Blend denim fabric performance: Key features of dyed weft silk yarn with different weave structures

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3937298/v1

This research aimed to weave the warp indigo-dyed cotton yarn with un-dyed or dyed silk yarn and analyze the impact of different weft yarn structures on the properties of denim fabrics. The dyed silk yarn was performed by selection of different anionic indigo and non-indigo blue dyestuffs. The dyeing shades of the anionic indigo carmine dye on silk exhibited high build-up at the acidic pH range 2-2.5 with poor washing fastness and even so the cationic aftertreatment of the dyed silk samples showed un-matched color with indigo dyed cotton yarns. The dyeing properties of two commercial non-indigo reactive and acid dyes on silk add other advantages. To ascertain the dyeing shades of the non-indigo dyes on silk, two sets of blended denim fabrics were investigated. The first set included a weft-wise silk yarn dyed with reactive dye RB 5, and the second set included silk yarns dyed with acid dye AB 193. Weaving of the blended fabrics were carried out in Twill 3/1, 3/2 Z and Satin 5₃ patterns and exhibited significant color effects of the dyed silk yarns to those of the un-dyed control samples. The dyeing shades of the non-indigo RB 5 and AB 193 dyed weft-wise silk yarns found to be matched in color performance with the conventionally indigo dyed cotton yarns. Ultraviolet resistance of the blend denim fabrics was evaluated, showing significant improve in UPF of the weft-wise dyed silk. The study claimed the dyed silk yarns a good candidate for newly developed blend denim fabrics.

Physical sciences/Chemistry

Physical sciences/Engineering

Physical sciences/Materials science

Denim

denim blend fabrics

indigo carmine

indigo-dyed warp yarn

weft-wise silk yarn

weave structures

The global cotton denim market is challenging, forcing the industry to use and develop sustainable natural fibers that are environmentally friendly, comfortable, and fashionable [1–9]. Denim fabrics are traditionally produced from 100% cotton with indigo-dyed warp yarn and unbleached or undyed weft yarn for jeans, work clothes, and casual wear. Customers of all ages prefer denim garments because of their unique properties like high moisture absorptivity, effortless wearability, and breathability [10–15].

Increased environmental considerations and awareness of sustainability inspired the need for innovative denim products with comfort, fashionable performance, and functional finishing, closely related to thermal and electrical conductivity, antimicrobial properties, and UV protection [16–18]. Also, there is a need for comfort with a soft touch and a lightweight as well as stretching fabric. In this context, comfort properties are one of the vital concerns for fabric quality, which largely depends on the fiber compositions and structural characteristics of denim fabrics [19–21]. Therefore, proper and developed denim fabric constructions have been designed to achieve both fashion and comfort performance-driven. It is also known that fibre type, yarn properties, fabric structure, finishing treatments, apparel designs and clothing conditions are key factors contributing to the comfortability of denim products [22–29].

It is known that the use of natural fibers in denim garments is drawing attention because of their outstanding performance. Understanding fabric properties that influence properties is essential for designing denim fabrics that provide comfort to the wearer [26–29]. Denim products are primarily composed of twilled weave fabrics, with weft yarns floating across the fabric surface's warp direction of the fabric surface. These floating weft yarns help to impart better fabric properties which predominantly influence the heat exchange between skin and the fabric. So, the comfort evaluation of the weft-wise direction of different natural fabric types could be considered a key factor for fiber selection.

Silk fibers have excellent properties such as softness, strength, lightweight, moisture absorption, quick drying, breathability, and good thermal and electrical performance. Because of its hygroscopicity, anti-ultraviolet, biodegradability and biocompatibility with human body, silk and other natural fibers were proposed to be used in denim products [30, 31].

Analyzing these types of blended denim products might enable us to understand their suitability for use and the potential advantages for their application in textile industries. However, the number of research activities focusing on the denim fabrics produced from silk fiber is relatively low. On the other hand, the overall moisture management capacity indexes of silk fabric are found to range from “very good” to “excellent” category, indicating the suitability of silk yarn to skin fit and active- wear applications. This article aimed to investigate the denim fabric properties comprising a blended silk weft yarn with the typical warp cotton-indigo dyed yarn. Applications of un-dyed or dyed types of silk weft yarns were primarily studied. The performance of conventional indigo dyed warp cotton yarns combined with different shades of anionic indigo and non-indigo blue dyed silk yarns was investigated. For this purpose, the typical warp cotton-indigo dyed yarns blended with un-dyed and dyed types of silk weft yarns were fabricated and examined in different structural compositions. The color effects of the proposed bended denim fabrics patterns claimed as good candidate materials for newly developed denim products.

