The Journal of The Textile Institute

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Eco-friendly printing of natural fabrics using

natural dyes from alkanet and rhubarb

M. Rekaby , A. A. Salem & S. H. Nassar

To cite this article: M. Rekaby , A. A. Salem & S. H. Nassar (2009) Eco-friendly printing of
natural fabrics using natural dyes from alkanet and rhubarb, The Journal of The Textile
Institute, 100:6, 486-495, DOI: 10.1080/00405000801962177

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000801962177

Published online: 03 Aug 2009.

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The Journal of The Textile Institute
Vol. 100, No. 6, August 2009, 486–495

Eco-friendly printing of natural fabrics using natural dyes from alkanet and rhubarb
M. Rekabya∗ , A.A. Salemb and S.H. Nassara
a
Textile Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt; b Department of Textile Printing, Dyeing and Finishing,
Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt
(Received 25 October 2007; final version received 3 February 2008)

In the present work, the suitability of printing natural fabrics (wool, silk, cotton and flax) with two natural dyes (alkanet and
rhubarb) using pigment-printing technique has been investigated. The effect of different factors, i.e. dye concentration, nature
of thickening agent, type of fixation, concentration and type of mordant, has been studied. The printed goods were evaluated
by measuring the K/S value and the overall fastness properties. Results show that the highest K/S value was obtained by using
Meypro gum as a thickener. The K/S increases rapidly as the concentration of the natural dye powder in the printing paste
increases from 10 to 40 g/kg printing paste. Moreover, results show that the printed goods, which were fixed via steaming,
have relatively higher colour strength than their corresponding samples fixed via thermofixation. The effect of mordants on
colour development was also studied and alkanet dye was chosen as an example for this investigation. The best results were
obtained by using mordant at a concentration of 20 g/kg printing paste. Different colour yields could be obtained by using
different mordants, and all of colour fastness results were ranging between very well and excellent.
Keywords: natural dyes; textile printing; alkanet and rhubarb

Introduction ing paste is an eco-friendly printing paste containing natural

Calls for the use of natural dyes have been just one of dye and natural thickener.
the consequences of increased environmental awareness
(Chvan, 1995). Natural dyes are pigments derived from
Experimental materials
mineral, animal or plant sources.
Nevertheless, dyes from the vegetable sources are in- Substrate
teresting because of the very low toxicity of dyes (Gogoi & Wool: mill-scoured wool fabric (100%) supplied by Misr
Kalita, 1999). Co. for spinning and weaving, Mehalla El-Kubra, Egypt.
Natural dyes can be obtained from any part of the plant Silk: mill-scoured natural silk fabric supplied by Hussein
like leaves, fruits, seeds, flowers, bark root, etc. (Ansari & M. El-Khatib Sons Co., Suhag, Egypt.
Thakur, 2000). Cotton: mill-desized, kier boiled and bleached poplin cotton
Alkanna tinctoria (alkanet) (Gulrajani, Gupta, fabric (140 g/m) produced by Misr Helwan for Spinning
Aggarwal, & Jain, 1992; Tiwari & Vankar, 2001) belongs Co., Cairo, Egypt.
to the family Borginaceae. The roots, which are often very Flax: semi-finished linen fabric was supplied by textile in-
large in proportion to the size of the plant, yield in many dustries Egyptian Co., Ointex, Egypt.
of the species a red dye (C.I. Natural Red 20).
The colouring matter in alkanet root is anchusin. Natural dyes
The main pigment is alkannin, which was earlier called Commercial grade alkanet and rhubarb powder, which are
anchusin. natural dyes, were purchased from local market in Egypt
Rheum emodi (rhubarb) (C.I. Natural Yellow 23) be- and used as pigment colours.
longs to the family Polygonaceae, the roots of which con-
tain gallic acid and tannins as the main colouring matter Thickening agents
(Cai, San, Xing, & Corke, 2004; Gulrajani et al., 1992). r High-viscosity sodium alginate was supplied by Ceca
The aim of the present work is to investigate the suit- Kolloid Chemie, Paris, France, and used at a concentra-
ability of using alkanet and rhubarb in the fine powder form tion of 3%.
(i.e. without extracting the colour for the sake of economy) r British gum was kindly supplied by Cairo Company for
as natural dye in printing natural fabrics (cotton, wool, silk starch and glucose, Cairo, Egypt, and used at a concen-
and flax) using the pigment-printing technique. The print- tration of 50%.

