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Fabric Dye Chemistry Experiment

This fabric dye chemistry experiment explores the way a dye produces different colors, depending on the nature of the fibers. A single dye mixture produces a whole rainbow of colors on different materials because of the chemical bonding between the dye and the polymer. Here is how you perform the demonstration, with tips and options for substitutions.

Overview of the Fabric Dye Chemistry Experiment

This project involves a mixture of three dyes. On their own, these dyes are red, blue, and yellow, so all of the colors of the rainbow are possible. Several factors determine the color you get from dyeing cloth. Coloring results from chemical bonding, diffusion, absorption , of a combination of these processes. The temperature of the dye bath and the time allowed for the process also affect the outcome. Dyes are available from Philip Harris (International), Kemtex (UK), or (for the alternative dyes) from Flinn Scientific (US).

• Acid dyes, like acid blue 40, contain -CO 2 H or -SO 3 H groups that bond to the basic -NH groups of amide linkages, such as those found in nylon, silk, and wool.
• Direct dyes, like direct red 23, bond to fibers via hydrogen bonding . They deposit color onto fibers with numerous –OH groups, such as cotton, linen, rayon, and viscose.
• Disperse dyes, such as disperse yellow, are insoluble in water. Instead, they form a suspension (dispersion) in the liquid that absorbs onto hydrophobic polymers, such as polyester. They also attach somewhat to cellulose fibers and other polymers that accept direct dyes.

The colorfastness of a dye depends on how the molecule size, how tightly it bonds to the fibers, and how soluble it is in a cleaning solvent (usually water).

• 0.06 g acid blue 40
• 0.04 g disperse yellow
• 0.04 g direct red 23
• small volume of dilute hydrochloric acid (~2 M)
• heat-safe (Pyrex) glass beakers or cups
• Bunsen burner or other heat source
• Tongs or forceps
• Paper towels
• polyester cotton blend
• triacetate (cellulose acetate)

Once the dye baths are set up, the experiment takes about 30 minutes to complete.

Perform the Fabric Dye Chemistry Experiment

• Either label the fabric swatches with a permanent marker or else cut them into distinctive shapes that identify them (e.g., star is cotton, heart is wool, etc.).
• Weigh and label two 0.02 g samples of the red and yellow dyes and two 0.03 g samples of the blue dye.
• Prepare the dye bath containing all three chemicals: Dissolve 0.02 g red, 0.02 g yellow, and 0.03 g blue into 200 ml of water. Add a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid. Heat the dye mixture to boiling.
• Prepare dye baths for the individual colors. In the red bath, use 0.02 g of red dye in 200 ml of water. The yellow bath is 0.02 g of yellow dye in 200 ml of water. The blue bath is 0.3 g of blue dye in 200 ml of water. Add a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid to each container and heat it to boiling.
• Dye each fabric sample by simmering it for 5 to 10 minutes in the desired dye bath.
• After dyeing, remove fabric strips using tongs or forceps, let excess dye drip back into the container, and rinse with running water.
• Either hang the strips to dry or else place them on paper towels.
• Compare the colors of the fabric strips and use what you know about the chemical structures of the fibers to explain your findings.

Further Research

• Now, turn it from a project into an experiment by predicting the colors of fabrics you did not test, based on their chemical properties. Then, dye these fabric swatches and see if the colors support your hypothesis .
• Other investigations include testing the effect of a mordant , such as salt or alum, seeing if changing the pH of the dye bath changes the colors, or playing with the time and temperature of the dyeing process.