Materials and Methods

A 100% ring-spun carded cotton yarn of yarn count 16^s/1 Ne used in the production of all samples. Cotton yarn was dyed with Indigo dye (DenimBlu³⁰) by the rope dyeing method described by Bluconnection, Singapore, as mentioned below. Weft yarns of undyed and dyed silk (70/2 Ne) were used. Indigo Carmine dye (C.I. Acid Blue 74), purchased from Sigma Aldrich, one commercial reactive dye with the trade name Remazol Black B, C.I. Reactive Black 5, RB 5), comprising a homo-bifunctional Bis-(VS) reactive system, supplied by Ohyoung Industrial Co., Ltd., South Korea and one commercial acid dye (Ryian Blue T2R, C.I. Acid Blue 193, AB 193), supplied by Synthesia, CZ, were used as received. The chemical structures of these dyes are illustrated in Table 1.

Dyeing procedure

Indigo dyeing process of warp cotton yarn

Dyeing of warp cotton yarns with Indigo dye was conducted in four stages as following: [2, 32]

a) Pretreatment stage

25 g/L NaOH 50%

3.0 g/L wetting agent

2.0 g/L chelating agent

for 15 min at 60 to 80°C,

followed by hot and cold rinse

b) Dye bath preparation at 70°C

40 g/L Glauber’s or common salt

20.0 g/L NaOH 50%

3.0 g/L Sodium hydrosulfite

2–5 g/L DenimBlu (added as stock indigo dye)

1.0 g/L wetting agent

2.0 g/L dispersing agent, liquid form

2.0 g/L chelating agent

c) Dyeing Stage

50° C dyeing temperature

30 sec. dipping time (4 dips)

dyeing pH 12.0 at 50°C

2–4 min Air-oxidation

d) Rinsing/Peroxide Oxidation

1 time rinse at room temperature with overflow

1 time oxidation at 60°C with 1.0 g/L hydrogen peroxide 50%, 1.0 g/L acetic acid 60% (pH 5.5 to 6.0).

2 time rinse at 60°C with counter flow

Air-dried

The reduction temperature was set at 70°C for 10 min. After that the dyebath was cooled down to 40°C and the dyeing was consequently done by successive dipping warp yarns through several troughs of indigo dye liquors for 20–30 s, then air oxidized for 2–4 min, as shown in Fig. 1.

Dyeing of weft silk yarns

Silk yarn was initially subjected to washing in a cone dyeing machine at a liquor ratio 20:1 using 1g/l nonionic detergent and 2g/l sodium bicarbonate for 30 min at 60°C, then neutralized with diluted acetic acid solution (1 ml/l) and air dried.

Dyeing Silk Yarn with Indigo Carmine Dye

Dyeing of silk yarn using Indigo Carmine was carried out at a liquor ratio of 40:1. The dyebath was adjusted at different pH 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 6 with different dye concentrations 1–5% owf. Dyeing was started at 30°C for 15 min. The temperature was then raised to 90°C, over 15 min and continued for further 30 min. After rinsing, the dyed samples were subjected to cationic after-treatment to fix the dye, then soaped in a an aqueous solution containing 2 g/l nonionic detergent for 30 min at liquor ratio 50:1, rinsed and air- dried.

Dyeing silk yarn with non-indigo dyes

Dyeing with Reactive Dyes

Silk yarn samples were dyed with Remazol Black B, C.I. Reactive Black 5 (RB 5) (DyStar, Egypt) which was carried out at neutral pH 7 and at a liquor ratio 40:1. The initial dyebath was set at 40°C for 10 min. The temperature was raised to 90°C in 30 min. During this period 60 g/l sodium sulphate was added in two portions at an interval of 15 min. Dyeing was continued at these conditions for a further 90 min. After dyeing all the dyed samples were rinsed with water and air dried.

Dyeing with Acid Dye

Silk yarn samples were dyed with the commercial metal complex acid dye AB 193 at 1–5% owf dye concentration and at a liquor ratio of 20:1; the dyeing method used is exhibited in Fig. 2. At the end of dyeing, the dyed samples were removed, rinsed thoroughly washed in water and air dried.

