Pollution-free and sustainable coloration of nylon/cotton blended textiles with natural colorant

Purpose This study aims to investigate the sustainable coloration of nylon/cotton blended fabric with application of chitosan assisted tea dye. Design/methodology/approach This is infact a pollution-free method to dye nylon-cotton blended textiles using natural tea extract as colorant. Unlike synthetic dyes, tea-based dyes are eco-friendly and biodegradable. The dyeing application used the exhaust method, using a water bath pot as a dye bath. The dyeing conditions such as dye concentration, pH, temperature and time were optimized to achieve higher color strength and fastness and durable colors as well as sustainability. The fabric was also cationized using chitosan as a natural mordant with pre-mordanting, meta-mordanting and post-mordanting methods. Findings The results showed robust enhancement with pre-mordanting method as compared with, meta-mordanting post mordanting method. This was due to significant results achieved in color strength in brown shade with good color fastness to washing, light and rubbing. Originality/value This research highlights the potential of natural tea dyes as an alternate of variety of brown shades with sustainability for the textile industry, promoting environmental health and sustainability.