U.S. patent application number 13/974398 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-27 for ring dyed polymer treated materials and method of making same.
This patent application is currently assigned to TEXSTREAM TECHNOLOGIES LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is TEXSTREAM TECHNOLOGIES LLC. Invention is credited to Randolph L. Finley.
Application Number | 20140053348 13/974398 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50146713 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140053348 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Finley; Randolph L. |
February 27, 2014 |
RING DYED POLYMER TREATED MATERIALS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME
Abstract
Products and methods for ring dyeing a yarn and/or surface
dyeing a fabric are provided. The product and method discloses the
application of a dye binding composition including a urethane based
polymer to a textile yarn, fabric, or garment. The dye binding
composition is engineered so that the composition is positioned on
or near the surface of the yarn, producing a ring dyed material.
The dye binding composition can be colored with selective dyes that
bind to the composition but generally do not have affinity for
textile substrate. Garments created using this fabric can be
abraded to remove surface polymer and color in different locations
of the garment, creating an antiqued appearing garment. Dyes of
different classifications can be used to produce novel performance
and coloration effects in textile materials and garments. This
process has been demonstrated on yarn (for a denim-like
appearance), knitted and woven fabrics, and garments.
Inventors: |
Finley; Randolph L.; (Fort
Myers, FL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TEXSTREAM TECHNOLOGIES LLC |
Fort Myers |
FL |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
TEXSTREAM TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Fort Myers
FL
|
Family ID: |
50146713 |
Appl. No.: |
13/974398 |
Filed: |
August 23, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61693263 |
Aug 25, 2012 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
8/543 ;
8/552 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06P 5/158 20130101;
D06P 1/5285 20130101; D06P 5/002 20130101; D06P 7/00 20130101; D06P
5/15 20130101; D06P 5/137 20130101; D06P 5/13 20130101; D06P 5/005
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
8/543 ;
8/552 |
International
Class: |
D06P 5/00 20060101
D06P005/00 |
Claims
1) A dye binding composition for a ring dyed material, the
composition comprising a urethane based polymer having a solids
percentage in the composition of between 0.5% and 50% by
weight.
2) The dye binding composition for the ring dyed material of claim
1, wherein the solids percentage in the composition is between 2.0%
and 12.0%.
3) The dye binding composition for the ring dyed material of claim
1, the composition further comprising a cationic material.
4) The dye binding composition for the ring dyed material of claim
4, wherein the cationic material is selected from the group
consisting of guanidine and urethane.
5) The dye binding composition for the ring dyed material of claim
1, the composition further comprising a UV inhibitor.
6) The dye binding composition for the ring dyed material of claim
1, wherein the urethane based polymer is a polyurethane
dispersion.
7) A ring dyed yarn comprising: at least one fiber; and a dye
binding composition for a ring dyed material, the composition
comprising a urethane based polymer having a solids percentage in
the composition of between 0.5% and 50% by weight.
8) The ring dyed yarn of claim 7, further comprising at least one
dye configured to selectively dye the dye binding composition
positioned on at least a portion of the surface of the fiber.
9) The ring dyed yarn of claim 7, wherein at least some of the dye
binding composition is positioned on at least a portion of the
surface of the fibers
10) The ring dyed yarn of claim 7, wherein the fiber is selected
from the group consisting of cotton, wool, silk, hemp, flax,
polyester, rayon, acetate, nylons, spandex, olefins, polyethylene,
polyethylene, and polypropylene.
11) A fabric comprising: fibers; a dye binding composition for a
ring dyed material, the composition comprising a urethane based
polymer having a solids percentage in the composition of between
0.5% and 50% by weight, wherein at least some of the dye binding
composition is positioned on at least a portion of the surface of
the fibers; and at least one dye configured to selectively color
the dye binding composition positioned on at least a portion of the
surface of the fibers.
12) The fabric of claim 11, wherein the dye bind composition
further comprises a cationic material selected from the group
consisting of guanidine and urethane.
13) The fabric of claim 11, wherein the at least one dye does not
directly dye the fibers.
14) The fabric of claim 11, wherein the fabric comprises denim.
15) The fabric of claim 11, wherein the fibers comprise at least
one of cotton fibers and synthetic fibers.
16) A garment comprising: fabric comprising fibers; a dye binding
composition for a ring dyed material, the composition comprising a
urethane based polymer having a solids percentage in the
composition of between 0.5% and 50% by weight, wherein at least
some of the dye binding composition is positioned on at least a
portion of the surface of the fibers; and at least one dye
configured to selectively dye the dye binding composition
positioned on at least a portion of the surface of the fibers.
17) The garment of claim 16, wherein the garment comprises a first
surface area comprising the dye binding composition that has been
dyed with the at least one dye and a second surface area that is
free of the dye binding composition.
18) A method of producing ring dyed or surface dyed fiber, yarn,
fabric, or garment, the method comprising: applying a dye binding
composition for a ring dyed material to at least one of the fiber,
yarn, fabric, or garment, the composition comprising a urethane
based polymer having a solids percentage in the composition of
between 0.5% and 50% by weight; heating the fiber, yarn, fabric, or
garment to cause the dye binding composition to mobilize to a
surface of the fiber, yarn, fabric, or garment; and applying at
least one selective dye to the at least one of the fiber, yarn,
fabric, or garment, wherein the selective dye is selective for the
dye binding composition.
19) The method of claim 18, wherein the dye binding composition and
the selective dye are applied simultaneously.
20) The method of claim 18, wherein the dye binding composition and
the selective dye are applied sequentially.
21) The method of claim 18, further comprising: abrading at least a
portion of the surface of the garment to remove at least some of
the dye binding composition that has been dyed with the at least
one dye such that the garment has first areas comprising fibers
that comprise the dye binding composition that has been dyed with
the at least one dye and second areas comprising fibers that do not
include the dye binding composition.
22) The method of claim 21, wherein the abrading is performed based
on at least one of: sanding; application of diatomaceous earth; and
application of pumice stones to the garment.
23) The method of claim 18, wherein the heating the dye binding
composition is performed using at least one of a curing oven, steam
cans, and hot flue.
24) The method of claim 18, wherein the selective dye is applied
using at least one of thermosol dyeing on a continuous dye range or
tenter frame, pad steaming on a continuous pad/steam range or flash
ageing machine, jet dyeing, jigger dyeing, beam dyeing,
pad/dry/thermosol dyeing, and printing.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 61/693,263 filed Aug. 25, 2012, entitled "Products
and methods for dyeing polymer treated materials," the entirety of
which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Color has been applied to textiles over the ages. Natural
colorants derived from plants and earthen surroundings were used
before a dyestuff industry came into being. Issues with dye
fixation, durability, light fastness, colorfastness, and depth of
color all remained challenges. As the chemistry of dyes became
known and a synthetic approach to engineering dyes to adhere to
specific fibers abounded, dyes were created with different
mechanisms to become attached to various fiber classes. For
cellulosic materials, vat dyes were rendered soluble with reducing
materials, and subsequently fixed through oxidization once the dye
had penetrated the fiber. Also used were metalized mordants that
when applied to a natural fiber could be coupled with a water
soluble colorant to precipitate the dye once in the fiber. To
capitalize on the solubility of dye components for coloring
textiles, naphthol dyes were applied and upon coupling with a
companion base, an insoluble colorant resulted--trapped within the
fiber matrix.
[0003] As film forming materials were introduced into the dyeing
process, new methods to apply colorants to textiles through padding
and printing methods became possible. In this dyeing application,
the polymeric binder and colorant were generally mixed, applied
together, and the pigment color generally left on the surface.
Attempts to incorporate other colorants in this mixture generally
resulted in poor colorfastness or light fastness performance
issues.
[0004] There have been many attempts to create "ring dyed" yarns.
The most common and prevalent is that of the dyeing of indigo to
produce denim. By multiple steps of dipping and oxidizing the dye
onto yarn, the dye penetrates only partially into the yarn bundle.
The resultant "ring dyeing" creates light and dark highlights on
abrasion points once a garment is sewn and processed using chemical
and physical abrasive means before and during a laundering
process.
[0005] Ring dyeing is also generally achieved with the application
of pigment dyes mixed with binders. This approach has resulted in
fabric with stiff handle and marginal rub-fastness performance;
however, with advances in acrylic polymer chemistry featuring co
and ter polymer blends with lower T.sub.g values, softer and more
durable polymers have been created. Even with advances to improve
performance, color choice and depth of shade versus rub fastness
performance remain challenges. Efforts to improve rub fastness
performance through new polyvinyl alcohol emulsion systems have met
with some improvement. (See Schoots et al., U.S. Patent Application
Publication No. 2011/0009021 A1).
SUMMARY
[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more
embodiments of the invention in order to provide a basic
understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive
overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to
neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments, nor
delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is
to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified
form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is
presented later.
[0007] In a first aspect, a dye binding composition for a ring dyed
material is provided, the composition comprising a urethane based
polymer having a solids percentage in the composition of between
0.5% and 50% by weight. In some embodiments, the solids percentage
in the composition is between 2.0% and 12.0%. In some embodiments,
the composition further includes a cationic material. In still
further embodiments, the cationic material is selected from the
group consisting of guanidine and urethane. In yet still further
embodiments, the composition further includes a UV inhibitor. In
some embodiments, the urethane based polymer is a polyurethane
dispersion.
[0008] In a second aspect, a ring dyed yarn including at least one
fiber; and a dye binding composition for a ring dyed material is
provided, the composition comprising a urethane based polymer
having a solids percentage in the composition of between 0.5% and
50% by weight. In some embodiments, the yarn includes at least one
dye configured to selectively dye the dye binding composition
positioned on at least a portion of the surface of the fiber. In
further embodiments, at least some of the dye binding composition
is positioned on at least a portion of the surface of the fibers.
In a still further embodiment, the fiber is selected from the group
consisting of cotton, wool, silk, hemp, flax, polyester, rayon,
acetate, nylons, spandex, olefins, polyethylene, polyethylene, and
polypropylene.
