Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 2 ABOUT DENIM FABRIC .................................................................................................................................. 3 INDIGO DYES: ................................................................................................................................................ 4 DENIM DYEING TECHNOLOGIES ................................................................................................................... 8 ROPE DYEING TECHNOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... 9 SLASHER DYEING TECHNOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 13 DIFFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................... 15 Process sequence for Indigo dye topping and bottoming with Sulphur Dye: ............................................ 16 Process sequence for Sulphur Dye topping and bottoming with Indigo dye ............................................. 17 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................... 18 BIBLOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................. 19

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INTRODUCTION
DENIM:
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. The term "Denim" has developed from the city of Nimes in France; denim was produced for the first time by "serge de Nimes". In the nineteenth century heavy cotton fabrics were produced in the Rhone Valley region of France. These fabrics were known as tissue de Nimes and Blue de Genes. The term denim and jeans derive from these designations.

Italian sailors from Genoa wear cotton trousers and the French call Genoa and the people who live there, "Genes." The name "jeans" was applied to the pants as well.

The word dungarees (usually plural) is one of the few mainstream English words to have come from Hindi, one of the major languages of India. In English, dungaree is usually used to refer specifically to blue denim fabric, and in plural to refer to clothes, especially trousers, made of such material.

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ABOUT DENIM FABRIC

The classical denim is a heavy fabric made from 100% cotton and woven from coarse indigo dyed warp and grey undyed weft yarn. The traditional denim is hard-wearing, high density fabrics with a high mass per unit area and a 3/1 or 2/1- twill weave construction.

Denim is available in attractive indigo blue shades and is made for a variety of applications and in a wide range of qualities and shades. Classical denim is made from 100% cotton dyed with Indigo blue shades. Besides classic indigo blue, denim is also dyed in other fashion shades and colors, the most popular being black denim. Denim is comfortable, fashionable, affordable and durable and popular in all the age group. Denim is available in different weight ranges from 6 16 oz/sq yd which is categories as light denim 10-12 oz/sq yd., heavy denim 14-16 oz/sq. yd.

In a twill weave (used in denim), the fabric is constructed by interlacing warp and filling yarns in a progressive alternation which creates a diagonal effect on the face, or right side, of the fabric and has a surface of diagonal parallel ridges. In some twill weave fabrics, the diagonal effect may also be seen clearly on the back side of the fabric surface. Due to the denim's right-hand twill construction, one color predominates on the fabric. Also, because of this way of weaving the threads to make the fabric, the fabric is very strong and durable.

Denim fabric is unique in its connection with one color - blue. The warp yarn is traditionally dyed with the blue pigment obtained from indigo dye. Indigo was the most significant natural dye known to mankind until the introduction of synthetic dyes, at the end of the 19th century. The durability of indigo as a color and it's darkness of tone made it a good choice, when frequent washing was not possible. In 1894, indigo was no longer needed - a synthetic dye process was perfected.
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INDIGO DYES:
BACKGROUND:
Indigo dyestuff is basically extracted from varieties of indigo plant. Indigo was known throughout the ancient world for its ability to color fabrics a deep blue. Egyptian artifacts suggest that indigo was employed as early as 1600 B.C. and it has been found in Africa, India, Indonesia, and China. The dye imparts a brilliant blue hue to fabric. Indigo is unique in its ability to impart surface color while only partially penetrating fibers. When yarn dyed with indigo is untwisted, it can be seen that the inner layers remain uncolored. The dye also fades to give a characteristic worn look and for this reason it is commonly used to color denim. Originally extracted from plants, today indigo is synthetically produced on an industrial scale. It is most commonly sold as either a 100% powder or as a 20% solution. Demand for indigo dramatically increased during the industrial revolution, in part due to the popularity of Levi Strausss blue denim jeans. The natural extraction process was expensive and could not produce the mass quantities required for the burgeoning garment industry. Chemists began searching for synthetic methods of producing the dye. In 1883 Adolf von Baeyer researched indigos chemical structure. Later, based on this observation, K. Heumann identified a synthesis pathway to produce indigo. Within 14 years their work resulted in the first commercial production of the synthetic dye. In 1990s, the German based company BASF AG was the worlds leading producer. In recent years, the synthetic process used to produce indigo has come under scrutiny because of the harsh chemicals involved. New, more environmentally responsible methods are being sought.