∗
Corresponding author. Email: mmrekaby@yahoo.co.uk
ISSN 0040-5000 print / ISSN 1754-2340 online
Copyright 
C 2009 The Textile Institute
DOI: 10.1080/00405000801962177
http://www.informaworld.com
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 487

r Meypro gum NP-16 (Meyhall), which is a non-ionic Fixation

thickening agent based on modified plant seed gum, was After printing and drying, the printed goods were subjected
used at a concentration of 8%. to fixation either by steaming at 130◦ C for 30 min or by
r Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) sodium salt (high vis- thermofixation at 160◦ C for 4 min.
cosity) was supplied by BDH laboratory supplies (Eng-
land) and used at a concentration of 1%.
r Carboxymethyl starch (CMS) was kindly supplied by Washing
Cairo Company for Standard Glucose, Cairo, Egypt, and Washing of the fixed printed goods is carried out as follows.
used at a concentration of 10%.
r Synthetic thickener: Daicothick was kindly supplied by r Rinsing thoroughly with cold water and warm water.
Daico Company, Cairo, Egypt, and was used at a con- r Washing with a solution containing 2 g/L Hostapal CV-
centration of 1%. ET (non-ionic detergent) for 15 min at 60◦ C.
r Binder BD was kindly supplied by Daico Company, r Rinsing with warm and cold water and finally air drying.
Cairo, Egypt.

Measurements
Mordants
Colour measurements
The mordants used comprise
The colour strength of the printed samples expressed as K/S
r aluminium ammonium sulfate (NH4 Al (SO4 )2 ·12H2 O) was evaluated by reflectance technique (Judd & Wyszecki,
r stannous chloride (SnCl2 ·2H2 O) 1975).
r magnesium sulphate (MgSO4 ·7H2 O) The overall fastness properties (colour fastness to wash-
r ferric chloride (FeCl3 ) ing, perspiration, light and crocking) were assessed accord-
r ferrous sulfate (FeSO4 ) ing to standard techniques (Society of Dyers and Colourists,
r tannic acid (C14 H10 O9 ). 1995).

Results and discussion

Other chemicals
Present work is to investigate printing of natural fabrics
Urea and diammonium phosphates were of laboratory-
(i.e. wool, silk, cotton and flax) using an eco-friendly print-
grade chemicals.
ing paste; the latter is thickened with natural thickeners
and contains eco-friendly natural dyes from alkanet and
Methods rhubarb.
Preparation of the printing paste To investigate the suitability of using alkanet and
The pastes used for application of the powdered alkanet, rhubarb powder as natural dye in printing natural fabrics us-
saffron and rhubarb as a pigment colour in printing the ing the pigment printing technique, different printing pastes
aforementioned fabrics were prepared as follows: were prepared according to the recipe described in the Ex-
perimental section.
The printing pastes so obtained were employed for print-
Natural dyes powder Yg ing natural fabric samples (wool, silk, cotton and flax) via
Thickener 600 g screen printing. Given below are the results obtained along
Urea 40 g with the appropriate discussion.
Diammonium phosphate 12.5 g
Binder BD 120 g
Mordant Xg Effect of type of thickener used
Balance Zg To investigate the effect of type of thickener used, differ-
ent printing pastes were prepared for every dye. The latter
Total 1000 g was thickened with natural thickeners like sodium alginate,
Meypro gum, British gum, CMS, CMC or synthetic thick-
ener. The results of investigation are represented in Figures
1 and 2.
It is clear from Figures 1 and 2 that the type of thickener
Printing technique has a remarkable effect on the K/S of the printed goods. In
All the pastes were applied to the fabrics through flat screen most of the cases, the highest K/S value was obtained by
by manual technique. using Meypro gum as thickener.
488 M. Rekaby et al.

Figure 1. Effect of type of thickener on the K/S values of wool, silk, cotton and flax fabrics printed using alkanet as a natural dye and
fixed by steaming.

This may be because of the higher stability of the It is clear from Figures 3 and 4 that the value of K/S
Meypro gum pastes to the printing paste components and depends on the nature of the printed fabrics as well as the
fixations conditions. concentration of the dye used.
Generally speaking, it is clear from the data that the K/S
increases rapidly as the concentration of the natural dye
powder in the printing paste increases from 10 to 40 g/kg
Effect of dye concentration
printing paste. Further increase in the concentration, i.e.
To investigate the effect of dye concentration on the K/S from 40 to 50, is accompanied by either a relatively slight
values of printing goods, different printing pastes thick- increase or even a decrease in the K/S.
ened with Meypro gum were prepared according to the The increase in the value of K/S by the increasing con-
recipe indicated in the Experimental section, using differ- centration of the natural dye powder in the printing paste
ent amounts of the specified natural dye, viz. 10, 20, 30, 40 is expected because the quantity of the coloured particles
and 50 g/kg pastes. in the print film increases. The opportunity of migration of
The results obtained are represented in Figures 3 and 4 the dye component, i.e. the natural dye molecules, from the
for the two natural dyes used, namely, alkanet and rhubarb, printed film to the surface of the printed fabric increases till
respectively. The printed fabrics were fixed by steaming at it reaches the optimum concentration (40 g of the plant in
130◦ C for 30 min. the powder form/kilogram printing paste).