[0009] In a third aspect, a fabric including fibers; a dye binding
composition for a ring dyed material, the composition comprising a
urethane based polymer having a solids percentage in the
composition of between 0.5% and 50% by weight, wherein at least
some of the dye binding composition is positioned on at least a
portion of the surface of the fibers; and at least one dye
configured to selectively color the dye binding composition
positioned on at least a portion of the surface of the fibers is
provided. In some embodiments, the dye binding composition further
includes a cationic material selected from the group consisting of
guanidine and urethane. In still further embodiments, the at least
one dye does not directly dye the fibers. In some embodiments, the
fabric comprises denim. In some embodiments, the fibers include at
least one of cotton fibers and synthetic fibers.
[0010] In a fourth aspect, a garment including fabric comprising
fibers; a dye binding composition for a ring dyed material, the
composition comprising a urethane based polymer having a solids
percentage in the composition of between 0.5% and 50% by weight,
wherein at least some of the dye binding composition is positioned
on at least a portion of the surface of the fibers; and at least
one dye configured to selectively dye the dye binding composition
positioned on at least a portion of the surface of the fibers is
provided. In some embodiments, the garment includes a first surface
area comprising the dye binding composition that has been dyed with
the at least one dye and a second surface area that is free of the
dye binding composition.
[0011] In a fifth aspect, a method of producing ring dyed or
surface dyed fiber, yarn, fabric, or garment is provided, the
method including applying a dye binding composition for a ring dyed
material to at least one of the fiber, yarn, fabric, or garment,
the composition comprising a urethane based polymer having a solids
percentage in the composition of between 0.5% and 50% by weight;
heating the fiber, yarn, fabric, or garment to cause the dye
binding composition to mobilize to a surface of the fiber, yarn,
fabric, or garment; and applying at least one selective dye to the
at least one of the fiber, yarn, fabric, or garment, wherein the
selective dye is selective for the dye binding composition.
[0012] In some embodiments, the dye binding composition and the
selective dye are applied simultaneously. In some embodiments, the
dye binding composition and the selective dye are applied
sequentially. In further embodiments, the method further includes
abrading at least a portion of the surface of the garment to remove
at least some of the dye binding composition that has been dyed
with the at least one dye such that the garment has first areas
comprising fibers that comprise the dye binding composition that
has been dyed with the at least one dye and second areas comprising
fibers that do not include the dye binding composition. In some
embodiments, the abrading is performed based on at least one of:
sanding; application of diatomaceous earth; and application of
pumice stones to the garment. In still further embodiments, the
heating the dye binding composition is performed using at least one
of a curing oven, steam cans, and hot flue. In still further
embodiments, the selective dye is applied using at least one of
thermosol dyeing on a continuous dye range or tenter frame, pad
steaming on a continuous pad/steam range or flash ageing machine,
jet dyeing, jigger dyeing, beam dyeing, pad/dry/thermosol dyeing,
and printing.
[0013] Other aspects and features, as recited by the claims, will
become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the
following non-limited detailed description of the invention in
conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] Having thus described embodiments of the invention in
general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying
drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and
wherein:
[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the impact of shade on chemical
application at varying dye concentrations, in accordance with an
embodiment of the disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
more fully with reference to the accompanying examples and
drawings, in which some, but not all, embodiments of the invention
are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different
forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set
forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this
disclosure may satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers
refer to like elements throughout.
[0017] Where possible, any terms expressed in the singular form
herein are meant to also include the plural form and vice versa,
unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term
"a" and/or "an" shall mean "one or more," even though the phrase
"one or more" is also used herein. It should also be understood
that while some embodiments describe the methods or products as
comprising one or more elements, the methods or elements may also
consist of or consist essentially of the elements disclosed
herein.
[0018] As disclosed herein, a dye binding composition for preparing
a ring dyed yarn and/or a surface dyed material is provided. In an
embodiment, the surface dyed material is prepared with the ring
dyed yarn. In some embodiments, the dye binding composition
includes a polymer and/or additives that are engineered to either
provide a minimum or maximum degree of migration to position the
composition within or on a fiber surface depending on molecular
weight and monomer selection. The polymer is generally applied in
an aqueous media and can be formulated from a number of monomers in
the urethane, guanidine, azetidinium, and vinyl halogen families to
form polymer emulsions. The solids added on to the textile
substrate can range from 0.5% to 50% by weight; but generally 2.0%
to 12.0% percent is desired. Additionally, the polymer has good
film forming properties, is durable to laundering conditions, has
the ability to incorporate materials that can provide targeted
dyestuff attraction and durability, and/or is capable of fixing the
dye in its matrix.
[0019] In some embodiments, the dye binding composition comprises a
urethane based polymer with a molecular weight ranging from 1,000
to 400,000 g/mole. In an embodiment, the urethane based polymer has
a molecular weight ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 g/mole. The
urethane based polymer is designed to attract and hold selective
dyes; however, in some embodiments, additional materials can be
added as discussed below. The urethane based polymer, in some
embodiments, comprises a polyurethane dispersion. The term
"polyurethane dispersion" as used herein describes stable mixtures
of polyurethane polymers in water. Polyurethane polymers are
generally characterized by their monomer content and most commonly
involve the reaction of a diisocyanate with a polyol and chain
extender. The polyurethane dispersion can be a stable aqueous
mixture of any known polyurethane. Typically, the polyurethanes
suitable for use in the aqueous polyurethane dispersions are the
reaction products (a) an isocyanate compound having at least two
isocyanate (--NCO) functionalities per molecule; and (b) a polyol
having at least two hydroxy functionalities per molecule and a
molecular weight ranging from 250 to 10,000 g/mole.
[0020] Exemplary polyol include hydroxy-containing or terminated
polyethers, polyesters, polycarbonates, polycaprolactones,
polythioethers, polyetheresters, polyolefins, and polydienes.
Suitable polyether polyols for the preparation of polyether
polyurethanes and their dispersions include the polymerization
products of cyclic oxides such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide,
tetrahydrofuran, or mixtures thereof. Polyether polyols commonly
found include polyoxyethylene (PEO) polyols, polyoxypropylene (PPO)
polyols, polyoxytetramethylene (PTMO) polyols, and polyols derived
from the mixture of cyclic oxides such as
poly(oxyethylene-co-polypropylene) polyols. Typical molecular
weight of polyether polyols can range from 250 to 10,000
g/mole.
[0021] Suitable polyester polyols for the preparation of polyester
polyurethanes and their aqueous dispersions include
hydroxy-terminated or containing reaction products of ethylene
glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, 1-4,
butanediol, furan dimethanol, polyether diols, or mixtures thereof,
with dicarboxylic acids or their ester-forming derivatives.
Modified polyether polyurethanes such as polyetherester
polyurethanes and polyethercarbonate polyurethanes may also be
suitable polyurethanes for the preparation of aqueous polyurethane
dispersions. These modified polyether polyurethanes can be derived
by incorporating additional polyester polyols or polycarbonate
polyols into polyether polyols during the polyurethane
manufacturing. The polyurethane dispersion as component in the
compositions of the dye binding composition is selected from
polyether polyurethanes, polyester polyurethanes, polycarbonate
polyurethanes, polyetherester polyurethanes, polyethercarbonate
polyurethanes, polycaprolactone polyurethanes, hydrocarbon
polyurethanes, aliphatic polyurethanes, aromatic polyurethanes, and
combinations thereof.
[0022] Polyurethane dispersion as used herein encompasses both
conventional emulsions of polyurethane polymers, for example where
a preformed polyurethane polymer is emulsified into an aqueous
medium with the addition of surfactants and application of shear,
and also includes stable mixtures of self-dispersing polyurethane
polymers. These polyurethane dispersions are generally free of
external surfactants because chemical moieties having surfactant
like characteristics have been incorporated into the polyurethane
polymer and therefore are "self emulsifying" or "self dispersing."
Representative examples of internal emulsifier moieties that can be
incorporated into the polyurethane dispersions useful in the
present invention include ionic groups such as sulfonates,
carboxylates, and quaternary amines, as well as nonionic emulsifier
groups such as polyethers.
[0023] In an embodiment, an isocyanate-terminated polyurethane
prepolymer is made from isocyanates, polyols, optional chain
extender, and at least one monomer containing a hydrophilic group
to render the prepolymer water dispersible. The polyurethane
dispersion can then be prepared by dispersing the
isocyanate-terminated polyurethane prepolymer in water with other
polyisocyanates. Further chain extension can be affected by the
addition of chain extenders to the aqueous dispersion. Depending on
the choice of the hydrophilic group used to render the polyurethane
polymer water dispersible, an additional reaction step may be
needed to convert the hydrophilic group to an ionic species, for
example converting a carboxyl group to an ionic salt or an amine to
an amine salt or cationic quaternary group.
[0024] For dyeing with selective dyes, materials that can attract
targeted dyes within the polymeric matrix are incorporated into the
dye binding composition. In some embodiments, the dye binding
composition comprises cellulose esters including cellulose acetate,
cellulose propionate, cellulose butyrate, and combinations thereof.
In other embodiments, the dye binding composition comprises the
polymer and the cellulose ester. In further embodiments, the total
solids of the dye binding composition is 50%, where the
concentration of one or more of the cellulose esters is in the
range of 1.0% to 25% solids and the concentration of the polymer is
25% to 49% solids. The one or more cellulose esters, in some
embodiments, comprise finely ground powder having a particle size
ranging from 0.5 microns to 10 microns. In other embodiments, the
finely ground powder of the cellulose esters have a particle size
ranging from 1 micron to 3 microns. In further embodiments, the
cellulose ester is added to the dye binding composition in powder
form. The total solids of the emulsion may vary between 10% and 60%
in concentrated form, with the ratio of the polymer to the one or
more cellulose esters remaining between 2% and 50% of the total
solids percentage.