Expected Colors

Here are typical colors for various fabrics, based on a 10 minute dyeing time:

Substitutions

Alternatively, use dyes common in chemistry. The difference here is that you don’t combine all of the dyes into one bath. Instead, keep the dyes separate and compare the color results using different fabrics. The chemical properties of these dyes differ because of the purposes they serve in the lab. So, they produce various colors on cloth due to the chemical bonding of the polymers. Here are some good options:

• Alizarin red, 1%
• Congo red, 0.1%
• Crystal violet, 1%
• Malachite green, 1%
• Methyl orange
• Place each dye in a separate container and heat it to near boiling.
• Mark fabric strips to identify their composition.
• Soak each fabric strip 5-10 minutes in a dye.
• Remove it using tongs or forceps, letting excess liquid drain back into the dye bath.
• Pat each strip dry with paper towels to remove excess dye.
• Rinse the strips with running water.
• Compare the colors obtained by each fabric using the dyes.

Table of Dye Colors for Different Fabrics

While your results may vary, largely depending on the pH of your water, expect colors like this:

Tips and Safety

• If you don’t have all of these fabrics, scavenge thrift shops or ask participants if they have any scrap material at home. Either use fabric that bears a label or else use the response to the dye to identify the fabric composition.
• Ideally, you want white starting material, but you can bleach and dry colored fabrics before performing the experiment.
• Wear gloves (preferably nitrile ) and eye protection. Most dyes irritate skin and color skin or clothing. If you splash dye onto your skin, rinse it off immediately with running water.
• Although the hydrochloric acid is dilute, it can still cause a chemical burn. Neutralize a spill or splash with a weak base, such as baking soda , and then rinse with water.
• If possible, store dyes and perform the experiment within a fume hood. Otherwise, conduct the project in a well-ventilated area.
• Because these dyes are hot, take care to avoid getting burned.
• Bien, Hans-Samuel; Stawitz, Josef; Wunderlich, Klaus (2005). “Anthraquinone Dyes and Intermediates” in Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry . Weinheim. doi: 10.1002/14356007
• Cesa, I. (ed.). (2004). Flinn ChemTopic Labs . Volume 5: Chemical Bonding. Batavia IL: Flinn Scientific.
• Clark, M. (2011). Handbook of Textile and Industrial Dyeing: Principles, Processes and Types of Dyes . Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-85709-397-4.
• Clements, Allan; Dunn, Mike; et al. (2010). The Essential Chemical Industry . University of York: The Chemical Industry Education Centre.
• Needles, Howard L. (1981). Handbook of Textile Fibers, Dyes, and Finishes . Garland STPM Press. ISBN 978-0-8240-7046-5.

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Science News Explores

Experiment: how to make the boldest, brightest tie-dye.

Explore how different fiber types react with dye to find out which works best

If you want to create a tie-dyed shirt, it helps to understand fabric dyes, like the ones explored in this experiment.

ElementalImaging/Getty Images

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• Google Classroom

By Science Buddies

June 12, 2024 at 6:30 am

Objective : Test how strongly fiber-reactive dyes color different fabric types

Areas of science : Chemistry

Difficulty : Medium intermediate

Time required : 6–10 days

Prerequisites : None

Material availability : Specialty items: fiber-reactive dye and soda ash are necessary. See the Materials and Equipment section for more details.

Cost : $20–$50

Safety : Safety goggles and rubber gloves are needed for some steps. See the Procedure for more details. Additionally, items that come in contact with soda ash should not be used with food afterward. See the Materials for more details.

Credits : Sandra Slutz, PhD, Science Buddies; Teisha Rowland, PhD, Science Buddies

From the shrouds of mummies in ancient Egypt, to the ball gowns of ladies in the Victorian era, to the tie-dyed shirts of hippies, dyed cloth has played an important role in human society.

Early dyes were made using natural resources, such as plants, berries, minerals and seeds. Some of the earliest examples of cloth dyed with these natural substances come from ancient Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom, during the reigns of pharaohs like Queen Hatshepsut and King Tutankhamen. Archeological finds from China and India also contain early examples of dyed cloth. During ancient times, the cloths, just like the dyes, were made from a natural resource —  natural fibers , such as cotton, linen and wool.

Later, as advancements were made in chemistry and manufacturing, humans learned to make other fibers, such as polyester, nylon and rayon, which are known as  synthetic fibers . Today’s dyes are also different. They are often synthesized (made) by chemists. By understanding how the  molecules  of dye react with the fibers, chemists can design many vibrant and color-fast dyes. (“Color-fast” means the dyed color does not fade or run off when washed.)

