Performance evaluation of various natural agro fibres in carpet making and their costing

Abstract

The growing concerns for environment and health hazards associated with the\ruse of synthetic dyes, particularly in western countries gave fillip for cultivation and use of\rnaturally coloured cotton, other minor fibres like banana, sisal, hemp etc. The popular belief is\rthat the industrial practices and particularly the chemical industry have altered the natural balance\rin the world. There is a perception that chemistry is fiddling with the nature. This in turn, leads\rto returning to traditional or so called more natural way of life. As a part of this trend, there is a\rlobby for using natural colouring matters today. The reasons for increasing popularity of naturally\rcolorued cotton and other agro fibres include that, these fibres are ecological and economical.\rIn processing of white cotton the chemicals and dyes used and their effluents cause pollution\rdirectly or indirectly, the chlorinated products and bleaching agents employed for bleaching\rcause skin irritation. Dyes containing traces of heavy elements such as arsenic, lead, cadmium,\rcobalt, zinc and chromium are found skin irritants. The cost of dyeing cotton and other agro\rfibres economically and environmentally can be very high especially in the counties with strict\rpollution standards. The cost of naturally coloured cotton is 31 per cent less than the\rconventionally grown and dyed yarn. Further, the demand for organically produced agricultural\rproducts is on the rise. Dyeing uses up to 85 per cent of all the energy used to produce textiles\rand produces more pollution than any other phase of textile manufacturing. Natural coloured\rcotton has high quality light and wash fastness, saves resources and prevents pollution. When\rmost textile materials are subjected to continuous rubbing forces, the result is broken threads or\rholes that we usually associate with wear and abrasion. However, when carpets undergo similar\rforces, the most obvious results are loss of pile height, gradual flattening of yarns, fuzzing and\rmatting of the pile.Aiming at developing environmentally friendly products, naturally coloured\rcotton and many other agro fibres were used for making carpets and subjected to some important\rfunctional parameters assessed for durability of the newly designed carpets. The results of the\rstudy showed that, among the five different types of carpets, compression recovery of naturally\rcoloured cotton carpets was higher followed by cotton carpets. Compression recovery of all the\rcarpets was far less and the carpets did not recover more than 50 per cent. Among the ten\rdifferent carpets sisal carpets were the costliest followed by banana carpets. The cost of these\rcarpets was high due to cost of raw material i.e. yarn and is not easily available. Naturally\rcoloured carpets were the cheapest or economical among all types of carpets. The cost of\rproduction totally depended on the complexity of the design and number of colours used in the\rdesign.