[0025] In some embodiments, the dye binding composition is applied
to fibers, yarns, fabrics, and garments in concentrations ranging
from 0.5% to 50% solids; however, with greater percent solids come
greater expense and greater stiffness. In one embodiment, the
percent solids range to be applied to the fibers, yarns, fabrics,
or garments is between 2.0 and 12.0%. In further embodiments, the
percent solids range to be applied to the fibers, yarns, fabrics,
or garments is between 3.0 and 10.0%. The dye binding composition,
including the percentage of solids in the composition, is
specifically engineered to produce a dye binding composition that
causes the polymer and/or selective dye to migrate to the surface
for use in producing ring dyed yarns and/or surface dyed
fabrics.
[0026] Yarns and fabrics can be constructed from any of a host of
textile fiber, particularly natural fibers including cotton, wool,
silk, hemp, flax, or synthetic fibers including polyesters, rayon,
acetate, acrylics, nylons (aromatic and aliphatic), modacrylics,
spandex, olefins inclusive of super high molecular weight
polyethylene, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc., or combinations of
two or more of these fibers. In some embodiments, the yarn contains
fiber comprised of 100% cotton. In other embodiments, the yarns
comprise cotton fibers blended with non-cotton fibers. The blend of
fibers, in some embodiments, is at least 50% cotton fibers.
[0027] In some embodiments, the dye binding composition further
includes a UV inhibitor to improve light fastness performance, such
as hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS). The light stabilizer
can be added to the polymer mixture prior to application or after
the polymer has cured either as a part of a dye mixture or alone.
Both methods have shown effectiveness at improving lightfastness
performance. Several low and high molecular materials are
commercially available from companies including Cytec, Clariant,
Great Lakes, and Ciba/Huntsman. An exemplary UV inhibitor includes
a high molecular weight material that can be incorporated into the
bath and that will eventually migrate to the surface of the film as
the polymer film is formed upon drying. One Example is TINUVIN.RTM.
622 from CIBA.RTM. Chemical Company with a molecular weight of
around 4000. These UV inhibitors can also be added to the final
finishing bath to coat the surface of the polymer before or after
the application of dye. UV absorbing materials are also available
that can serve a similar purpose through a different mechanism
typically in the benzotriazole family and are available from
Cytec.
[0028] In further embodiments, the dye binding composition
comprises a cationic polymer that is incorporated into the urethane
matrix. Such embodiments are useful for dyeing with acid dyes or
acidified reactive dyes. The cationic polymer comprises guanidine
and/or urethane. The guanidine and urethane can be combined to
create a polymeric film that is cationic depending upon the
percentage of the guanidine that has been incorporated into the
matrix. In some embodiments, the dye binding composition comprises
guanidine and a urethane based polymer. In further embodiments, the
total percent solids of the dye binding composition is 50% solids,
where the guanidine makes up 5% to 45% solids of the total solids
percentage of the dye binding composition and the urethane based
polymer makes up 45% to 5% of the total solids percentage of the
dye binding composition. In one embodiment, the urethane based
polymer is present in the dye binding composition at a greater
percentage than the cationic material. In a further embodiment, the
urethane based polymer is present in the dye binding composition at
a lesser percentage or at an approximately equal percentage (e.g.,
plus or minus 5%) of the cationic material.
[0029] In the application process of the dye binding composition,
process conditions and chemical concentrations dictate the
resulting appearance and degree to which penetrative dyeing or ring
dyeing occurs. In the case in which penetrative dyeing is desired,
drying of the polymer is done slowly or anti-migrating agents are
incorporated into the mix prior to the drying process. When fabrics
with the same percent solids add on are compared, fabrics that are
dried slowly result in a shade after dyeing that is lighter than
the shade after dyeing for fabrics that are dried at a more rapid
rate. It is believed that this result is a direct result of the
polymer being on the surface of the substrate. However, the intent
of this technology is to engineer dye binding compositions that
cause a polymer and/or dye to migrate to the surface of a material,
creating ring dyed yarns and/or surface dyed fabrics.
[0030] The mix to be applied to the textile substrate is generally
prepared by blending the dye binding composition with water having
a temperature range of 80.degree. to 100.degree. Fahrenheit. In an
embodiment, the pH of the water/polymer mixture is not less than
6.0 and not greater than 8.0 after the addition of the polymer;
however, pH levels slightly outside this range have not been shown
to be detrimental. Anti-migrating agents and UV inhibitors may be
added at this time if desired. The polymer percent solids
concentration range of the dye binding composition is, in some
embodiments, from 1% to 25% solids. In one exemplary embodiment,
the dye binding composition has a percent solids concentration
range of between 2% and 12% solids depending on hand and depth of
color considerations.
[0031] The dye binding composition is formulated based on the yarn,
fabric, or garment wet pickup in order to provide the appropriate
targeted percent solids add on of between 2.0% and 12%. For the
application of this chemical mixture to cotton, pad wet pickups
will generally vary from 45% to 220% depending on pad nip
pressures, post vacuuming of fabric, bath viscosity, and/or
absorbency of the padded material. Percent wet pickup is calculated
as the [(fabric wet weight after padding)-(fabric dry weight before
padding)]/(fabric dry weight before padding)*100. For example, the
wet pickup of most 100% cotton fabrics ranges from 85 to 100%, so
to achieve a solids add-on of 3%, a bath concentration of 3% solids
(6% of the dye binding material with 50% active solids material)
with a wet pick-up of 100% would yield the appropriate solids
addition. Lower moisture add on applications as low as 10% have
been demonstrated using foaming techniques; however, the main body
of the work has been done with more conventional chemical
application techniques. Using foaming techniques, wet pickup levels
generally are controlled between 20 and 40% depending upon the
amount of moisture needed on the fabric for finishing and the
appearance desired.
[0032] Once the dye binding composition has been applied to the
yarn or fabric, the evenness and rate of drying determines the
amount of chemical that migrates to the fabric surface. The faster
the fabric is dried, the greater the polymer migration to the
surface. This impacts the degree of ring dyeing that will result
from the application. For more controlled, slower drying, the
fabric can be processed through pre-dryers prior to drying and
curing on a tenter frame. For a penetrative dyeing in which minimal
polymer migration is desired, fabric can be processed on a tenter
frame such that the fabric is only partially dried. This can be
accomplished by lowering the tenter zone temperatures and
increasing the speed of the fabric. The moisture level of the
fabric should be controlled to between 8 and 15%. Final drying and
curing is achieved in subsequent processing.
[0033] For a ring-dye look, more rapid drying is used for the
polymer of the dye binding composition to migrate to the yarn or
fabric surface. This is achieved by processing the fabric or yarn
at higher temperatures and curing the polymer on the initial tenter
pass. This drying can also be achieved in a curing oven, steam
cans, hot flue, or other heat source that promotes the movement of
water and the polymer to the surface.
[0034] In the case of applying the chemical to yarn, yarns may be
coated and the polymer of the dye binding composition dried such
that the yarns are not broken from being stuck together after
drying. The dye binding composition can be applied to scoured yarn,
scoured & bleached yarn, or yarn in its raw state. Each
condition provides a different appearance with the raw yarn
providing the greatest ring dyed characteristic. Bath
concentrations are also different under each condition because of
the absorbency of the yarn for the polymer/water mixture; however,
targeted solids addition range from 2.0% to 12.0% depending upon
the size of the yarn being treated.
[0035] There are many ways in which the yarn can be coated. One
method is to process the yarn through a pad with the dye binding
composition comprising the mixture of polymer, water, and
auxiliaries. The bath temperature can be adjusted to between
65.degree. and 190.degree. F.; however, the most consistent results
occur when the bath temperature is controlled to between 80.degree.
and 100.degree. F. Drying can be done using a forced air oven,
pre-dryers, a thermosol oven, hot flue oven, microwave or steam
cans, or a combination of any of the above. Treated yarns are
collated on either a loom beam or a section beam for future
processing. A resulting section beam comprised of treated yarns can
be combined with many other beams, sized with an easily removed
material such as starch or polyvinyl alcohol, or if sufficient
polymer has been applied, not sized at all. By employing a
combination of these application techniques, using the treated
yarns in the warp direction, and subsequently weaving the fabric
with raw, scoured, bleached, or dyed filling yarn, the resultant
fabric can then be dyed with dyes targeted to dye the polymeric
material of the dye binding composition. Dyes are selected for
their propensity to not stain cotton--both in the dyeing stage and
in the washing stage when the polymeric material is being applied
to cotton or cotton blends and a ring dyed appearance is desired.
In a further embodiment of application of chemical to yarn,
chemical can be applied to the yarn by passing it through a foaming
unit allowing both chemical and moisture to be metered onto the
fabric. This technique minimizes chemical waste and allows specific
levels of the dye bonding polymer to be applied to the yarn.
[0036] Filling yarn selection will determine the processing steps
that follow. Most denim fabrics directed to the men and boy's denim
market contain no stretch yarns, such as spandex. For the women's
market, stretch yarns are generally employed in the filling
direction. The dyeing and finishing processes required to develop
and maintain the stretch characteristics must be carefully
controlled to prevent degradation of the elastic effect of the
spandex or other stretch material.
[0037] Once the fabric has been woven, the fabric will appear as
most other undyed, greige fabric. Dye can be applied either in
fabric form or garment form depending upon the dye binding
composition selected. Exemplary dyes include acid dyes and
selectively reactive dyes for the polymer containing guanidine or
other cationic materials, and disperse dyes for any of the dye
binding compositions. One advantage of dyeing in fabric form is the
ability to see the color and shade of the fabric before going to
the customer. In addition, fabric panels can be prepared and
laundered to ensure that the shade of the fabric is consistent
before constructing garments and laundering them to create denim
appearing garments. This approach allows the flexibility to produce
denim appearing fabric and garments in multiple colors, depth of
color, and engineered color retention depending on the polymer
selected and the penetration of the material during processing.
[0038] There are a number of ways in which this resulting denim
fabric can be dyed. In one embodiment, the polymer of the dye
binding composition is engineered to accept selective dyes. One
dyeing method is to apply dyes in a pad, dry the fabric, and heat
the fabric to between 390.degree. and 425.degree. F. for a minimum
of 30 seconds depending on the selective dye. In an embodiment, the
dyes are designed to sublime (transform from a solid state to a
gaseous state) between these temperatures. In the gaseous state,
the dyes are selectively attracted to the polyurethane polymer
and/or the cellulose acetate material within the polymeric matrix,
and generally not to the cellulosic fibers of the fabric.
