Dyeing of Cotton with Vat Dyes

Session – 11.1
Praveen D Nagarajan
DYEING OF COTTON WITH VAT DYES

Properties of Vat dyes

• Vat dyes are insoluble dyestuffs
• They are reduced to make them soluble before application
on to fibres.
• Most of the vat dyes have C=O in their structure and on
reduction this is converted into C-OH and further into C-ONa
to make them soluble.
• They have full range of shades except a few like bright reds.
• The vat dyed materials show very good all round fastness
properties
• Dyes are costly and dyeing procedure demands addition of
costly chemicals, which makes the process still costlier.
• Chemically vat dyes are of two types, (i) Anthraquinone (ii)
Indigoid vat dyes
 Classification of Vat Dyes

• According to method of application, vat dyes are classified into 4

types - IN, IW, 1R and IN special dyes.

  1) IN - Indanthrene Normal dyes - require higher concentration of

caustic soda and hydros and a temperature of 60°C.
2) IW - Indanthrene Warm dyes - require 50°C and optimum
  concentration of caustic soda and hydros.
  3) IK - Indanthrene Cold dyes - require low quantities of caustic
soda and hydros and a temperature of 20°C.
  4) IN - Special dyes require very high quantities of caustic soda
and hydros and a temperature of 80"C.
• The last 3 types of dyes require the addition of salt for exhaustion;
whereas IN dyes do not require salt.
 Application of Vat Dyes on Cotton
o Vat dyes can be applied to cotton materials by many dyeing
processes.
• Most commonly used method is the leuco vat dyeing process
which is explained below.
The leuco vat dyeing process of application of vat dyes on cotton
involves 4 stages.
1. Vatting - Production of insoluble vat dyes to convert them
into soluble
2. Dyeing process
3. Oxidation of dyed material to bring the original shade
  4. Soaping
The procedure for dyeing with IN class of vat dyes is given below.
 Vatting
• To convert the insoluble vat dyes into water soluble form called
leuco compound , a reducing agent, mostly sodium hydrosulphite
(hydros) and ( an alkali) sodium hydroxide is required .The
process of reduction is called vatting.
• Recipe:
• Vat dye - x %
•  T.R.O. - equal to quantity of dye .
Sodium hydroxide - 20 - 25% of quantity of dye.
Sodium hydrosulphite - 20 - 25% of quantity of dye.
Temperature - 60°C.
Time - 20-30minutes
 Vatting process
• Vat dye is pasted with TRO and then necessary
quantities of sodium hydroxide and sodium
hydrosulphite are added along with warm water.
• The temperature is maintained at 60°C. Vatting is
continued till all the vat dyes are solubilised. It requires
about 20 -30 minutes.
• To ensure vatting is complete, a drop of vatted solution
is kept on a filter paper, which will evenly spread on the
paper without any solid dye stuff deposition.
• The reduced dye stuff show a change in colour, the
original colour would be restored only on oxidation.
 Dyeing
• The vatted dyestuff has to be in the reduced form in the
dyebath also. Therefore an addition of sodium hydroxide
and sodium hydrosulphite is required in the dyebath also.
•  Recipe:
• Vatted dyestuff solution - as above
Sodium hydroxide - 3-4gpl
Sodium hydrosulphite - 2-3gpl
Levelling agent - 0.5 gpl
Temperature - 60°C.
 Dyeing process

• The dye bath is initially set with sodium hydroxide and sodium
hydrosulphite alone along with required quantity water. The
material is treated in this blank bath (without dye) for 10
minutes.
• Then the vatted dyes are added. The temperature is raised to
60°C. Dyeing is continued for 45 - 60 minutes.
• In order that the vat dyes are always in reduced form ( i.e. soluble
form ), the necessary quantities of sodium hydroxide and sodium
hydrosulphite are split into two or three parts to add in
instalments after every 15 minutes.
• In jigger dyeing, these addition may take place after every 2 ends.
 Oxidation Process
• After dyeing for 45 -60 minutes, the dyed material is rinsed to
remove  loose dyes and the chemicals.
• To restore the original shade and to make the soluble dyes
which are inside the fibre into insoluble ones, oxidation
process is carried out.
• In cottage industries, the dyed fabric is hung under shelters to
have air oxidation, but chemical oxidation is preferable.
• Oxidation can be done with  2 volume hydrogen peroxide
solution and 10 gpl acetic acid ( 50% ), at 40 - 50°C for a
period of 15 - 70 minutes.
 Soaping
• Soaping treatment at boil with 3 gpl soap and
2 gpl soda ash for 20 – 30 minutes remove the
loosely held vat dyes deposited on the
surface. Further, the dyes inside the fibre
aggregate and true shade is developed, only
after soaping.
• Also, the dyed material will have excellent
fastness to rubbing, washing and other
agencies.