Figure 2. Effect of type of thickener on the K/S values of wool, silk, cotton and flax fabrics printed using rhubarb as a natural dye and
fixed by steaming.
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 489

Figure 3. Effect of concentration of alkanet on the K/S of the printed wool, silk, cotton and flax fabrics.

Effect of type of fixation It is clear from the data of Figures 6 and 7 that irrespec-
It is clear from the data of Figure 5 that the value of K/S tive of nature of the fabric used, and for the two natural dyes
of the fabrics printed and fixed via steaming is relatively used, the temperature of steaming has a remarkable effect
higher than their corresponding samples printed and fixed on the K/S. The highest K/S value was obtained at 130◦ C.
via thermofixation. However, the data of Figures 6 and 7 show that higher
This phenomenon holds true for both of the natural dyes temperature may cause higher K/S values, but it would also
used regardless of the type of printed fabric. This may be increase the risk of the textile yellowing (as in the case of
due to the condensation of water vapour on the surface of wool and silk), and also the difference in the K/S values is
the printed goods during the steaming process. not high enough to overcome the economical factors.
This condensed water vapour may accelerate the pen- Hence, it may be concluded that the optimum temper-
etration of the dye molecules into the fabric and hence ature for steaming of fabrics printed using (alkanet and
increases the K/S values of the printed fabrics fixed by rhubarb) is 115◦ C in case of wool and silk and 120◦ C in
steaming than those fixed by using conventional hot air in case of cotton and flax fabrics.
the thermofixation process. In Figures 8 and 9, data show that nearly for the two
natural dyes used (alkanet and rhubarb), irrespective of the
type of fabric used, time of steaming also has a remarkable
Effect of temperature and time of steaming
effect on the K/S. It is worth mentioning that longer expo-
Figures 6–9 represent the effect of temperature and time of sure of the fabric to high degree of steaming also entails
steaming on the K/S of the different fabrics printed using the risk of the textile yellowing. Thus, in this work the time
each of the natural dyes (alkanet and rhubarb). of steaming chosen to give satisfactory results was 30 min

Figure 4. Effect of concentration of rhubarb on the K/S of the printed wool, silk, cotton and flax fabrics.
490 M. Rekaby et al.

Figure 5. Effect of type of fixation on the K/S values of the printed fabrics.

Figure 6. Effect of temperature of steaming on the K/S values of natural fabrics printed using alkanet as a natural dye.

Figure 7. Effect of temperature of steaming on the K/S values of natural fabrics printed using rhubarb as a natural dye.
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 491

Figure 8. Effect of time of steaming on the K/S values of natural fabrics printed using alkanet as a natural dye.

at temperature of 115◦ C in case of wool and silk and at concentrations (viz. 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 g mordant/1
temperature of 120◦ C in case of cotton and flax. kg printing paste). Figures 10–13 show that out of the six
mordant concentrations used, the best results were obtained
by using mordant at a concentration of 20 g/kg printing
Effect of mordant paste.
It has been reported (Chvan, 1995; Crews, 1982; Dalby, By using this mordant concentration (20 g/kg printing
1993; Prindle, 1994; Sekar, 1999) that mordants are often paste), different printing pastes were prepared for each of
added on using natural dye to (a) fix the dyestuff, (b) obtain the natural dyes used in this work (namely alkanet and
a full colour range, (c) keep natural dye from fading, (d) rhubarb), using Meypro gum as a thickener and using dye
improve their overall fastness properties and/or (e) brighten, concentration of 40 g dye/kg printing paste. The prepared
deepen or dull a colour. pastes were then used in printing wool, silk, cotton and flax
In using mordant, the dye binds better to the fabric. fabrics. After fixation, using the optimum fixation condition
By using different mordants, a variety of colours may be arrived at in this work (steaming for 30 min at temperature
obtained from a single dyestuff (Dweck, 2002). of 115◦ C in case of wool and silk and at temperature of
To study the effect of mordants on colour development 120◦ C in case of cotton and flax), washing and drying, the
with the natural dyes used in this work, it was first necessary fabrics were then assessed for K/S and overall fastness prop-
to investigate the effect of mordant concentration on the erties measurements. The results obtained are presented in
K/S of the printed goods. Alkanet dye was chosen as an Tables 1 and 2 for alkanet and rhubarb, respectively.
example for this investigation. Various mordants were used It was observed that the mordant has a remarkable ef-
in the printing paste of alkanet dye with different mordant fect on the obtained colours where different ranges could

Figure 9. Effect of time of steaming on the K/S values of natural fabrics printed using rhubarb as a natural dye.
492 M. Rekaby et al.