Measurements and Testing

Color strength and CIELAB

The relative color strength (K/S) of the dyed samples were measured using a Hunter Lab Ultra Scan PRO spectrophotometer (USA) under illuminant D65, 10° standard observer. The K/S values were measured by the light reflectance technique using Kubelka-Munk Eq. (1).

$$\text{K}/\text{S}= \frac{{(1-\text{R})}^{2}}{2\text{R}}$$

1

Where,

K = Absorption coefficient, and S = scattering coefficient

R = Decimal fraction of the reflection of the dyed fabric

The color readings of all dyeings were expressed in the CIELAB color space system (often denoted as L*, a*, b*, C*and h coordinates). In which, L* represents lightness or darkness of the sample (a higher lightness value represents a lower colour yield); a* denotes redness if positive value or greenness if negative; b*represents yellowness if positive or blueness if negative.

Blend denim fabric preparations

Control blend fabrics of weftwise un-dyed silk yarns and typical indigo dyed warp cotton yarns fabrics were produced in 3/1 Z Twill (DF1), 3/2 Z Twill (DF2) and Satin 5₃ (DF3) weave structure patterns, as listed in Table 2. The control fabric specifications of the produced blended denim fabrics were determined.

Two sets A and B of blend denim fabrics of weft-wise dyed silk yarns and typical indigo dyed warp cotton yarns based fabrics were produced in 3/1 and 3/2 Z Twill and satin weave structures. Fabrics in set A included silk yarns that were subjected to dyeing with the reactive dye (RB 5), at 4% owf shade, while set B included silk yarns dyed with the acid dye (AB 193), at 4% owf shade. The production parameters concerning the weaving process of the categorized samples of set A (DF1A, DF2A and DF3A) and samples of set B (DF1B, DF2B and DF3B) were identical to those of the control fabrics DF1, DF2 and DF3, respectively.

UV protection

The UV protection factor (UPF) was determined on the fabricated blend denim samples (5×5 cm). Each sample was fixed on a common slide frame and placed in a Jasco UV/VIS Spectrophotometer V-560 equipped with an integrating sphere to measure both direct and diffuse transmitted light. Each sample was positioned at right angles to the light beams. Transmission measurements were made in the 290–400 nm range with a 1 nm step. UPF was calculated according to Eq. (2).

where S_λ is the solar spectral irradiance for a typical summer’s day, E_λ is the CIE erythemal spectral effectiveness, T_λ is the spectral transmittance of each fabric and Δ_λ is the wavelength step in nm.

The values of protection factors are in range 15 to 50 where the higher number represents a better protection (Table 3)[33–35].

Table 3

UPF ratings and protection categories according to the Australian/New Zealand standard
UPF range	Protection category
< 15	Insufficient
15–24	Good
25–39	Very good
40–50, 50+	Excellent

Fastness testing

The color fastness of the produced denim fabrics, after washing-off using 2 g/l nonionic detergent at 80°C for 15 min, were tested in accordance with ISO standard methods [36–38]. The wash fastness test was assessed in accordance with the standard method ISO 105-C06 B2S (4g/l of ECE detergent, 1 g/1 of sodium perborate, 25 steel balls) at 50°C for 30 min and at a liquor ratio of 50:1. Fastness to acidic and alkaline perspiration was determined with a perspirometer set at specific pressure, temperature and time in accordance with ISO 105-E04. Any change in color (Alt) of the specimens and color staining of the adjacent cotton (SC) and wool (SW) fiber was then assessed with the corresponding ISO grey scales for color change and staining. Light fastness was also assessed using a Xenon arc lamp test in accordance with ISO 105-B02.

Denims are mostly structured by Twilled weave fabrics, having weft yarns floating across the warp yarns of indigo dyed cotton. These floating weft yarns help to impart better tactile comfort and thermal contact between the skin and the fabrics surface and the influence of warp yarns that do not come in contact with the skin is minimal. Hence, weft yarns predominantly influence the denim fabric properties. For this purpose, blended denim fabrics with varying constructional parameters are being studded. The present study is an attempt to develop light weight and comfortable denim products having variable weft-wise yarns. The study also suggested that the dyed weft yarns can be considered as good candidate materials for newly developed denim products.

