Comparison of different color difference formulations in reactive dyeing of cotton fabrics

This paper focuses on the comparison of the results of two different color formulations in reactive dyeing of cotton fabric. Color difference results according to two color difference formulations in CIELAB Color Space are investigated. CIELAB Color Space is used by more than one color difference formulations in today's industrial color applications. The most important drawback of the CIELAB Color Space is the nonuniformity of the space and the difference between the visual assessments and mathematical color difference results. In the experimental part of the paper, the color difference results obtained by two different color difference formulations were investigated on dyeings made by using reactive dyestuffs having different hues. Cotton knitted fabrics were dyed with black, yellow, red and blue reactive dyes and percent reflectances were measured on a reflectance spectrophotometer. The color difference values between increasing dye concentrations were calculated and compared for CIELAB (1976) and CMC (2:1) color difference formulations. It was observed that sensitivity of the two color difference formulations change with the hue of the dye and with the dye concentration applied in dyeing. CMC (2:1) gives more regular results than CIELAB (1976) at increasing dye concentrations and in acceptability areas near the grey point of a*-b* color plane.