Figure 10. Effect of mordant concentration on the K/S values of wool fabrics printed using alkanet as a natural dye.

Figure 11. Effect of mordant concentration on the K/S values of silk fabrics printed using alkanet as a natural dye.

Figure 12. Effect of mordant concentration on the K/S values of cotton fabrics printed using alkanet as a natural dye.
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 493

Figure 13. Effect of mordant concentration on the K/S values of flax fabrics printed using alkanet as a natural dye.

be obtained on using different mordants. In case of alkanet Metallic mordants are water-soluble salts of metals.
dye, the colours obtained range from violet to dark brown. They help to bond fibre and pigment at the molecular level
Moreover, a range of colours including dark yellow, yellow- (Prezewozna, 2002). They are common salts of aluminium,
ish brown and brown was obtained on using rhubarb dye. chromium, iron, tin and copper. The upper limits of the

Table 1. Fastness properties of natural fabrics printed using alkanet.

Perspiration fastness
Washing Rubbing
fastness fastness Acidic Alkaline
Fabric Mordant Light
used used K/S Alt. St. Dry Wet Alt. St. Alt. St. fastness

Wool Without 5.46 4 4 4 4–5 4 4 4 4 3

Al 5.64 4 4–5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 4
Sn 5.68 4 4 4–5 4–5 4 4 4 4 5
Mg 5.91 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4
Fe (III) 5.50 4 4 4–5 4–5 4 4 4 4 3
Fe (II) 5.62 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5
Tannic acid 6.35 4–5 4–5 4 4 4–5 4–5 4–5 4 5
Silk Without 4.9 4–5 4 5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Al 4.18 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 4
Sn 3.55 4 4 4 3–4 4 4 4 4 3
Mg 4.21 4 4 5 4–5 4 4 4 4 4
Fe (III) 4.65 4 4–5 4 3 4–5 4–5 4 4 3
Fe (II) 4.72 4 4–5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 3
Tannic acid 4.54 4 4–5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 5
Cotton Without 3.78 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 5
Al 3.63 4 4 4–5 4–5 4 4 4 4 4
Sn 3.53 4 4 4 4–5 4 4 4 4 4
Mg 3.53 4 4 3–4 4–5 4 4 4 4 5
Fe (III) 3.74 4–5 4 4 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Fe (II) 4.13 4 4 4–5 4–5 4 4 4 4 5
Tannic acid 3.46 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 4 5
Flax Without 5.66 4 4 5 4–5 4 4 4 4 5
Al 4.68 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 4 5
Sn 5.13 4–5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5
Mg 5.17 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 5
Fe (III) 5.59 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 5
Fe (II) 5.77 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 4 4 4 5
Tannic acid 6.12 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4
494 M. Rekaby et al.

Table 2. Fastness properties of natural fabrics printed using rhubarb.

Perspiration fastness
Washing Rubbing
fastness fastness Acidic Alkaline
Fabric Mordant Light
used used K/S Alt. St. Dry Wet Alt. St. Alt. St. fastness

Wool Without 5.30 4–5 4 5 5 4–5 4 4 4 5

Al 4.50 4 4 4–5 4–5 4 4 4 4 5
Sn 4.47 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5
Mg 4.48 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5
Fe (III) 4.49 4–5 4 4 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 4
Fe (II) 4.51 4 4–5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 5
Tannic acid 4.52 4–5 4 3 4–5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Silk Without 4.57 4–5 4 5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Al 4.90 4–5 4 4 4–5 4–5 4–5 4–5 4–5 5
Sn 5.04 4 4 4 3–4 4 4 4 4 5
Mg 5.10 4 4–5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 5
Fe (III) 5.05 4 4 4–5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Fe (II) 5.14 4 4 5 4–5 4 4 4 4 5
Tannic acid 5.05 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5
Cotton Without 4.60 4–5 4 4 4–5 4–5 4–5 4–5 4–5 5
Al 4.64 4 4 3–4 4–5 4 4 4 4 4
Sn 4.80 4–5 4 4 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Mg 4.87 4 4–5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 5
Fe (III) 4.97 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 5
Fe (II) 5.00 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5
Tannic acid 4.66 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5
Flax Without 5.01 4 4–5 5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Al 4.96 4–5 4 4–5 4 4 4 4 4 5
Sn 4.68 4–5 4 3 4–5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Mg 4.97 4 4 4–5 4–5 4 4 4 4 5
Fe (III) 5.25 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 5
Fe (II) 4.97 4 4 5 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5
Tannic acid 5 4–5 4 3 5 4–5 4 4–5 4 5

