Investigation of the effect of different process variables on color and physical properties of viscose and cotton knitted fabrics

The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the effect of process variables on the color and physical characteristics of viscose and cotton knitted fabrics. The effect of dye concentration, salt concentration, soda ash, dyeing time, dyeing temperature, material to liquor ratio, different dye class, fabric GSM, washing time, washing temperature, and enzyme concentration were investigated in terms of color strength (K/S value), color fastness, and pilling resistance. The K/S value of the colored fabric was calculated using UV visible spectrophotometer SF 650 TM and the pilling resistance of the enzyme-treated fabrics was tested by an ICI pilling tester. The results show that dye concentration has the greatest and key effect on the K/S value of viscose and cotton fabric. However, viscose fabric shows a higher K/S value than that of cotton fabric in similar dyeing conditions. Furthermore, the multi-functional dyes demonstrate the upmost K/S value than the vinyl sulphone dyes. Moreover, it was found that enzymatic treatment improved the pilling grade of cotton fabric, whereas no enzymatic effect on viscose fabric was observed.