Principles Dyeing Silk

The different behaviour of various textile fibres in dyeing may be explained by an assumption of different solvent power thus, silk dyes more readily than other fibres because the fibroin has a greater solvent power. Keratine again, the principle of the wool fibre, possesses a greater solvent power than cellulose, which is only capable of attracting and holding in solution a few dyestuffs, such as the tetrazo-dyes of the benzidine series, and in certain cases in this class the solvent power of the water in the dye-bath has to be decreased by addition of salt. 

The beginnings of basic research at BASF were somewhat hesitant and still related to the needs of dyestuffs chemistry. In collaboration with Hans Fikentscher, Curt Schuster and W. Biilow, K.H. Meyer established the physical and chemical principles of the dyeing process of cellulose acetate and nitrate, silk, and wool. This research ran parallel to the efforts of the laboratory to invent dyestuffs for the new artificial fibres, such as cellulose acetate (rayon). 

The ingredients for pretreatments can range from simple to complex, with particular formulations for particular dye types or fabrics, or combinations of these. This chapter is an overview of pretreatment as a process, rather than a specific chemical or physical analysis of a particular step in that process. References are included for those interested to further their own research. Specific ingredients tend to be confidential as commercially sensitive, but some recipes are publicly available for use as a starting point for experimentation (Bae, 2007, p. 46 Hawkyard, 2006 Provost et al., 2003). Many of the pretreatment formulations have been aimed at fashion fabrics, so they are biased toward fiber types such as cotton, silk, nylon, and wool. The principle and most common ingredients for pretreatments are thickeners, alkalis, and urea ... 

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