Co‐application of hydroxyalkyl dyes and polyphosphonic acids to cotton to achieve dye—fibre covalent bonding

The dyeing of cotton to a high standard of wet‐fastness with hydroxyalkyl dyes and a polyphosphonatecrosslinker system has been investigated. Dyes containing hydroxyalkyl groups were prepared, by the reaction of commercial reactive dyes with ethanolamine, and applied to cotton fabric in the presence of polyphosphonic acid crosslinking agents using cyanamide as a catalyst. The application was carried out using a pad‐thermosol method. The effects of cyanamide concentration, the nature of the crosslinker and the type of hydroxyalkyl dye were studied in detail. It was concluded that multifunctional polyphosphonates are capable of producing dyeings on cellulosic fibres exhibiting a high degree of covalent bonding (fixation). The efficiency of dye fixation at ca. 2% pure dye (owf), obtained from this method, was greater than 90%.