Subsequent washing is generally effective at removing selective dye
not fixed within the polymeric matrix if the dyes are properly
chosen and the proper washing conditions are utilized. Care must be
used with this approach if stretch fibers are incorporated within
the fabric because spandex can be reset or degraded at these
elevated temperatures.
[0039] The fabric is finished by the application of sewing
lubricants and water soluble hand-builders if needed. These are
generally applied in a pad or foamed onto the fabric prior to
drying on a tenter frame. The final process involves preshrinking
the fabric and adding a uniform skew in the direction of the twill
line. This prevents twisted legs in finished garments, and ensures
that the shrinkage of the fabric when wet processed does not exceed
3%. Before the sanforization process, fabric shrinkage in the warp
or lengthwise direction for high cotton blends ranges from 8% to
12%.
[0040] Another method of applying color to the treated fabric is to
apply the selective dye in a pad and steam the fabric for a period
of between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. The polymer and cellulose
acetate generally will dye under these conditions depending upon
the dye selection and polymer selection. This steaming process may
be used for stretch fabrics for which the substrate will be dyed in
fabric rather than garment form.
[0041] For stretch fabrics, the finishing process may include a
heatsetting step to stabilize the width of the fabric. The
application of finishing chemicals including a UV stabilizer can
occur in this stage. Spandex or stretch polyesters in the filling
direction will have a tendency of staining or becoming colored in
this application; therefore it is better to have a core spun cotton
spandex stretch yarn than one comprised of a composite polyester
yarn such as LYCRA.RTM. T-400.RTM. by INVISTA.TM. or filling yarn
comprised of poly-butylene terephthalate. The best results have
been demonstrated on core spun products consisting of cotton with a
spandex core.
[0042] One significant advantage to this process is that it
bypasses the need to dye the yarn in rope form on a denim range,
apply size, and then spend time, energy, and chemical resources to
remove all of the size and some of the color to create a finished
garment. In addition, the amount of selective dye needed to achieve
saturated shades ranges from 0.5 to 2.0% OWG instead of the higher
3 to 5 percent OWG indigo concentrations desired for denim.
[0043] By using the dye binding composition in the processes
described hereinabove, garments can be laundered in cold water for
lesser periods of time and with fewer chemicals depending on the
desired appearance after laundering. The elimination of amylase
enzymes to remove starch, cellulase enzyme to degrade the fabric
surface, hypochlorite bleach or potassium permanganate to remove
color, and the resulting byproducts from these processes have been
shown to produce a positive environmental impact resulting from
reduced solids generation and energy usage during the wet
processing of garments. Furthermore, the elimination of these
chemicals and processing at lower temperatures also results in
monetary savings.
[0044] One additional option for the dye binding composition is to
dye the fabric after garments are sewn using selective dyes in the
wet processing step. For example, garments are placed in a
laundering machine, water added to produce a 4:1 to 20:1 liquor to
goods ratio, the pH adjusted to 4.0 with acetic acid, 0.5% and 3%
OWG (on weight of goods) selective dye added, the machine heated to
190.degree. F. at a rate of 5.degree. F. per minute, the
temperature held for 60 minutes, the bath dropped, garments rinsed
with warm water for 5 minutes two times, softener added, water
extracted, and the garments dried at 140.degree. F. for 40 minutes.
Other methods of using selective dyes in the wet processing step
are possible.
Application of the Polymer to Woven and Knitted Fabrics.
[0045] There are a vast number of iterations of how this chemistry
can be applied to produce new and innovative products to meet the
many fashion and environmental needs of the market. In a woven
finishing plant, fabric can be dyed in a number of ways. These
include but are not limited to: thermosol dyeing on a continuous
dye range or tenter frame, pad steaming on a continuous pad/steam
range or flash ageing machine, jet dyeing, jigger dyeing, beam
dyeing, pad/dry/thermosol dyeing, and printing. Fabric can also be
dyed using a high pressure steamer in which superheated steam is
used to achieve temperatures approaching 220.degree. F. This
technology offers new design and merchandising opportunities that
can create unique and fashion forward fabric and garment concepts.
The embodiments presented herein address many of the performance
deficiencies inherent in many products on the market today, and
provides significant environmental advantages to the current
processes. A number of these ideas are advanced below. The general
process is as follows:
[0046] 100% cotton or Polyester/cotton blended fabric in greige
form is received and is desized, scoured, bleached, and/or
mercerized and readied for dyeing. These processes can be performed
to provide an absorbent, dyeable fabric.
[0047] The prepared fabric is padded with the dye binding
composition comprising the polymer to achieve a polymer percent
solids concentration of between 0.5% and 10% solids. In one
embodiment, the polymer percent solids concentration is between
2.0% and 7.5% and is calculated as described above.
[0048] Fabric is dried using one or more methods including
predryers, tenter frames, dry cans, forced air ovens, electric
elements, microwave energy or a combination of the same. This
drying step will cause a film to form. Curing of the polymer will
result at between 250.degree. and 320.degree. F.
[0049] Once the polymer is cured, dye can be applied by
pad/roll/extract. Fixation of the dye to the polymer can be
accomplished for polyester dyes by steaming at 212.degree. to
219.degree. F. for 30 seconds to 3 minutes or thermosol dyeing at
between 380.degree. and 425.degree. F. for 30 to 45 seconds
depending on the dye selection. For the condition in which a
cationic material is incorporated into a polymeric matrix, the
pad/steam option using acid dyes or selectively reactive dyes at pH
levels below 5.0 can be incorporated.
[0050] Fabric can be dyed by other methods; however, care must be
exercised to avoid abrasion in fabric form unless this is desired
for novel effects in garment form. In this case, dyeing could be
accomplished in a dye jet. In the case of knits, this is the
preferred method of dye application other than in garment form. If
a soft flow jet is used such as a Gaston County FUTURA.RTM. or
other similar machine, knits can be dyed with a minimum amount of
abrasion in fabric form.
[0051] One additional dyeing method particularly valid for this
approach is that of jigger dyeing. Jigger dyeing has the advantage
of allowing dye to be applied to fabric in batches by the
continuous rolling and rerolling of fabric from one side of the
machine to the other with dye liquor exchange occurring during the
transferring process. This process allows for the heating of dye
liquor, keeps the liquor to fabric ratio low, and allows for
evenness of dyeing as long as too much excess dye is not
incorporated into the bath. There are a finite number of dye sites
available within the polymer matrix thereby limiting the depth of
shade. For this application, dye selection is important in
controlling the shade. Efforts to match strike rates of the
selective dye onto the polymer have been found to dictate whether
shade continuity can be controlled from one lot to the next.
[0052] In one embodiment, the dyeing process is not conducted in
fabric form for fabric in which the color is to be applied in
garment form.
[0053] The dyed fabric can now be finished by padding softeners
onto the fabric, framing to width while drying, and removing
residual shrinkage through the sanforization process.
[0054] Once garments are constructed, wet processing can follow
thereby creating a garment with abrasion at the seams and highs and
lows of color in the flat areas of the garment.
[0055] Environmental attributes of this process specifically when
applying the mixture to yarns prior to weaving have demonstrated
that biodegradable materials in the entire process can be reduced
between 80 and 90 percent. Furthermore, water and energy use can be
reduced between 50 and 70 percent to achieve comparable-appearing
garments after wet processing steps in garment form.
[0056] Additional application methods and embodiments of this
technology include that with the selection of the targeted
polymeric urethanes or urethane mixtures, it is possible to combine
the urethane mixture and dye in a single mixture and subsequently
apply this to a fabric substrate. The dye has been shown to
congregate with the urethane mixture in solution and migrate with
the urethane during drying leaving the fiber below undyed. This is
specifically demonstrated when the substrate is cotton or when the
dye has a greater affinity for the polymeric mixture than the
substrate.
[0057] Further, the addition of a fluorochemical produces a fabric
with excellent water repellant properties; however, the resulting
treated substrate is difficult to dye by conventional continuous
dyeing methods. Adding the dye with the urethane mixture and the
fluorochemical successfully produced a colored, water repellent,
dyed substrate. This process was successful in treating para and
meta aramids, olefins, cotton, and blends as outlined above.
[0058] When these polymeric urethanes have UV inhibitors added and
are applied to light sensitive materials such as KEVLAR.RTM. or
other para-aramid and NOMEX.RTM. or other meta-aramid fibers, not
only is the durability of the material improved, but the material
can be dyed on the surface.
[0059] Application of polymeric urethanes and mixtures in multiple
application and drying steps have demonstrated that the depth of
shade can be enhanced up to 125% when compared to a single
application at the same polymeric solids loading.
[0060] There are numerous variations of this process that can
result in unique fabrics and garments with enhanced performance
characteristic and/or design interests. Some have been outlined in
the Examples.
EXAMPLES
Example #1 (Treatment of Woven Fabrics)
[0061] An 8.2 oz/yd.sup.2 3.times.1 left hand twill 100% cotton
fabric with a greige construction of 108 ends per inch.times.56
picks per inch was desized, scoured, bleached and mercerized. A
solution containing 3% solids was prepared by the addition of 6% of
the dye bonding composition (the 50% total solids content resulting
from the combination of 45% solids aqueous polyurethane and 5%
solids cellulose acetate) and water at 80.degree. F. The fabric was
padded through a mangle with a hard rubber roll and steel roll with
a pressure set at 40 psi. The fabric wet pickup was 88% resulting
in solids add on to the fabric of 2.6%. The fabric was processed
through an 8 zone gas fired tenter at 40 yards per minute with each
zone set at 380.degree. F. The fabric was completely dried and
cured at the exit of the tenter frame.