Dyeing properties of warp indigo cotton yarn

In the dyeing technique of warp cotton yarn, the insoluble indigo dye is reduced in an alkaline dyeing bath with sodium hydrosulfite (sodium dithionite) into the water soluble leucoindigo form. When the reduced clear yellow leucoindigo solution comes into contact with air, it oxidizes back to the insoluble blue indigo compound, as shown in Scheme 1[32]. The color strength (K/S) and color coordinates data of the warp indigo dyed cotton yarn sample, shown in Fig. 3, are given in Table 4.

Table 4

Color strength and colorimetric data of indigo dyed cotton yarn
K/S λ_max 615 nm	L*	a*	b*	C*	h
23.50	18.71	0.63	-10.80	10.82	273.36

Where, L* represents lightness or darkness of the dyed sample, a* denotes the red/green value, b* the yellow/blue value, C* specifies chroma or saturation of the color and h° denotes hue angle

Dyeing properties of weft-wise silk yarns

Indigo carmine dyeing

To ascertain the dyeing shades of the anionic Indigo Carmine on silk yarns, the dyeing process was evaluated at various pH and dye concentrations as presented in Figs. 4, 5 and Tables 5, 6. Evaluation of the dyed silk samples indicates that the dye exhibited maximum exhaustion with relatively high exhaustion and color strength values at the acidic pH range of 2-2.5.

Table 5

Color data of Indigo Carmine dyed silk at different dyeing pH range
pH	K/S λ_max 615 nm	L*	a*	b*	C*	h
2	13.53	37.38	-9.65	-26.95	28.63	250.30
2.5	12.94	38.04	-11.90	-26.63	29.16	245.92
3	11.35	41.53	-13.80	-25.82	29.28	241.87
4	3.15	57.29	-16.49	-17.12	23.77	226.08
6	1.72	64.56	-15.62	-12.55	20.04	218.79

Table 6

Color data of Indigo Carmine dyed silk at different dye concentrations
Dye Conc. % owf	K/S λ_max 615 nm	L*	a*	b*	C*	h
1	5.87	49.27	-14.75	-23.43	27.69	237.80
2	12.70	39.69	-12.65	-26.59	29.44	244.55
3	13.53	37.38	-9.65	-26.95	28.63	250.30
4	15.58	34.71	-9.10	-27.04	28.53	251.40
5	19.22	31.97	-8.00	-26.55	27.72	253.24

The presence of two sulphonic groups within the low molecular weight structure, this dye behaves like a levelling acid dye type and its dye molecules are not firmly bounded to the fiber sites, reflecting on its poor to moderate washing fastness [39]. To avoid such problem, the dyed samples were subjected to cationic after-treatment process using the commercially available benzalkonium chloride quaternary ammonium compound. However, the after-treated Indigo carmine dyed silk samples showed significantly color sift with unsatisfactory ratings of color difference ΔE 14–16 when related to the untreated Indigo carmine dyed sample as shown in Table 7. Accordingly, the silk yarn, to some extent, is a far fit for Indigo Carmine dye to be matched with the unique indigo warp dyed cotton color which is a crucial industrial point.

Table 7

Influence of cationization after-treatment on the color parameters of the Indigo Carmine dyed silk yarn
Dye Conc. % owf	Silk Dyed Sample Treatment	K/S λ_max (nm) 615/560 (Before/After)	L*	a*	b*	C*	h	ΔE
1	Before	5.87	49.27	-14.75	-23.43	27.69	237.80
1	After	3.22	60.39	-4.62	-16.60	17.23	254.45	16.31
2	Before	12.70	39.69	-12.65	-26.59	29.44	244.55
2	After	5.82	51.16	-0.13	-22.58	22.58	269.66	16.69
3	Before	13.53	37.38	-9.65	-26.95	28.63	250.30
3	After	6.67	47.48	1.37	-23.88	23.92	273.27	16.13
4	Before	15.58	34.71	-9.10	-27.04	28.53	251.40
4	After	7.47	44.40	2.95	-25.60	25.77	276.58	14.39
5	Before	19.22	31.97	-8.00	-26.55	27.72	253.24
5	After	9.22	42.75	2.74	-25.46	25.60	276.15	15.24

Dyeing with non-indigo dyes

Following up the above mentioned results of silk indigo carmine dyeing, which posed certain problem of having un-matched color performance with the conventionally indigo dyed warp cotton yarns. An attempt to dye silk yarn with matching-indigo colors was studied using models of commercial blue reactive and acid dyes.