In addition to what type of material they are made from, another way to categorize fibers is by their chemistry. Cotton and linen fibers are cellulose-based.  Cellulose  is the main component of plant cell walls. Cotton fabric is made from cotton plants and linen is made from flax plants. Wool and silk are both animal- protein -based natural fibers. Wool is made from the hair of animals (usually sheep), and silk is made from silkworm cocoons.

Some dyes react best with cellulose-based fibers, forming permanent  covalent chemical bonds  with cellulose. Others react better with protein-based fibers. In addition, some synthetic fibers are chemically similar to certain natural fibers — such as nylon, which is similar in structure to protein-based fibers, and rayon, which is manufactured using cellulose. This affects which dyes react best with the different synthetic fibers.

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Overall, how a certain fabric becomes dyed by a specific dye all comes down to the chemistry involved. For example, Figure 1 shows how different types of white fabric looked after being dyed using the same blue dye.

In this chemistry science project, you will study one type of dye — called  fiber-reactive dye — by dyeing several different types of fabrics with the same dye. Which fiber types will react most strongly with the fiber-reactive dye? You will judge the results by comparing the colors of your fabric samples.

One  quantitative  way to categorize colors is by hue, saturation  and  brightness . The resource list, below, has references to get you started on your research about dye and fabric chemistry, as well as color. So read up, formulate your hypothesis and start coloring. Who knows, in the end you might be able to put your newfound understanding of fabric dyes to work to create the ultimate tie-dyed shirt!

Terms and concepts

• Natural fiber
• Synthetic fiber
• Covalent chemical bonds
• Fiber-reactive dye
• Water solubility
• What are the different types of fibers and how are they made?
• What types of dyes are used for different textile fibers? Why?
• What is the chemistry behind fiber-reactive dyes?
• How can colors be quantitatively described?
• How do factors like  pH  and  water solubility  affect dyeing?

These websites offer information about the history of dyeing cloth, types of fibers and textiles, types of dyes and the chemistry of fiber-reactive dyes:

• Burch, P.E. (2009, December 18).  About the Dyes .  Paula Burch’s All About Hand Dyeing . Retrieved February 15, 2013.
• Dharma Trading Co. (n.d.).  Fiber Reactive Dye Chemistry: Quick Explanation Of The Chemical Processes Involved In Tie-Dyeing . Retrieved June 18, 2009.
• Christie, R.M. (2001).  Colour Chemistry .  Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry (1 edition).

Consult this reference for information on describing color with hue, saturation and brightness:

• Jewett, T. (n.d.).  HSB: Hue, Saturation, and Brightness . Retrieved February 15, 2013.

The following resource can be used to convert units used in the United States to metric units:

• Science Made Simple, Inc. (n.d.).  Metric conversions & U.S. customary unit conversion calculator . Retrieved February 15, 2013.

The following tool can be used to interpret your results from this science project by determining the hue, saturation and brightness of each fabric sample:

• Vargas, J. (n.d.).  Color Picker. Retrieved February 11, 2014.

Materials and equipment

Note:  The fiber-reactive dye powder,  soda ash and textile detergent listed below are all specialty items. You may be able to purchase them at a local craft and/or fabric store, such as Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft. If not, they are available from online vendors like the  Dharma Trading Co.

Caution:  You will be working with substances containing soda ash (sodium carbonate), which is caustic. Materials that come into contact with soda ash, which includes the measuring cup, measuring spoons, plastic container and glass jar, should not be used for food storage or cooking afterward .