Example #1A (Dyeing of Treated Fabric in Garment Form)
[0062] Mock pant legs were prepared and laundered as follows: 2.0
kg of treated pant legs were loaded into a 35 pound Milnor sample
machine. 30 liters of water were added to the machine resulting in
a 15:1 liquor to goods ratio. The pH was adjusted to 4.0 by the
addition of 10 ml of acetic acid. DIANIX.RTM. Lum Yellow 10G (0.8%
OWG) and DIANIX.RTM. Lum Red 4B-E (0.2% OWG) were diluted in 1
liter of hot 160.degree. F. water and stirred for 2 minutes to
disperse the powdered dyes into solution. The dyes were added to
the bath while the garments were being agitated. The washer was
heated at a rate of 5.degree. F. per minute until reaching
180.degree. F. The machine was held at this temperature for 1 hour
before dropping the water, rinsing, and applying 10 ml of Ampak
Softener Flekes, a cationic softener. A fluorescent orange color
resulted and only slight abrasion evidenced by a slight difference
in color was observed at the seams.
Example #1B (Dyeing Treated Fabric in Garment Form Adding an
Abrasive Material)
[0063] 1.0 Kg from Example #1A and 1.0 kg of diatomaceous earth
were added to a 35 lb Milnor machine and processed for 1 hour with
a 20:1 liquor to goods ratio at 80.degree. F. There was only
marginal abrasion at the seams. The garments were rinsed and 1 kg
of pumice stones was added and the process repeated for 30 minutes.
Excellent abrasion was observed at the seams and the pant leg hems.
The fabric was abraded and hairy, so the garments were laundered
for an additional 20 minutes with a cellulase acid enzyme at
125.degree. F. Garments were heated to 160.degree. F. with soda ash
to deactivate the enzyme, rinsed, and additional softeners added at
120.degree. F. and a pH of 4.5. The garments were then extracted,
dried, and reviewed. Abrasion at the seams was clearly evident, the
pant leg hand was soft, and the white cotton could be clearly seen
at the highly abraded points. One side of the leg was then hand
sanded and feathering was possible simulating wear. This result
clearly demonstrated the ring dyed property imparted from this dye
bonding composition and subsequent processing.
Example #1C (Dyeing of Treated Fabric in Fabric Form on a Pad/Steam
Range)
[0064] Fabric from Example #1 was processed in the lab through a
dye bath containing 10 grams/liter of DIANIX.RTM. Royal Blue CC (pH
of 4.0 adjusted with acetic acid).
[0065] The pad steam range provided a dwell time of 50 seconds at a
steamer temperature of 218.degree. F. Fabric was rinsed, extracted,
and dried on a hot head press. A medium royal blue fabric resulted.
1.0 kg of pant legs were loaded into an 80 pound Milnor sample
washing machine. 75 liters of water and 3.0 kg of pumice stone were
added as an abrasive. The garments were processed at 80.degree. F.
for 40 minutes, rinsed, and processed with 1.2% OWG (on weight of
garments) of an acid enzyme (SEYCOZYME TCE.RTM.) Sydel Wooley &
Company a pH of 4.0 at 125.degree. F. for 20 minutes to remove the
surface hairs, the acid enzyme denatured as previously described,
rinsed twice, softened as described above, extracted, and dried at
140.degree. F. for 40 minutes. The resulting pant legs were a royal
blue shade and displayed abrasion at the seams exemplified by a
loss of color in those areas. The fabric was tested for
lightfastness, colorfastness, and ozone fading. The washfastness
(American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists test method
"AATCC" 61 2A) results showed some staining on nylon and acetate
and almost no staining on cotton and polyester fibers. The shade
change was between a 3.0 and 3.5 rating.
Example #1D (Sublimation Printing of Treated Woven Fabric)
[0066] Treated fabric from Example #1 was selected. A transfer
paper was printed with color from four dot matrix printers with low
energy disperse dyes. The printed paper was placed on the fabric
face, heated to 400.degree. F. by passing the paper and fabric
sandwich over heated steel rollers. The printed design was
transferred to the polymer on the fabric surface. Fabric was
laundered through five AATCC 135 III Ai cycles (machine wash warm
with 105.degree. F. water, dry at hot temperature) to access color
retention. Less than 25% of the color was lost. Some abrasion of
the fabric was observed.
Example #2 (Treatment of Previously Dyed Fabric)
[0067] An 8.2 oz/yd.sup.2 3.times.1 left hand twill 100% cotton
fabric with a greige construction of 108 ends per inch.times.56
picks per inch was desized, scoured, bleached, and mercerized. This
fabric was continuously dyed into an almond yellow color using a
three dye reactive dye combination. This fabric was cut into 1 yard
12 inch strips for lab processing.
[0068] A solution containing approximately 3% solids was prepared
by adding 6% of dye bonding composition (50% solids) with 0.5%
TINUVINO 622 from CIBA.RTM. Chemical Company and water at
80.degree. F. The dyed fabric was padded through a lab padder set
at 40 psi resulting in a fabric wet pickup of 90%, and dried with
predryers and dry cans.
[0069] A dye bath containing 5 gram/liter DIANIX.RTM. Orange SG and
02.0 grams/liter DIANIX.RTM. Red CC was prepared by diluting 5
grams DIANIX.RTM. Orange SG and 2.0 grams of DIANIX.RTM. Red CC dye
to 1.0 liter and adjusting the pH to 4.0 with acetic acid. Dye was
padded onto the fabric resulting in a wet pickup of close to 100%.
After steaming the fabric for 40 seconds at 212.degree. F., washing
and drying of the dyed fabric completed the process. Only the
surface of the fabric was dyed to a chestnut brown color. When the
fabric was cut or torn, the center of the fabric was clearly still
the almond color.
[0070] Fabric swatches were assembled into miniature pant legs with
seams characteristic of 5 pocket jean construction. 1.0 kg of
chestnut brown and 4.0 kg of white bull denim ballast garments were
loaded into an 80 pound Milnor sample washing machine. 75 liters of
water and 2.5 kg of pumice stone added as an abrasive. The garments
were processed at 80.degree. F. for one hour, rinsed twice,
softened as described above, extracted, and dried at 140.degree. F.
for 40 minutes. The resulting garments had the almond color showing
through on the seams and slightly in the flat areas of the mock
pant legs resulting in an antique looking garment.
Example #3 (Yarn Dyeing to Produce Blue and Colored Denim
Fabric)
[0071] An 8/1 rough spun ring spun yarn was selected for treatment.
1.0 kg of the yarn was scoured and bleached and 1.0 kg of the yarn
was used as spun. A mixture comprising the dye bonding composition
containing 3% solids was prepared using the urethane polymer
previously described and water at 80.degree. F. The solution was
padded onto each yarn using a single end size application
apparatus. A wet pickup of the scoured and bleached yarn was 120%
resulting in a solids add-on of 3.6%. The wet pickup of the
untreated yarn was 90% resulting on a solids add-on of 2.7%. Both
samples were dried by passing through a forced hot air oven at 100
m/min for 3 minutes at 90 degrees C. Both yarns were smooth to the
touch.
[0072] Denim fabric was woven by inserting 50 and 58 picks per inch
picks of the treated yarn in the filling direction across a 4.5/1
100% cotton warp with 32 ends/inch in a 3.times.1 left hand twill
construction. The fabric width was 59 inches off the loom.
Example #3A (Denim Fabric Colored During the Laundering
Process)
[0073] Garments were constructed without further processing. In
constructing pant legs and a garment for color evaluation, the
pattern markers were rotated 90.degree. so that the treated yarn
was in the lengthwise direction of the pant leg. Prior to
construction into garments, the fabric was heated to 325.degree. F.
for 3 minutes to ensure that the polymer was sufficiently
cured.
[0074] 5.0 kg of pant legs were loaded into an 80 pound Milnor
sample washing machine. 75 liters of water (15:1) were added and 15
ml of acetic acid used to adjust the pH to 4.0. 100 g of
DIANIX.RTM. Blue UN-SE (2.0% OWG) was prediluted into 1.0 liters of
160.degree. F. water before adding to the washer. The temperature
was increased at 5.degree. F. per minute until reaching 180.degree.
F. After holding for one hour at 180.degree. F., the water was
emptied and the garments rinsed at 120.degree. F. for 5 minutes
through two rinses. 50 grams of Ampak Softener Flekes were added to
soften the garments. The garments were extracted and dried at
160.degree. F. for 50 minutes. The finished pant legs had a
denim-like appearance with abrasion characterized by areas in which
there was little or no color at the seam areas, pockets, and waist
band. The dye did not stain the untreated cotton filling yarns or
the fiber underneath the polymer matrix.
Example #3B (Denim Fabric Colored with Multiple Colors)
[0075] Example #3A was repeated except instead of dyeing a blue
denim color, orange, red, fluorescent yellow, and green colors were
dyed using the dye combinations in Table 1:
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Dye Formulations for Producing Colored Denim
Amount Total Dye Color Dye Name % OWG % OWG Orange DIANIX .RTM.
Orange UN-SE 01 1.00 1.00 Red DIANIX .RTM. Red UN-SE 1.50 1.50
Fluorescent DIANIX .RTM. Lum Yellow 10G 0.75 0.75 Yellow Green
DIANIX .RTM. Blue UN-SE 1.50 1.75 DIANIX .RTM. Lum Yellow 10G
0.25
Example #3C (Denim Fabric Dyed Prior to Constructing Garments)
[0076] Fabric from Example #3 was taken and cut in the width
direction into 12 inch strips 59 inches long. A dye bath was
prepared by diluting 20 grams of DIANIX.RTM. Blue UN-SE in one
liter of 120.degree. F. water. The pH was adjusted to 4.0 by adding
1.0 gram of acetic acid. Fabric was padded through the dye solution
and steamed for 40 seconds at 212.degree. F., rinsed through boxes
at 160.degree. F., and dried in a forced air oven. The same fabric
was padded through an identical dye bath as above, dried on
pre-dryers and dry cans, and heated to 400.degree. F. for 30
seconds. Mock pant legs were constructed and laundered at
80.degree. F. for 60 minutes with 1 g/l non-ionic surfactant and
rounded pumice stones in a 35 pound Milnor washer to enhance
abrasion. The bath was dropped, refilled, softener added, heated to
120.degree. F. for 5 minutes, extracted and dried. The resulting
mock pant legs had abrasion at the seams and a denim-like
appearance with negligible staining of the untreated cotton
fiber.
