Pigment Printing of Natural Dye from Red Mangrove Bark on Silk Fabrics

Recently, the use of natural dyes in textile industry has gained more significant attention owing to environmental concern on the use of certain toxic synthetic dyes. In this research, pigment printing of silk fabrics with natural dye from red mangrove bark has been investigated. Three types of thickening agents, i.e., synthetic thickener, sodium alginate and tex gum were used to prepare printing pastes. In addition, the effects of dye concentration and steaming time during fixation step on color strength in term of K/S values were evaluated. The results on color fastness to washing and light as well as stiffness of the printed fabrics were also reported.