subject: Dyes And Their Applications-simplified! [print this page] Dyes are made from different chemical substances to result in the required color. In the textile industry, dyes are used for different purposes - coloring of fabrics, printing on fabrics, and pattern designing. Pattern designing involves more than one color so it requires different kind of techniques, but in fabric coloring, single dye is used.
In pattern designing, thickened dye is required to prevent the color from spreading. Techniques to use dyes depend on the material; Wax, for instance, does not absorb color, that does not mean that you cannot color it; it can easily be colored by melting it.
There are two types of dyes- solvent dyes, basic dyes. Solvent dyes are used for organic solvents, waxes, plastics hydrocarbon fuels, and metal based materials. They are insoluble in water thats why solvent dyes are used to color them also known as fuel dyes. They are available in the market with common name as solventnumber (like solvent red 131). All the dyes are categorized with their common name, color index name, and color index number.
Basic dyes are soluble in water and textile coloring and printing is one of the biggest applications of basic dyes. Basic dyes are used to color cotton, linen, wool, and silk. They all can absorb water thats why basic dyes are used to color them.
From the above study, we infer that materials, that resist water, can be colored using solvent dyes and the ones that do not, can be colored using basic dyes. Now, you have a simple way to select a type of dyes between two of them.
Another interesting thing about solvent dyes- they are used to imitate gold. Basic dyes are used to give basic colors without any shiny effects.
It is natural for you to question the quality of these dyes. We have discussed about types of dyes but quality depends on the techniques to use them or in some cases depends on the chemical substance use to make dyes.
Fabrics, which are not affected by water at the time of washing, are colored using good quality dyes. You can use chemical substances available to use with dyes for different kind of applications.
These days there are different firms that supply dyes; you only need to give the color index number or common color name of required dye (solvent red 131).
Remember that dyes are used with different techniques, as required by the application. Use appropriate technique to find required results.
