Dyeing of cotton fabric withCuminum cyminumL. as a natural dye and its comparison with synthetic dye

In the present study, an attempt has been made to dye the industrially bleached woven cotton fabric with Cuminum cyminum L., commonly known as cumin seeds, as a source of natural dye which has not been exploited as natural dye by far. Optimization of natural dye extraction from cumin seeds with respect to buffer mediums; acidic, neutral and alkaline and dyeing parameters viz., dyeing time, dyeing temperature, dyeing pH and electrolyte concentration was done. Dyeing of cotton fabric was carried out with the aqueous extract of cumin seeds with and without mordant. Dyeings obtained without mordants were compared with those obtained by pre-mordanting with tannic acid and various metallic mordants viz., potassium aluminium sulphate, ferrous sulphate, copper sulphate, stannous chloride and potassium dichromate and their combinations. Typical shades obtained with the natural dye were matched with commercially available reactive dyes and compared with fastness properties and indicative costs. From the results, it could be said that the natural dye extracted from cumin seeds has good potential in the textile dyeing market and can be exploited further.