Example #4 (Application of Dye to Fibers that are Difficult to
Dye)
[0077] Cut resistant gloves constructed from a composite yarn
containing DYNEEMA.RTM. (super high molecular weight polyethylene
manufactured by DSM Dyneema LLC) and nylon. Garments were weighed
and prepared for treatment. Previous efforts to color this
undyeable fiber were met with failure.
[0078] A bath was prepared by mixing 300 grams of the dye bonding
composition comprised of a 50% solids urethane solution to 5 liters
of 80.degree. F. water creating a 3% solids solution. 1 kg of
garments were dipped into the bath and soaked for 1 minute. The
garments were removed, extracted, and 40% of the urethane solution
remained. The garments were dried at 160.degree. F. for 30 minutes
in a gas fired drier. Treated garments were dyed as follows:
[0079] 19 liters of water at 80.degree. F. and 1 kg of treated
garments were added to a 35 pound Milnor machine. 10 grams of
DIANIX.RTM. Lum Yellow 10 g (1% OWG) were added to 200 grams of
water at 160.degree. F. to solubilize the powdered dye before
adding to the bath. 80 grams of Fluorescent pigment dye
(Trichromatic--Tricotex FL Yellow) was diluted with 800 ml of
80.degree. F. water and added to the bath. The mixture was heated
at a rate of 5.degree. F. per minute until reaching 160.degree. F.
and held at temperature for 30 minutes. The bath was dropped, the
garments rinsed twice with cold water, and then the garments
extracted and dried for 30 minutes at 140.degree. F. The garments
were Fluorescent Yellow in color and showed excellent color
retention after five wash/dry cycles.
Example #5
[0080] An 8.2 oz/yd.sup.2 3.times.1 left hand twill 100% cotton
fabric with a greige construction of 108 ends per inch.times.56
picks per inch was desized, scoured, bleached and mercerized. A
solution containing 4.1% solids was prepared by the addition of
6.9% of the dye bonding composition consisting of the urethane
material and water at 80.degree. F. 10 linear yards of fabric 12
inches in width was padded in the lab through a mangle at a nip
pressure set to 20 psi. The fabric wet pickup was 72% resulting in
solids add on to the fabric of 3.0%. The fabric was processed by
passing the fabric through a forced air oven set at 375.degree. F.
for 2 minutes and 5 seconds. With this treated fabric, a number of
dyes were evaluated for colorfastness, lightfastness, and dye
durability. Dye was applied by padding and squeezing excess dye
from the fabric achieving a wet pickup of around 75%. Fabric was
steamed for 50 seconds at 218.degree. F. with saturated steam. Dyed
fabric was rinsed with hot 165.degree. F. water and 0.01%
surfactant to remove excess dye. Fabric was dried and colorfastness
performance assessed. Results of a number of dyes evaluated have
been illustrated below in Table 2:
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Evaluation of Dyes for Fastness and
Performance Colorfastness Testing Gas Ozone Fading 120.degree. F.
Washfastness Crocking AATCC Lightfastness AATCC Concentration AATCC
61-2A AATCC 8 109 AATCC 16 23 Dye Name (g/l) Shd Chg Cotton
Polyester Dry Wet 2-cycles 20 hours 1-cycle DIANIX .RTM. Lum Yell
5.0 3.5 4.5 4.5 2.5 2.5 4.0 1.0 5.0 10-G DIANIX .RTM. Yellow S- 5.0
1.5 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.5 3.0 4.5 3.0 4G DIANIX .RTM. Orange S-G 10.0 3.5
3.5 4.5 3.5 3.5 2.5 4.5 4.0 DIANIX .RTM. Yellow 10.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
3.5 3.5 2.5 4.5 4.5 Brn CC DIANIX .RTM. Lum Red G 10.0 1.5 3.5 4.5
3.5 3.5 1.5 1.0 1.5 DIANIX .RTM. Cyanine B 10.0 1.5 4.5 4.5 3.5 3.5
1.5 1.0 2.0 DIANIX .RTM. Blue BG 10.0 4.5 3.0 4.0 4.5 4.0 1.0 4.5
2.5 DIANIX .RTM. Rubine CC 5.0 3.5 2.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 1.5 3.0 4.0
[0081] For assessing performance of the tested material, grading is
done on a scale of 1.0 to 5.0. A rating of 1.0 indicates
significant color change; a rating 5.0, no color change. Ratings of
3.5 and above are generally considered good. For the dyes listed
above, several would be unsuitable for this application. A dye that
has poor washfastness such as DIANIX.RTM. Lum Red G may appear a
poor candidate if only assessing washfastness; however, if a
fluorescent red is required, this dye may be the only option
available. For dyes with poor lightfastness, chemical additives can
be incorporated into the polymeric mixture to improve performance.
For dyes with poor ozone fastness, materials are available after
wet processing that can improve this performance. Dyes assessed in
this fashion have been selected as candidates for this process.
Example #5A
Dyeing with Multiple Techniques
[0082] To assess the impact of dye technique on colorfastness
performance, the treated fabric was processed in three ways in the
lab and the colorfastness properties assessed:
[0083] Dye Process 1: 10 g/l dye padded, steamed, washed, and
dried.
[0084] Dye Process 2: 10 g/l dye padded, predryed, can dried, and
thermosol dyed at 416.degree. F. for 50 seconds, washed, and
dried.
[0085] Dye Process 3: Dye Process 1 & Thermosol dyed at
416.degree. F. for 50 seconds, washed, and dried) on the same piece
of fabric.
[0086] Colorfastness results are depicted in Table 3.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 IMPACT OF DYE PROCESS ON COLORFASTNESS
Disperse Colorfastness Testing Description Navy GFE 120.degree. F.
Washfastness Crocking Lightfastness of Dye Concentration AATCC
61-2A AATCC 8 AATCC 16 Trial Method (g/l) Shd Chg Cotton Polyester
Dry Wet 20 hours Dye Pad Steam 10.0 3.0 4.5 3.0 4.5 2.5 4.5 Process
#1 Dye Pad 10.0 3.0 3.5 2.0 4.5 2.5 3.0 Process Thermosol #2 Dye
Pad Steam/ 10.0 3.0 3.5 2.5 4.5 2.5 2.0 Process Pad #3
Thermosol
[0087] The first two techniques were successful at producing an
acceptable dyeing. The pad steam option appears to provide the best
lightfastness and washfastness result likely from minimizing dye
staining of the untreated cotton and keeping excess dye from the
fabric surface.
Example #6
Treatment of Cotton Stretch Fabrics
[0088] A 7.8 oz/yd.sup.2 3.times.1 Left Hand Twill 99/1
Cotton/Spandex fabric with a finished construction of 109 ends per
inch.times.50 picks per inch comprising a 20/1 Ring Spun Warp and a
10/1 open end+14/1+70 denier spandex filling was prepared by a
desize, caustic scour, bleach, mercerize process before dyeing. The
fabric was processed by applying a urethane mixture adjusted to a
pH of 5.8 with acetic acid with 4.1 percent solids. A wet pickup of
72% resulted in a solids pickup on the fabric of 3.0 percent.
Moisture was reduced to about 45% before the fabric was dried and
cured on dry cans.
Example #6A
[0089] Fabric was dyed into a multitude of shades on a pad steam
range. Preliminary work in the lab revealed that at a 3.0% chemical
application level, most medium shades were able to be matched. One
color selected was Spiced Orange. The dye formulation
contained:
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Spiced Orange Concentration Dye Auxiliary
(grams/liter) DIANIX .RTM. Scarlet CC 10.0 DIANIX .RTM. Orange SG
2.0 Barasol (surfactant) 0.5 Acetic Acid (20%) 0.2
[0090] Fabric was processed at 75 yards per minute by applying the
Spiced Orange dye formulation through a Kuster pad with a measured
pickup of 75%. The dyes were fixed after processing through a tight
laced steamer at 216.degree. F. for 50 seconds. Very little excess
dye was observed during the washing process. The fabric was dried,
finished, and sanforized to remove shrinkage.
[0091] The fabric was tested for a number of physical and
colorfastness performance parameters as depicted below.
Washfastness performance was better before than after finishing.
The chemical formulation in finishing is likely the cause. Fabric
was made into garments and wet processed. Washfastness performance
improved after wet processing with only a 15 to 20% reduction in
shade except on the seams and hand sanded areas.
TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Physical Test Results - Spiced Orange
Attribute Test Method Test Result Units Weight ASTM D-3776 7.35
oz/yd.sup.2 Width 64.5 inches Construction ASTM D-3775 Ends Picks
per inch 128 52 Tensile ASTM D-5034 Warp Filling 169 77 lbs
Elmendorf Tear ASTM D1424 6.6 7.2 lbs Seam Slippage ASTM D-434 54
55 lbs Needle cutting ASTM D-1906 0 4 Cuts Shrinkage AATCC 135 IVAi
-2.45 -7.4 percent Stretch & Growth ASTM D-3107 Growth Stretch
Initial 1.3 10.6 percent After 3 launderings 5.6 17.5 percent
Pilling ASTM D-3512 30 60 minutes (Random Tumble) 4.0 3.0 Grade
TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Colorfastness Test Results - Spiced Orange
Attribute Test Method Test Result Units Washfastness AATCC 61-2A
Shade Cotton Polyester Grade Chg After dyeing 4.0 3.5 4.0 After 3.5
2.5 2.5 Finishing* After Garment 4.0 4.0 4.5 Wash Perspiration*
AATCC 15 4.5 4.0 4.0 Grade Cold Water AATCC 107 4.0 3.5 4.5 Grade
Bleeding* Crocking* AATCC 8 Dry Wet Grade 4.0 2.5 Gas Fading* AATCC
23 4.5 1 cycle Grade Lightfastness* AATCC 16 3.5 20 hours.sup.