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Chemistry:
Indigo dyestuff originally extracted from the varieties of plants, including wood plants. Indigo belongs to the legume family and over three hundred species have been identified. Most natural indigo is extracted throughout the ancient world from the genus Indigofera. In Asia, the primary commercial indigo species was Indigofera tinctoria (true Indigo) which was also known as Indigofera sumatrana. In Central and South America the commercial indigo species were Indigofera suffructicosa and Indigofera arrecta (Natal indigo).

Indigo is popular from the ancient time due to its brilliant blue hue to fabric. Indigo partially penetrates into the fibers and impart unique surface color. The inner layers remain uncolored when it is indigo dyed. The indigo having the unique characteristic of fading during rubbing or daily usage of wear and repeated washing. This gives a worn look and for this reason it is commonly used to color denim.

Until about 1900, natural indigo was the only source of the dye. As the demand for indigo increased during the industrial revolution, the natural extraction process of indigo could not fulfill the huge demand of indigo. Hence there is a need of alternate source of indigo. All over the world, chemists began researching for synthetic methods of producing the dye. Indigo is a crystalline powder that melts at 390392C. It is dark blue in colour, insoluble in water, alcohol, or ether but soluble in chloroform, nitrobenzene, or concentrated sulfuric acid. Its chemical structure of indigo corresponds to the formula C16H10N2O2.

Indigo dye is a vat dyestuff. It is insoluble in water and has a very poor affinity to cellulose fibers like cotton fiber. In normal stage, indigo will not dye cotton fiber. For dyeing of cotton yarn, indigo should be converted into water-soluble leuco form in chemical reduction process. Reducing agents such as sodium hydrosulfite with sodium hydroxide are used to convert the indigo dye to its soluble form. The reducing agent
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also initially changes the color of the dye from its blue color to a very pale greenish yellow color. The leuco form of indigo forms a coating on the outer layer of the cotton yarn. The yarn is then exposed to the air, where the indigo become insoluble by oxidation. The oxygen in air converts the soluble indigo dye to its original insoluble form and back to its original blue color. The chemical reaction is shown:

Simplified description of the reduction/oxidation of Indigo

When the indigo dye oxidized, it becomes trapped into the outer layers of the cotton yarn. In a single passage of indigo dye, a small amount of dye being deposited on the yarn surface which causes light blue shade. In order to obtain deep indigo blue shades, the cotton yarn should be subjected to repeatedly dye with indigo dye. The indigo dye is layered by dyeing in a multiple passes of the rope into the soluble indigo dye and then subsequently exposing it to the oxygen in the air for oxidation. This multiple passing of yarn into dye bath is known as dipping. Normally, the cotton yarns are dyed with indigo dye in at least 4 to 8 passages of the dye bath. After every passage of dye bath the yarns are exposed to air and followed by further dipping in soluble indigo dye bath. After every passage of the dye bath all the oxidized indigo dyestuff fixed on the surface of the cotton fiber/ yarn, only a small portion of indigo is replaced by fresh indigo. This results in the increase in the depth of shades.
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CHEMICAL PROPERTIES:
Indigo is a dark blue crystalline powder that melts at 390392C. It is insoluble in water, alcohol, or ether but soluble in chloroform, nitrobenzene, or concentrated sulfuric acid. The chemical structure of indigo corresponds to the formula C16H10N2O2. The naturally occurring substance is indican, which is colorless and soluble in water. Indican can easily be hydrolyzed to glucose and indoxyl. Mild oxidation, such as by exposure to air, converts indoxyl to indigo. The manufacturing process developed in the late 1800s is still in use throughout the world. In this process, indoxyl is synthesized by the fusion of sodium phenylglycinate in a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodamide. Several simpler compounds can be produced by decomposing indigo; these compounds include aniline and picric acid. The only chemical reaction of practical importance is its reduction by urea to indigo white. The indigo white is reoxidized to indigo after it has been applied to the fabric. Indigo treated with sulfuric acid produces a blue-green color. It became available in the mid-1700s. Sulfonated indigo is also referred to as Saxon blue or indigo carmine. Tyrian purple was a valuable purple dye in antiquity. It was made from excretions of a common Mediterranean Sea snail. In 1909 its structure was shown to be 6,6dibromoindigo. It has never been produced synthetically on a commercial basis.

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DENIM DYEING TECHNOLOGIES

INDIGO dyeing is accomplished by repeatedly immersing the yarn in the dye for a specified time and then passing it through an oxidation section where dye the dye is developed. Each time the yarn is immersed and oxidized the shade becomes darker. The yarn is actually coated with indigo leaving the centre white. This white centre is needed in order to give the wash done effect that is desired for todays fashion. Uneven dyeing may cause streaking in the finished fabric. The goal of every denim producer is to dye yarn in a fashion that eliminates the danger of uneven shades and streaks. The two methods of dyeing yarn for denim are: 1. Rope dyeing method.
2. Slasher dyeing method.

