Dyeing of silk with barberry bark dye using mordant combination

Barberry bark (Berberis aristata DC.) dye was used for dyeing of degummed pure silk yarn using four selected mordants: alum, chrome, copper sulphate and ferrous sulphate in different ratio i.e. 1:1, 1:3 and 3:1. For dyeing optimized condition used were: wave length-410 nm, dye extraction time-60 min, medium of extraction-aqueous, dye material concentration- 8%, dyeing time-45 min and pH of dyeing solution-4.0. Mordant concentration and mordanting techniques were also optimized. Analysis of fastness properties revealed that alum + chrome, alum + ferrous sulphate and chrome + ferrous sulphate in 1:3 ratio and alum + copper sulphate and chrome + copper sulphate in 3:1 ratio showed the best fastness properties with post mordanting technique. The dyed samples possess very good to excellent fastness. Improvement in brightness was observed on exposing the samples to sunlight, washing and perspiration fastness tests. Large range of shades was obtained. The mordant which was in high proportion dominated the shade.