Grade Ozone* AATCC 109 4.5 .sup. 2 cycles Grade *After finishing
test results
Example #6B
Wet Processing of Spiced Orange Garments
[0092] Fabric was constructed into a womenswear jean cut in a size
6. Four sets of garment increments, each set consisting of three
garments and weighing 1.0 kg, were processed to evaluate the impact
of wash procedure on overall appearance and aesthetic. The wash
procedures included: [0093] A) A Rinse Wash--20 minute wash at
120.degree. F. with softener [0094] B) A 20 minute Enzyme Wash--A
20 minute wash at 125.degree. F. with acid enzymes followed by a 10
minute softening step at 120.degree. F. Softening step [0095] C) A
20 minute Stonewash+20 minute Enzyme Wash--A 20 minute wash at
100.degree. F. with a 2:1 Pumice Stone to garment ratio followed by
a rinse, a 20 wash at 125.degree. F. with acid enzymes followed by
a 10 minute softening step [0096] D) A 40 minute Stonewash+20
minute Enzyme Wash--A 40 minute wash at 100.degree. F. with a 2:1
Pumice Stone to garment ratio followed by a rinse, a 20 wash at
125.degree. F. with acid enzymes followed by a 10 minute softening
step
[0097] The rinse wash was effective at softening the fabric hand
and little to no abrasion was observed. The color appeared similar
to that of a garment constructed from a piece dyed fabric. In
several garments, the thigh portion of the garment was presanded
prior to laundering. In all cases, these sanded areas appeared
lighter and worn with white, undyed cotton apparent in the more
heavily sanded areas. Garments that were enzyme washed for 20
minutes had a shade drop of about 10% and a slight bit of abrasion
on the side seams, belt loops, and bottom hems of each leg. The
sanded areas were clearly lighter than the unsanded areas.
[0098] Adding stonewashing to the process provided an abraded look
generally seen in ring dyed or surface dyed fabrics. The abrasion
was greater after 40 minutes than 20 and both garments had
excellent abrasion without any significant destruction to the
integrity of the garment. Generally, to achieve a comparable
abraded appearance in similar garments using classical dyeing
techniques, more than twice the stone washing is required and
physical damage to the garment is generally observed.
[0099] The areas of the garments that were hand sanded prior to
stonewashing were nearly white in the more heavily sanded areas.
This color differentiation results because the dyes selected do not
redeposit on the fabric once in solution during processing.
Finally, after the garments were processed, softened, and dried,
additional highlights could be readily created by hand sanding
after wet processing. This ability adds a new dimension to the
options available to the wet processor and the designer looking for
new and innovative garments.
Example #7
Yarn Treatment of 100% Cotton and the Environmental Impact
[0100] A raw 20/1 Ring Spun 100% cotton warp comprised on 4260 ends
was processed through a box containing a urethane mixture
consisting of 9% solids. After the yarn was dipped and excess
material removed with squeeze rolls set at 45 psi, a wet pickup of
105% was measured resulting in a 9.45% solids add on to the yarn.
Each yarn was separated while wet and dried at 150.degree. F. for
50 seconds followed by steam cans set at 275.degree. F. to ensure
that the fabric is dry and the polymeric matrix cured. Under these
conditions, no steam was observed on the cans indicating that the
yarn was completely dry before reaching the cans. Treated yarn was
wound onto a loom beam and woven on a Picanol air jet loom. Fabric
was woven at 71 inches with 60 ends per inch and 60 picks per inch
in a plain weave construction to produce a fabric that once dyed,
would produce a chambray effect. The chambray effect is exemplified
by a plainweave construction less than 6 oz/yd.sup.2 in which only
the warp or lengthwise yarn is dyed and the filling yarn remains
white. Chambray is generally seen in indigo colors in which the
warp yarns have been dyed on an indigo dye range. Colored chambrays
are generally not available because of dye minimums, the ability to
match color, and the associated expense. Chambrays produced from
this invention can be prepared by scouring and bleaching the
treated fabric through normal preparation processes. Absorbancy of
prepared fabric was less than one second from the time a drop of
water touches the fabric surface to when it dissipates. The
whiteness of treated and untreated fabric after preparation cannot
be differentiated.
Example #7A
Preparation and Dyeing of Treated Yarn
[0101] Fabric from Example #7 is scoured on a continuous bleach
range by applying a scouring formulation comprising 4% sodium
hydroxide solution with EDTA type chelating agents (ethylene
diamine tetra-acetic acid) with an alkaline stable surfactant
system. The scouring process was completed by steaming the fabric
for 10 minutes and rinsing. The fabric was then bleached with a
bleaching formulation comprising hydrogen peroxide, sodium
hydroxide, an organic stabilizer and a chelating agent for 25
minutes before being washed and dried. It is important to note that
the dye binding composition disclosed herein unexpectedly permits
this process of scouring and bleaching to occur without loss of dye
quality on the material. In contrast, dyeing procedures known in
the art would result in extensive loss of dye on the material if
processed with a scouring and bleaching formulation.
[0102] Fabric was dyed a navy color on a steam range at 75
yards/min using a formulation consisting of 7.0 g/liter DIANIX.RTM.
Navy CC and 2.0 g/liter of Black CA-B with a KUSTER.RTM. pad with a
75% WPU. The dyes become fixed by passing the fabric through a
tight laced steamer at 216.degree. F. for 50 seconds and then
washing. The fabric produced from this trial was a fabric with
chambray appearance and aesthetic produced using 100% cotton yarn.
This is achieved by selecting dyes that do not dye cotton so only
the coating on the warp yarns become dyed. Efforts to minimize dye
staining of the cotton have been achieved through rigorous washing
after the steamer. The colorfastness performance and specifically
the lightfastness performance is a function of the effectiveness of
removing surface dye from the untreated cotton portion of the
blend. The initial lightfastness of this trial tested in accordance
with AATCC 16-E after 20 hours was 1.5. The same dye formulation on
a solid fabric treated sample has an initial lightfastness of 3.5.
Additional washing with special soaps enabled the lightfastness
performance to improve to between a 2.5 and 3.0, depending on the
amount of fugitive dye remaining As the lightfastness performance
improved, so also did the overall washfastness. Prepared fabric was
dyed in the lab in a variety of colors including yellows, oranges,
blues, violets, tans, khakis, greens, browns, plums, and greys. The
significance of this process is:
[0103] 1) Large number of colors are possible
[0104] 2) Shade matching can be done quickly
[0105] 3) Minimums become less problematic
[0106] 4) Wash down of fabric remains on hue
[0107] 5) Significant environmental impact
Example #8
The Environmental Impact
[0108] Based on wet processing results from fabrics from Examples
#3 and #7, and upon procedures well established in the industry
used in the production of washed-down indigo denim jeans, the
environmental impact of each was determined. Conditions including
prescouring, bleaching, yarn dyeing, and wet processing of finished
garments were a part of the assessment. With the indigo denim, an
assumption was made that the wet processing would include desizing,
permanganate spraying, bleaching, abrasion with neutral cellulase
enzymes and an abrasive material, softening, and drying. From the
results in Table #7, the impact of this invention on the
environmental footprint of wet processing is significant.
TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 The Environmental Impact of Urethane Mixture
Indigo Blue Jeans versus Urethane Produced Colored Denim Indigo
Urethane Difference % Reduction Total processing (fabric through
finished garment) Biodegradable materials 10.8 2.4 8.4 78 (% by
weight) Alkali (% by weight) 8.0 5.0 3.0 38 Chlorine (% by weight)
3.0 0.0 3.0 100 Heavy Metals 700 0 700 100 (Manganese ppm) Wet
processing in garment form Time (min/garment) 1.68 0.97 0.71 42
Energy (Kcals/garment) 1259 528 731 58 Water (gallons/garment)
13.47 5.17 8.3 62
[0109] Table #7 is illustrative of the impact of the invention on
biodegradable waste products associated with textiles in general,
and denim specifically. Processing of Indigo denim garments
generally requires the removal of a sizing material generally in
the form of starch. This alone represents around 6% of the total
weight of the denim. Amylase and cellulase enzymes, cellulose, and
dye round out the remaining percentage. The majority of the
material removed from the Urethane processed fabric results from
cellulose degradation promoted by cellulase enzymes. This results
in nearly an 80% reduction of biodegradable solids when compared
with normal processing. The aesthetic character of the Urethane
processed fabric or yarn is achieved without the use of typical
oxidative materials like hypochlorite bleaches or potassium
permanganate materials. This eliminates the need for heavy metals
like manganese in the process. Finally, most wet-processing can be
done at lower temperatures with fewer rinses resulting in a 40 to
60% reduction of time, water, and energy to process garments
incorporating this technology.
Example #9
Impact of Chemical Concentration on the Depth of Shade and
Processes to Achieve Shades when Greater Dye Uptake is Desired
[0110] During the development process, there appeared to be a limit
to the amount of dye that the urethane material can incorporate
into the surface matrix. This level was thought to be dependent
upon the concentration of urethane solids applied to the fabric.
Application of solids at the 3.0%, 5.0%, and 6.5% levels revealed
that there was little to no benefit of increased solids on depth of
color with the application technique of chemical mixture described
in Example #5. There was a linear effect of color build for all
four chemical level applications when dye concentration was
increased from 5 grams per liter to 15 grams per liter when
evaluating DIANIX.RTM. Blue S-BG. (See FIG. 1). When solids are
applied in multiple steps of application/cure, the dye yield
doubles at 5% solids and increases 250% at 6.5% solids. This
increased color yield enables darker colors to be realized.
[0111] In FIG. 1, the standard strength is set to 100% for the
lightest swatch. All swatches are compared to that lightest swatch.
For all of the dyeings made from fabric that had a single
application of chemical, dye yield was fairly linear up to 15 g/l
and an increase from 5.0 g/l to 15 g/l resulted in an 80% increase
in strength.
[0112] When additional chemical solids are applied in a second
pass, two results occur: first, the slope of the dye yield changes
with increased dye concentration from an 80% strength increase, to
140%. Second, the dye yield for the two pass application with 5.0%
solids nearly doubles and in the case for the two pass application
with 6.5% solids, the depth of shade increases 2.5 fold.
