Effect of various bioscouring systems on the accessibility of dyes into cotton

Abstract

The effect of four different enzymatic bioscouring systems for cotton have been compared in regard to the dyeability of reactive, cationic and acid dyes. The residual pectin content was determined and the results assessed in terms of dyeability against control samples prepared in the absence of enzyme. The capacity of a bifunctional reactive dye to cover the differences between fabrics treated with different bioscouring treatments was very good. Exhaustion of the cationic dye relative to alkaline scouring was increased by 27.5% and that of the acid dye decreased by 48.2%, indicating that pectin hydrolysis produced an increase in the negative charge on the fibre. The dye exhaustion differences between the four enzymatic systems studied were of significance and confirmed the hypothesis that each enzymatic system provides its own end‐groups, resulting in differences in the response of the fibre to dyeing. Enzymatic bioscouring reduces the pollution level of the effluent.