Fabric Preparation for Dyeing

and Printing

What do you mean by

preparation?
Processes used to remove impurities

from fabric to make it dye-able or

printable.

PREPARATION
Following are the steps to be taken before going wet

processing :
Grey inspection
Stitching
Shearing and cropping

PREPARATION
Singe

Singeing

Desize

Desizing

Scour

Scouring

Bleach

Bleaching

Mercerize

Mercerising

Typically a woven

cotton fabric would

be prepared by
sequence of process
as shown
In case of knitting
Desizing step is not
involved

GREY FABRIC INSPECTION

Fabric is inspected for defects before it is dyed i.e

grey stage.
A record of the defects in a fabric length is kept to
determine its quality .
The process of giving points and assigning a
quality level is called fabric grading.

Singeing
Burning of protruding fibres from the surface of

fabric or yarn - A mechanical process

What it do?
Makes fabrics smooth
Prevents pilling
Improves luster

Burner
Fabric out

Fabric
Quenching bath
Burner

What should control during singeing

operation?
Intensity and uniformity of flame
Working speed of the fabric to be singed
Effectiveness of singeing : should not add harshness

in the fabric
Should not damage the synthetic filament yarn in the
fabric

Bio polishing
It is an enzyme treatment designed to improve fabric
quality and provide following advantages:
Improve pilling resistance
A clear, lint and fuzz-free surface structure
Improved drape and softness
The effect are durable
It can be carried out at any time, but after bleaching
is most popular

Process
Cellulase enzyme is used
Enzyme dosage 1-2% owf
pH 4.5-5.5
Temperature 40-55oC
Time 30-60 min.

It is similar to singeing as it also provide similar

effect on the fabric

DESIZING
To remove size material from the warp yarn
Size material: Starch, PVA, Synthetic ingredients
If not desized?

Problems in dyeing like patchy or uneven dyeing

METHOD OF DESIZING
Enzyme desizing:
Enzyme solution in water with 0.5% to 2.0% on
weight of fabric enzyme
A quantity of Common salt is also required
Neutral pH
Overnight Padding fabric with solution
Other method fabric is run continuously in
machine having enzyme solution.

QUALITY CONTROL CHECKS

Desizing efficiency test
Iodine test
Fluidity test

SCOURING
It is process to remove all undesirable impurities

(Natural: like dirt, vegetable matter, grease wax etc

and Added: like remaining size material, stains etc.)
Uses Sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate or

detergents
Improve absorbency and whiteness

Scouring of Cotton
Sodium hydroxide and Soda ash are used for scouring

of cotton at boiling temperature: called alkali scouring

Now enzymatic scouring is also used
Solvent scouring was also used few year back by using
solvent by using trichloroethylene, which dissolve
wax-But now it is not used

Scouring of Wool
Wool is a protein fiber and sensitive to bases. Wool

can be scoured by using detergent at pH up to 11 at

60oC
To remove vegetable material it is carbonized by
using Dilute Sulphuric acid.

Scouring of Silk
De-gumming:
It is scoured by using Soap and soda ash
Treatment for 1 hour at 50oC (repeat this process three
times)
Bleaching is carried out with hydrogen peroxide With
sodium silicate

Scouring and Bleaching of Man made

fibers
Polyester, Viscose, Nylon etc are scoured by washing

in detergent to remove stains of oil during weaving

or knitting process
It is generally unnecessary to bleach the man-made
fibres before dyeing or printing.
Bleach only if higher standard whiteness is required
(Hydrogen peroxide bleach)

BLEACHING
This is a process of whitening-fabrics having natural colour
It is carried out by using oxidizing agents like

Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl)

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)

Sodium Chlorite (NaClO2)

Sodium Hypochlorite for cotton

Material soaked in cold solution of sodium

hypochlorite under slight alkaline conditions (pH

10 to 11) at a concentration of about 2 to 4 gm/lit
for several hours at room temperature
Avoid impregnated fabric from direct sunlight,
otherwise fibres may damage
Treat the fabric with sodium bisulphite to de-chlor
chlorine otherwise acid will form and degrade fibre

Hydrogen Peroxide for cotton

Most popular and environmentally accepted

process
But require higher temperature near boiling
Hydrogen peroxide is used along with NaOH (to
maintain pH 10-11)
Drawback: Poor stability both for bacteria and
small amount of Iron and copper present in the
textiles or the processing water. Cause
catalytically decomposition of the peroxide, This
loss of H2O2 mean less available bleaching agent.
To prevent it Sodium silicate is used as stabilizer
along EDTA.

Sodium chlorite for cotton

This is not popular now due to environmental

problem associated with us.

Also corrosive in nature for equipment used for
dyeing
If brilliant white finish is required in
textile, then bleaching is not sufficient. For
this purpose Fluorescent brightening
agents are used

Fluorescent brightening
agent(FBA)
Fluorescence is the ability of a substance to

absorb radiation of light and re-radiate it at a

longer wavelength.
Eye detect visible only
Incident light

Eye detect visible & UV both

Incident light

Visible
U.V

Reflected UV
& Visible

Fibre without FBA

Reflected Visible
Plus UV converted
to visible

Fibre with FBA

Bleaching of wool
Hydrogen peroxide is mainly used for bleaching
Sodium Hydroxide is not used as it would damage

wool fiber
Reducing agents like Sodium bisulphite, Sodium
dithionite, sodium metabisulphite etc also used for
bleaching wool

MERCERISATION
This is the process applicable only on cellulosic

fibres especially cotton

The main purpose of mercerisation is to alter the
chemical and physical properties of the fibre.
Cotton yarn treated in 18-30% NaOH swells in
diameter and shrink in length---become denser

Change in cross section

1. Cross section of cotton before mercerisation
2-5 swelling process in 18% NaOH
6 Rinsing
6 process after swelling
7 Final state

Change in cross section

What it does?

improved luster
increased ability to absorb dye
improved reactions with a variety of chemicals
improved stability of form
improved strength/elongation
improved smoothness
improved hand

THANKS