Improving the affinity of cotton fabric towards direct dye using eco-friendly ultrasound energy

irect dyes are the most common dyes for cotton fabric but the disadvantage of this kind of dyestuff are their low washing wet fastnesses, consumed alkali, time and energy. In this study, cotton fabrics were treated with ultrasound of powers of 0-250 Watt for different periods ranging from 0 to 60 mins. Using Globar salt solution with different concentrations ranged from 0-30g/l as a treatment media. The resulted samples after exposure for 30 mins to ultrasound energy and dyed at room temperature (25C) without salt showed comparable results as for the conventionally dyed samples that treated with 30g/l global salt for 30 min at 90C. Moreover the resulted samples showed some improvements with respect to the fastness to washing, rubbing and light as well as the colour compoents expressed as 'L' brightness, 'a' red-green, and 'b' yellow-blue components.