.

9.5 Circle effect: Place fabric on a flat surface. Pinch the centre of the fabric and pull up. Using string or rubber bands, bind tightly at intervals from the cone centre downward. 9.6 Ranched effect: Using cord about twice the length of the fabric being died, tie the ends together in a knot. Different thickness of cord give varying patterns once dyed.

 Place the cord along the longer edge of the fabric. Roll the fabric around it, leaving the knot and loop, protruding at either end. Pass the knotted end cord through the loop and pull tightly to ruche the fabric. Tie a knot in the cord to hold the fabric firmly in place.

9.7 Methods Standard dyeing method using Cold Water Dye For 250g dry weight of fabric use 1 tin of Cold Water Dye, 1 sachet of cold Fix and 125g of salt. Tie fabric following chosen method and make up dye bath. Immerse tied fabric for 1 hour, agitating for the first 10 minutes, Then occasionally during the remaining 50 minutes. Rinse, wash with washing powder and hot water. Alternative dyeing method using cold water dye This technique is particularly suitable for dyeing fabric in more than one colours. Dissolve each tin of dye with 1 sachet of Cold Dye Fix and 60g of salt in 1 pint of warm water. . Using a brush, paint dye liberally onto fabric, pushing color into folds. For multicolor effect, paint each section with a different color. Turn fabric over and repeat. Place fabric in a plastic bag, seal and leave overnight. Take out of bag, rinse thoroughly until water runs clear, untie, and wash with hot water washing powder. Dry away from direct heat and sunlight.