• Cotton-polyester blends
• Permanent marker
• Ruler (metric)
• Optional: Newspaper or pieces of paper
• Measuring cup.  Caution:  This measuring cup should  not  be used for cooking afterward.
• 1/2 cup textile detergent, especially formulated for removing non-bound dye particles from freshly dyed fabric. Can be purchased online;  Dharma Trading Co.  offers the most common brand, Synthrapol, catalog #SYNPT, as well as their own, nontoxic alternative, the Dharma Professional Textile Detergent, catalog #PTD16. Alternatively, laundry detergent may be used.
• Newspaper or rags
• Old clothes that can be stained
• Safety goggles
• Rubber gloves
• Clean glass jar (10 oz. or larger).  Caution:  This jar should  not  be used for food or beverage afterward.
• Measuring teaspoon and tablespoon.  Caution:  These measuring spoons should  not  to be used for cooking afterward.
• 2 tsp. fiber-reactive dye powder, such as Tulip Permanent Fabric Dye or Procion Pro MX Reactive Dye.  Note:  Your results might be easier to interpret if you use a bold color such as red, blue or green. Pastel colors and yellows might be more difficult to evaluate.
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• Three 1-gallon sealable plastic bags
• Timer or clock
• 1 Tbsp. soda ash. Alternatively, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, which may be found in the detergent section of a grocery store, can be used.
• Plastic container (must be able to hold at least 3 cups).  Caution:  This container should not be used for food or beverage afterward.
• Optional: Camera
• Lab notebook

Experimental procedure

Important notes before you begin:

• Do your background research so you are knowledgeable about the terms, concepts and questions in the Background section. In particular, you should learn about the different fiber types used in fabrics and about fiber-reactive dye chemistry.
• Pick several different types of fabric to dye. Try at least five. Use your background research to make predictions about how well different fabric types will be dyed with fiber-reactive dyes.
• For convenience of doing this science project using household measuring tools, volumes are given in terms of U.S. measuring spoons and cups. However, science is done in metric units and you may need to convert when writing up your procedure. To convert units, you can use the following website: Science Made Simple, Inc. (n.d.).  Metric conversions & U.S. customary unit conversion calculator .

Dyeing the fabric samples

• For each fabric type, cut out three 20 x 20 centimeter (8 x 8 inch) squares.
• Permanent marker may leak through some types of fabric, so if you are working on a surface that should not be stained, you should label the fabrics on top of newspaper or pieces of paper.
• The pre-washing removes any residual chemicals on the fabrics from the fabric manufacturing process that might interfere with the dyeing process.
• You will be handling the fiber-reactive dye powder next. Before opening the dye packet, cover the area you will be working on with newspaper or rags so that you will not stain it. You may want to work outside to avoid staining something. Also put on old clothes that you would not mind staining.
• Caution:  Dyes often contain soda ash (sodium carbonate). Soda ash is caustic. Wear goggles and gloves when mixing the dye solution, mixing the soda ash solution and rinsing the fabric sample after dyeing.
• To the glass jar, add 2 teaspoons (tsp.) of powdered dye, 1 tablespoon (Tbsp.) of salt and 1 cup of warm water. Mix the dye, salt and water thoroughly to form a concentrated dye solution, as shown in Figure 3.
• Wet all the fabric squares. Take three sealable plastic bags and place one square of every fabric type in each bag. Label the bags  Batch 1 ,  Batch 2 and  Batch 3 . Carefully pour the concentrated dye solution into the bags. Add an additional 1/2 cup of water to each bag and seal it, being careful to trap as little air as possible in the bag.
• Let the bags and dye sit for 20 minutes. Every couple of minutes, gently squeeze the bags to evenly coat all the pieces of fabric with the dye.
• Put 1 Tbsp. of soda ash in the plastic container. Add 2 cups of warm water and mix thoroughly. If hard pieces form, carefully break them up. When the solution is clear it should be ready to use.
• Caution:  Make sure to wear your goggles and gloves when preparing and handling the soda ash solution.
• After the dye and fabric samples have soaked for together for 20 minutes, carefully open the plastic bags and add 1/2 cup of the soda ash solution to each bag. Reseal the bags, being careful to trap as little air as possible.
• Gently squeeze the bags to completely mix the soda ash, dye and fabric. Let the bags sit for one hour, gently squeezing every 10 minutes.
• Caution:  Make sure to wear your goggles and gloves during this step.
• Once the fabrics are well rinsed, do a final wash in the washing machine, using the textile detergent. This step is identical to Step 2 and will remove any final dye particles that are not bound to the fabric. Allow the samples to air-dry.