The primary difference between these two different approaches to produce indigo-dyed warp yarn is the sequence of steps between yarn manufacturing and weaving. Slasher dyeing involves two steps namely: beam warping and slasher dyeing. Rope dyeing involves four steps: ball warping, rope dyeing, rebeaming and slashing.

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ROPE DYEING TECHNOLOGY

Rope Dyeing is considered a superior dyeing technology where the dyeing uniformity achieved is better than other Indigo Dyeing technologies like Slasher Dyeing. However, Rope Dyeing is a also a more difficult dyeing technology. One needs to master its nitty gritties to get the best out of the system. With rope range, one to four slasher sets may dyed at the same time, With 24 rope range being the most logical option which produces two slasher sets simultaneously. The re-beaming required with rope dyeing in order to put the yarn onto section beams for loading into the slasher creel, creates a unique extra processing steps. It also offers the opportunity to repair ends broken at warping or dyeing, which minimizes breakout and laps at sizing. This break in rope dyeing and slashing also makes it possible to mix yarns of different colors in order to produce denim stripes, while with the slashing-dyer, production of stripes is impractical. With respect to shade control of original and wash down indigo styles, the rope range has a distinct advantage because of its ability to run sequential yarn sets without stopping. The unique nature of indigo dyeing makes it very difficult to start dyeing with the yarn matching the target shade. Wuth rope range once tha machine is started and the target shade is achieved the rope range can be operated continuously for days by simply tying the reserve yarn onto the end of the running set of yarn.

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Technical Considerations in Rope Dyeing for Indigo dyed Denim.

The passage of yarn in rope dyeing is as follows: Pre-scouring >hot wash>cold wash > Dye baths> hot wash>cold wash> application of softener

Pre-scouring
The objectives of pre-scouring are the removal of wax content from cotton, removal of trapped air from cotton yarn and Making yarn wet This is done at 90 C. We use the following ingredients at pre-scouring stage: Caustic Soda: Its quantity depends upon the quality of cotton fibers used in the mixing. Generally we take 2-4% of caustic soda. It removes the wax by the action of soapanification. Wetting agent: It is anionic in nature Sequestering Agent: Even with the use of water softening, it is very difficult to find the desired softness in water. So we use the agent to make the water soft. Why Trapped Air should be removed. The reason for this can be understood as follows: In 1 kg of yarn, there is approximately 2 liters of air. 1 liter of air decomposes 1.8 liters of Sodium Hydrosulphide. It will cause uneven dyeing and more consumption of Sodium Hydrosulphide (hydro). Absorbency of yarn may be checked after scouring.

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Hot wash :
As some caustic is carried by the yarn after pre-scouring, so hot water is given at 70800C. If this is not done, this yarn will go into the dye-bath which will change the pH of the dye-bath.

Cold Wash :
After hot wash, yarn temperature is more. To bring it back to its room temperature, cold wash is given to it.

INDIGO DYEING :
Indigo is not a perfect vat color. It may be called a trash vat color. The constant of substantivity for other colors is 30, for indigo it is only 2.7. So there is a need of 5 to 6 dye baths and make the use of multi-dip and multi-nip facility to increase the penetration. The dyeing is done at room temperature as indigo belongs to Ik class of vat dyes, where dyeing is done at room temperature and oxidation is done by air only and not by chemicals. If oxidizing agents are used, they will cause stripping of colors. Indigo is not soluble in water. So it is reduced with Sodium Hydrosulphide. Then caustic soda is added to make sodium salt of vat colors to make it soluble. To reduce 1 kg of Indigo, 700 gms of sodium hydrosulphide is required. However some extra SHS needs to be taken to avoid some decomposition of SHS. Practically it is prepared in the following sequence -Take indigo -Add caustic -Then reducing agent When caustic is added to indigo, it is an exothermic reaction. It is allowed to cool down, then before sending it to feeder; sodium hydro-sulphide is added. Reducing agent is not added first as it will be decomposed first, so consumption of it will increase. It is also not
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advisable to take solubalised vat, as offered by some companies due to the following reasons: If it is used after 6 months, there will be a decomposition of sod. Hydrosulphide. It will become partially soluble. Then to make it soluble again, more SHS has to be added. Transportation is difficult .Cost is more? Core and ring dyeing effect This effect is obtained by multidip-multinip facility pH of the Dye bath should be kept in between 10.5-11.5. At this pH , sodium salt of Indigo is mono phenol form. At this form, the strike rate of dye is very high. So after washing, there will be a better dye effect. At pH 11.5 to 11.7, at this affinity is less, so dye effect will be less prominent .pH is controlled by the addition of caustic soda.