[0113] When greater depth of shade is desired, fabric may be
processed by a dual pass method.
Example #10
Treatment of Fabric with Specialized Yarns to Achieve a Vintage
Appearance after Wet Processing with Pumice Stones
[0114] A 10.8 oz/yd.sup.2 98/2 cotton spandex with a greige
construction of 80 ends per inch.times.46 picks per inch and a
finished construction of 93 ends per inch and 48 picks per inch
comprising an Amsler Ring Spun 9.75 warp yarn and a 10/1+70 denier
spandex was prepared by desizing, scouring, bleaching, and
mercerizing the fabric. The Amsler spinning technique creates yarn
that mirrors much of the inconsistency in yarn prevalent before
sophisticated yarn production techniques creating uniform yarn were
introduced. The Amsler spinning technique creates slubs in the
yarn. This fabric was treated as described in Example #5. Fabric
was dyed as described in Example 5A--Dye Process #1 through a pad
steam range through a dye formulation consisting of 10 g/l of
DIANIX.RTM. Blue S-BG. The dyed fabric was thoroughly washed,
dried, and constructed into denim-like pant legs. The legs were
laundered in a Washex 250 lb machine with pumice stones for 50
minutes at 90.degree. F. to assess the impact of the stones on the
seams and on the slub portion of the Amsler warp yarns. The
resulting laundered pant legs demonstrated excellent abrasion at
the seams and the thick places on the uneven warp yarns. Negligible
coloration of the cotton yarn underneath the abraded high points in
the yarn was observed. (When laundering indigo denim, this problem
is a major concern). After drying, the resultant pant legs were
somewhat hairy from the abrasive effect of the pumice stones. Some
additional hand sanding was done to demonstrate an even greater
contrast between the slubs and the surface of the fabric. A
modified technique was used to assess stretch and growth by leaving
one of the seams in the pant leg to provide sufficient length in
the filling to do the measurements.
[0115] Other than this modification, the laundered garment was
tested in accordance with ASTM D-3107. Stretch was 24% and growth
was 5.2%.
Example #11
Combination of Treated and Untreated Yarns to Create Novel Selvedge
Designs for Denim and Chambrays
[0116] 16 ends of 20/1 from the yarn treated from Example #7 were
taken and combined with 12 ends of 20/1 yarn from fabric that had
been desized, scoured, bleached, and mercerized. The yarns were
configured across a 12 inch template approximately 0.5 mm apart
from one another with 6 treated yarns, followed by 6 untreated
yarns, followed by 2 treated yarns, 6 untreated yarns and 6 treated
yarns for a total of 28 yarns. A 16/1 Ring spun yarn that had been
scoured, bleached, and mercerized was woven in a plainweave
construction with 30 yarns per inch. Two inches were woven with a
needle by hand. The tails of the ribbon were sewn to leader fabric
and processed through a pad steam as described in Example #5A--Dye
Process #1. The dye formulation consisted of 7.0 g/l of DIANIX.RTM.
Blue S-BG. The resulting 2 inch ribbon was about one half inch.
Where the untreated warp yarn and white filling yarn were together,
two white stripes with a fine dyed stripe resulted. This clearly
demonstrated that stripes will be possible to create when fabric is
continuously dyed with the appropriate dyes. Some staining on the
white yarn was observed; however, a clear contrast was demonstrated
between the treated and untreated yarn.
Example #12
Treatment of Flame Resistant Fabrics Imparting Color to Fibers
Difficult to Dye
[0117] A 55/45 Protex C modacrylic/combed cotton 6.9 oz/yd.sup.2
plainweave woven fabric was desized, scoured, and bleached prior to
treatment. Fabric was treated as described in Example #5. Fabric
was dyed to produce a bright firehouse red shade with the pad steam
process described in Example #5A--Dye Process #1 using the attached
formulation:
TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Firehouse Red Concentration Dye Auxiliary
(grams/liter) DIANIX .RTM. Rubine CC 5.0 DIANIX .RTM. Orange SG 1.0
Barasol (surfactant) 0.5 Acetic Acid (20%) 0.2
[0118] Fabric was tested for vertical flammability. The results
indicated that the addition of the urethane did not change the
after flame and char length performance when tested in accordance
with ASTM D-6413 initially and after three launderings in
accordance with AATCC 135 IV-Ai. (120.degree. F. with detergent).
This is the same laundering procedure used to assess dimensional
stability in the warp and filling directions. Char length in both
warp and filling direction were less than 4 inches and afterflame
was less than 0.5 seconds. As described in this example,
application of the treatment to KEVLAR.RTM. was successful in
producing a red shade; however, the color was much more yellow than
the protex C/cotton blend because of the differences in color of
the treated substrate. The KEVLAR.RTM. was golden yellow before
treatment and red orange after treatment. Based upon the results
from the dyeing of these materials separately, a 50/40/10 Protex
C/Combed Cotton/para-aramid is being constructed and will be dyed
this same red shade for potential commercial use.
Example #13
Treatment of Polypropylene
[0119] A 30 inch 4.0 oz/yd.sup.2 plain weave woven fabric with 24
ends and 24 picks comprised of 625 denier polypropylene yarns was
treated by padding a urethane mixture containing 4.1 percent solids
through a mangle set at 20 psi. A wet pickup of 60 percent was
measured resulting in a solids add on to the substrate of 2.5%.
Fabric was dried and cured in a dispatch oven at 180.degree. F. for
5 minutes. Fabric was dyed as described in Example #5A--Dye Process
#1 with the following formulation producing a saturated Gray
shade.
TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Gray Concentration Dye Auxiliary
(grams/liter) DIANIX .RTM. Black CA-B 5.0 Barasol (surfactant) 0.5
Acetic Acid (20%) 0.2
[0120] Exemplary embodiments include:
[0121] A denim-like fabric and garment comprised of cotton or
cotton/synthetic fiber produced from the application of a dye
bonding composition comprised of a mixture of polymers of the
urethane, guanidine, and vinyl halogen families with or without
additives that sequester dye in which the polymer combination is
preferentially dyed over the cellulosic fiber. The preferential
dyeing of the polymer combination over the cellulosic fiber
produces ring dyed yarns that can subsequently be abraded in
garment form.
[0122] In some embodiments of the denim-like fabric and garment,
yarn or fabric is dyed prior to, during, or after the fabric is
woven with dyes that are not substantive to the cellulosic
material. In this embodiment, the dyes do not have the propensity
of reacting with or sticking to cellulose. In the case in which the
dye bonding composition is comprised of a urethane alone or mixed
with a cellulose ester, selective dyes such as disperse dyes are
preferred. In the case in which the dye bonding composition is
comprised of a urethane combined with guanidine creating a cationic
polymer, acid or reactive dyes of the vinyl sulfone or monochloro
hydrazine family that also stain cotton can be used. In the case in
which polyester is blended with cotton in these blends, using a
cationic polymer is the preferred approach.
[0123] In some embodiments of the denim-like fabric and garment,
the dye bonding composition comprises a urethane emulsion polymer
blended with powdered cellulose acetate in a urethane emulsion
polymer to powdered cellulose acetate ratio ranging from 90:10 to
50:50 or a urethane emulsion polymer to powdered cellulose ratio
ranging from 90:10 to 75:25. This blend is contained in an aqueous
solution containing 50% solids which is further diluted prior to
application to yarn, fabric, or garments.
[0124] The fabric and garment can be dyed in yarn form, fabric
form, or garment form with selective dyes that have preferential
attraction to cellulose acetate and/or the urethane polymer.
[0125] In some embodiments, a process by which fiber, yarn, fabric,
and garments can be produced through the application of a dye
bonding composition comprising at least at least one polymer,
wherein the dye bonding composition is preferentially dyed over the
cellulosic fiber, producing ring dyed yarns that can subsequently
be abraded in garment form is provided.
[0126] In some embodiments of the process, the yarn or fabric is
dyed prior to, during, or after the fabric is woven with dyes that
are not substantive to the cellulosic material. In the case in
which the dye bonding composition is comprised of a urethane mixed
with a cellulose ester, selective dyes are preferred. In the case
in which the dye bonding composition is comprised of a urethane
combined with guanidine creating a cationic polymer, acid or
reactive dyes of the vinyl sulfone or monochloro hydrazine family
that also stain cotton can be used. In the case in which polyester
is blended with cotton in these blends, using a cationic polymer is
the preferred approach.
[0127] In some embodiments, the process includes dyeing cotton knit
or woven fabrics varying in weight from 3 to 14 oz/yd.sup.2 with
reactive, sulfur, vat, or naphthol dyes to precolor the substrate.
Subsequently, the dye bonding composition is applied as described
above, and then the cured dye bonding polymer matrix is dyed a
different color with selective dyes that affix to the polymer
matrix but do not color or stain the dyed color underneath the
polymer. The dyeing of the polymer can be done in garment form or
fabric form. Fabric can be dyed by jigger, pad/dry/thermosol,
pad/steam, and/or jet dyed. The garments produced from this process
are abraded during wet processing with various abrasive materials
including pumice stones, sand, plastic abrasive balls, etc.,
resulting in garments that have abrasion at seams, back pockets,
hems, and the like that allow the original color to show through
creating tonal effects.
[0128] In further embodiments, the process includes applying the
dye bonding composition comprised of the urethane polymer material
to fibers, yarns, fabrics, or garments which contain materials
difficult to dye including DYNEEMA.RTM., KEVLAR.RTM.,
polybenzamidazole (PBI), PBO.RTM. and blends thereof, providing a
film on the surface of the materials to which dye binders can
attach. This dye bonding composition can be dyed with selective
dyes and the polymeric matrix can further be dyed with pigments and
other colorants that adhere through the action of acrylic and other
binding polymeric materials.
[0129] While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and
shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that
such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on
the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the
specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since
various other updates, combinations, omissions, modifications and
substitutions, in addition to those set forth in the above
paragraphs, are possible.
[0130] Those skilled in the art may appreciate that various
adaptations and modifications of the just described embodiments can
be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope
of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than
as specifically described herein.
* * * * *