Collecting and analyzing your data

Your goal is to determine the effect, if any, of fabric type on the strength of the reaction between the fiber-reactive dye and the cloth. Below are two suggestions of how to collect and analyze your data. Try both. You might be able to think of additional ways to analyze the data, too.

Method 1:  Look at all the fabric squares. Try grouping them by color. Make a data table, like Table 1 below, in your lab notebook. Write down the type of fabric(s) in each grouping, along with a description of the color.

• Do all the squares of a particular fabric type (for example, all three of the cotton fabric squares) belong in the same color grouping?
• Do color groupings contain more than one type of fabric?
• Have at least three other volunteers repeat Step 1 of this section. Record the data from them and compare it to your own visual groupings.
• How do your predictions compare to your results? Can you explain your results? Tip:  In the Background tab, re-read the Introduction and review the resource list for information on the dye chemistry involved with different fabrics.

Method 2:  Open the  Color Picker  tool. Use the vertical color slide bar to select the right color for your fabric samples. Then use your mouse to select the exact color from the large square (to the left of the slide bar) that matches one of your fabric samples. Once the selected color on your monitor matches your fabric sample, record the values for the hue (“H”), saturation (“S”) and brightness (“B”) (which are on the right side of the webpage) in a data table like Table 2 in your lab notebook. Repeat this step for all of the fabric squares.

• Calculate the average hue, saturation and brightness values for each type of fabric.
• Graph the averages on a bar chart, where the X-axis is fabric type and the Y-axis is the average value. You should have one graph for each type of value: hue, saturation and brightness. You can use paper or a website like  Create a Graph  to create your graph.
• Which fabric type has the highest average hue? What about saturation or brightness? Which has the lowest average value for each of these? Would you describe each of those as the most- or least-strongly dyed fabric type?
• How do your predictions compare to your results? Can you explain your results?

Note:  You might want to take pictures of the fabric squares for your science fair project  display board .

• Before synthetic dyes were created, humans used natural dyes. Do some background research and pick one or more natural dyes to try in this project.  Caution:  Natural does not necessarily mean nontoxic. Be careful to pick safe dyes, like turmeric or berries.
• Some methods suggest pre-soaking the fabric in a soda ash solution and then adding dye (the reverse of the Experimental Procedure used in this project). Does the order of these steps make a difference in the color of the dyed fabric? Design an experiment to find out.
• Do all fabrics fade equally with washing? Set aside one sample of each fabric type from your dyeing experiment. Then wash the other samples multiple times, comparing with the original sample after each washing. You can even take this further — does the wash temperature make a difference? Does dye color make a difference?
• Do all fabrics fade equally with exposure to sunlight? Set aside one sample of each fabric type from your dyeing experiment. Then expose the other samples to sunlight for different lengths of time. Keep track in your lab notebook. Compare the sun-exposed samples to each other and to the original, unexposed, samples.
• Some types of fabric are dyed better with a different pH than what is used in this science project. Specifically, by adding soda ash, which is sodium carbonate, you raised the pH of the dyeing solution, making it more basic. If an acid is used instead, the solution’s pH is lowered, making it more acidic. This can change how well different fabrics react with certain dyes. Read more about how the pH of a dye solution affects which types of fabrics it can dye and learn about  acid dyes . Formulate a hypothesis and devise a way to test it. One common household acid you could use is vinegar, although there are several others that may work. For ideas, check out Science Buddies’  Acids, Bases and the pH Scale  resource. Be sure to always find out and follow the necessary safety precautions for using different chemicals.

This activity is brought to you in partnership with  Science Buddies . Find the original activity  on the Science Buddies website.

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