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What
the Dyes are Made Of
The
majority of dyes are made from organic materials, which means that their
structure is based on the element carbon. However, most pigments from
early on didn't contain carbon, which made them inorganic.
An
interesting fact is that there are many white pigments, but there are
no white dyes. Dyes absorb some light and hence convey color. Only by
scattering light can a substance appear white. When all wavelengths
of light are scattered, the object appears white. Dye is a nonscattering,
nonabsorbing substance. Many colors of dyes require special combinations
of other colors of dyes.
Red
Dye
Orange
Dye
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Manufactured
materials such as cotton, wool, linen, and silk are the things that
are most often colored by dyes. They include regenerated cellulose,
cellulose acetate, nylon, polyacrylonitrile, and polyester. Regenerated
cellulose fiber can be dyed with dyes for cotton. All the other manufactured
fibers that are dyed with the colors commonly used for natural fibers
do not always have the best results. One of the dyes that is most commonly
used for dyeing cotton is direct dyes. It is normally a sodium salt
of sulfonic acid, and the colored part of the molecule is the anion.
They are so substantive to cotton and other cellulosic fibers that they
are fixed on the fiber from an aqueous solution with only the assistance
of additions of common salt or sodium sulfate to the dyebath.
A
woman going through the process of dying cloth.
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