Biodyes: A sustainable approach for textile dyeing

Abstract

This chapter highlights the use of plant secondary metabolites, as natural colourants, aiming at reducing the environmental impact of the traditional dyeing process with synthetic dyes and other harmful chemicals. A comprehensive state of the art in the field of textile colouration technologies, their principles and application methodologies are presented. Authors also introduce fundamental knowledge about the use of natural dyes over time, examine the pros and cons of the different type of colourants and offer detailed information on the classification of natural dyes. All issues related to the natural dyeing process, their different stages and requirements are addressed and some standard recipes and dyeing parameters are provided. Finally, the use of Reseda luteola extract, as a biocolourant, and the natural dyeing of 100% wool fabric are fully described.