presence of metals vary from product to product and are the dye. Hence, the dyeing produced tends to have only
different for different eco marks (Dweck, 2002). moderate K/S values.
Some transition metal ions can bond strongly with nat-
ural dye molecules, producing deep colours on the fab- Group 3: aluminium and tin salts
ric. Other non-transition elements can also produce colours These metals formed weak coordination complexes with
but with less intensity. The metal mordants used in this the dye, tending to form quite strong bonds with the dye
study can be split into three groups as follows (Bliss, 1981; but not with the fibre (Cotton & Wilkinson, 1972). Thus,
Dweck, 2002; Shah & Bhattacharya, 2000). they block the dye and reduce its interaction with the fibre.
This is in accordance with the observed low K/S values in
Group 1: iron salts presence of aluminium and tin than those achieved with
Iron (II) and iron (III) form a large number of complexes, transition metal mordants (e.g. iron salts).
mostly octahedral ones with coordination number 6. Some On comparing the K/S values in case of using different
coordination sites remain unoccupied when they interact mordants (Tables 1 and 2), it was found that in some cases
with the fibre. Function groups such as amino and car- the highest K/S value was obtained in using tannic acid (e.g.
boxylic acid groups on the fibre can occupy these sites. in case of printing wool and flax fabrics using alkanet dye).
Thus, these salts can form a ternary complex on one site The improvement in the K/S values on protein fabrics (wool
with the fibre and in the other site with the dye. Such a strong and silk) could be attributed to the formation of
coordination tendency can enhance interaction between the
fibre and the dye, resulting in high dye uptake. r Hydrogen bond: between phenolic hydroxyl groups of
the tannic and the free amino and amido groups of pro-
Group 2: magnesium salts teins;
These metal salts do not have any tendency to form coor-
r Ionic bond: between suitability charged anionic groups
dination complexes. They can form only ionic bonds with of the tannin and the cationic groups on the proteins and
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 495

r Covalent bond: formed by the interaction of any qui- The overall fastness properties of printed fabrics ranged
nine or semi-quinone groups present in tannins with any from good to very good to excellent.
suitable reactive groups in the proteins.

However, in case of cellulosic fabrics (i.e. cotton and References

flax) the improvement in the K/S values on using tannic Ansari, A., & Thakur, B.D. (2000). Extraction, characterisation
acid as a mordant could be attributed to the formation of and application of a natural dye: the eco-friendly textile col-
orant. Colourage, 47(7), 15.
hydrogen bond between phenolic hydroxyl groups of the Bliss, A. (1981). Handbook of Dyes From Natural Materials,
tannic and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose. Chapter 2, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, p. 254.
Tables 1 and 2 also show that the overall fastness prop- Cai, Y., Sun, M., Xing, J., & Corke, H. (2004). Antioxidant pheno-
erties, i.e. colour fastness to washing, rubbing and perspira- lic constituents in roots of Rheum officinale and Rubia cordifo-
tion of the mentioned printed fabrics, are nearly comparable lia: structure-radical scavenging activity relationships. Jour-
nal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52(26), 7884–7890.
and range from good to very good to excellent. Thus, they
Chvan, R.B. (1995). Revival of natural dyes – a word of caution
are quite satisfactory for practical purposes. to environmentalists. Colourage, 42(4), 27.
This phenomenon holds true regardless of (a) the nature Cotton, F.A., & Wilkinson, G. (1972). Advanced Inorganic Chem-
of the printed samples (i.e. in case of wool, silk, cotton or istry. A Comprehensive Text. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley
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Crews, P.C. (1982). The influence of mordant on the light fastness
Finally, from the previous data it can be concluded that
of yellow natural dyes. Journal of the American Institute for
alkanet, saffron and rhubarb can be used successfully as nat- Conservation, 21(3), 43.
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Judd, B.D., & Wyszecki, G. (1975). Colour in Business, Science,
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suitable thickener, which gave the highest K/S values and ference, Egypt, March. CD-ROM SBN 1870 372 565.
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printed fabric and the concentration of the dye. American Technology and Art), 1994.
Sekar, N. (1999). Application of natural colourants to textiles–
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ranges of colours could be obtained by using different ing using microwave and sonicator with alkanet root bork.
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