Washing
Rubbing fastness of indigo is very important. On a scale of (1-4), it is 2. Washing is done to improve the rubbing fastness. Wash at 60 deg.> Wash at 60 deg.> Wash at room temperature> wash with softener

Why Softener:
The rope is going to be opened at Long Chain Beamer. It the softener is not used, opening will be hampered. It is generally 1.2% of the weight of the yarn. It is a cationic softener. It is always having pH in the range of 4 to 55. Softening is done at room temperature. If high temperature is used there is always some chance of tendering of yarn.

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SLASHER DYEING TECHNOLOGY

The basic unit of denim production is the slasher set. At ball or beam weaving the yarn wound up from warper to produces one slasher set. One slasher set produces a fixed number of loom beams for weaving with a slasher dyer only one set for the slasher may be dyed at one time.

With a combined slasher dyer it is necessary to start and stop the dyeing process with each yarn set. This means that it will be difficult to achieve the target shade until hundreds of yarn has been run. Also when slasher dyer slows down at the end of each yarn set, the wash down shade will be altered in the last several hundred meters of yarn set. Slasher dyeing because of yarn being formed into flat sheets does have an advantage in dyeing yarn for the lighter weight fabrics made with yarn counts higher than the 16s because the larger number of yarns in the rope being dyed makes it more difficult for the opening process in beaming. Also the capital investment is considerably lower the the rope process only because only one machine is required.

In slasher dyeing the warp threads are processed lying parallel to each other. Sizing directly follows dyeing. The reason of this is probably that sizers also experimented on their machine with combined sizing and dyeing. Hence trials were carried out both with pigment dyestuffs and with indigo. If indigo is applied as a pigment in the size, a dull blue grey results. It was, therefore, obvious that the machine builders were called on to design a separate dyeing machine to be installed in front of the sizing machine.

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As with the rope dyeing machine, the slasher machines also have advantages and disadvantage

Advantages are:

The open warp dyeing machine is smaller than a rope dyeing machine, which means that the prime costs are lower.

Rope opening is avoided. Owing to the paralleled warp threads, the wetting process is shorter and a wetting trough may be adequate.

The immersion and oxidation times are much shorter. Setting up or stabilization of the dye baths is affected faster. The holding capacity of the vat is seldom more than 800 liters.

Disadvantages are:

Unlike rope dyeing, when dyeing the open warp, there is no friction between the threads in the vicinity of the guide rollers. Hence the rub and wash fastness standards of rope dyeing are often not achieved.

The hydrosulphite consumption is much higher owing to the greater surface of the textile goods.

If the individual processing stages of a slasher are considered, 1-2 wetting vats, 4-8 dye becks and 3 rinsing troughs are required. The immersion and oxidation times lie between 10-20s or 45-60s.

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DIFFERENCES

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Process sequence for Indigo dye topping and bottoming with Sulphur Dye:
The yarn can be dyed with Indigo topping and Sulphur bottoming in order to achieve vast shade range. The process layout is given :

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Process sequence for Sulphur Dye topping and bottoming with Indigo dye

The yarn can be dyed with sulphur dye topping and Indigo dye bottoming as per requirement of shades. In topping with sulphur dye, the yarn is dyed with indigo dye first and then with sulphur dye. The process layout is given :

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CONCLUSION
Modern day denim is no longer the basic blue denim that we have been accustomed to in years past. Todays market demands are for a wide variety of fabric styles and color and weights. Denim equipment has successfully applied vat reactive direct disperses sulfur and naphthol dyes, for a wide range of possible color effects. Sulfur dyes are the most secondary dyes used in this business today. There is also a strong trend towards mercerizing the yarn during the dyeing process. This process gives the yarn a better dye affinity fabric lustre and strength as well as popular fashion effects such as brighter more appealing garments.

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BIBLOGRAPHY

Pakistan textile journal may 1999. www.fibre2fashion.com www.textilepedia.blogspot.com/.../dyeing-process-for-denim-rope-dyeing.html www.denimsandjeans.com www.wikipedia.org

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