A neutral pH reactive dyeing of silk fibers using a commercially available dye RB 5, which is quite simple and easier than those of the typical alkaline conventional indigo or reactive dyeing on cotton was performed. The color data of the dyed silk yarns with RB 5 dye are listed in Table 8. The dye exhibited good color strength values on silk. The neutral dyeing conditions can further assist the dye-fiber interactions between the amino groups in silk and the bifunctional bis (VS) group, which may result primarily from the β-elimination of the bis-SES dye precursor[40, 41]. The results also indicated that the color strength and color co-ordinate CIE L*, a* and b* values of the neutral dyed silk samples are nearly at the same chromaticity zone with a little shade deviation in a* values, to those of the conventionally indigo dyed warp cotton yarns, particularly at high dye concentration of 4% (owf). On the other hand, a typical commercially available navy blue metal-complex acid dye AB 193, containing one sulfonic group (1S) was selected for its high performance to light fastness properties required in silk fiber dyeing. Having established that the optimum application pH of a typical acid dye on silk at a slightly acidic dyeing bath with a range of pH at 5-5.5, the color strength and color coordinates values of this dye seems to be matched to those of the conventionally indigo dyed warp cotton sample, as shown in Table 8.

Table 8

Color data of silk dyed with RB 5 and AB 193 at 2 and 4% owf depth of shades relative to the warp indigo dyed cotton yarn
Dye	Dye Conc. % owf	K/S	L*	a*	b*	C*	h
Indigo	2	23.50	18.71	0.63	-10.80	10.82	273.36
RB 5 λmax. 595 nm	2	17.42	24.89	-4.23	-12.46	13.16	251.23
RB 5 λmax. 595 nm	4	21.43	20.56	-1.30	-10.38	10.62	257.72
AB 193 λ_max.575 nm	2	26.06	17.07	4.28	-10.15	11.01	292.88
AB 193 λ_max.575 nm	4	33.76	13.18	2.08	-4.16	4.65	296.59

Denim fabrics Properties

The results listed in Table 9 showed that the fabric weight of the control blend fabric followed the order: DF3 > DF2 > DF1. Sample DF1, which contains silk yarn in the weft direction is the lowest weight of the used fabrics having the same Twill pattern 3/1 Z. The use of bamboo yarn in the weft direction with fabric DF1 achieved good air permeability, while the fabrics with weft-wise silk yarns showed better performance with satin fabric DF3 than the Twill based fabrics DF1, DF2. Importantly, the blend denim fabric DF3 with satin structure gave better results in terms of the tearing strength and fabric air permeability compared to the other silk based samples. However, higher silk setting content in the weft direction exhibits not only better results for tearing strength but also the structure became less bulky and smoother with low fabric density and fabric stiffness compared to the Twill sample DF1 and DF2.

Table 9

Properties of control blend denim fabrics
Control Sample	Fabric Weight g/m²	Thickness mm	Stetting (Warp/Weft) (cm^− 1)	Tearing Strength (Warp/Weft) gf	Fabric Density g/cm³	Fabric Stiffness (Warp/Weft) mg	Air Permeability Cm³/cm².sec
DF1	187	0.43	30/40	8650/8450	0.435	2590/1290	20.1
DF2	195	0.43	30/40	9050/8800	0.453	2714/756	19.6
DF3	197	0.45	30/40	9300/9500	0.419	2670/197	24.4

The effect of using weft setting of un-dyed silk yarn related to the different weave patterns of control blend denim fabric are presented in Tables 10.

The viability of using silk yarn in the weft setting of different weaved patterns has been proposed and successfully introduced as weft-wise dyed silk yarn in two sets of blend fabrics A and B. The effect of using weft setting of dyed silk yarn related to the different weave patterns of blended denim samples was investigated. Each set of the developed blend fabrics were produced in Twill 3/1, 3/2 and satin 53 patterns. Set A fabrics included DF1A, DF2A and DF3A, in which silk yarns were subjected to dyeing with reactive dye (RB 5), at 4% owf shade. While Set B of the blend fabrics DF1B, DF2B and DF3B included silk yarns that were subjected to dyeing with acid dye (AB 193), at 2% owf shade. The production parameters concerning the weaving process of each set of samples were identical to those of the control fabrics DF1, DF2 and DF3, respectively. The front/back views of these fabric structures are showed in Table 11.

With regard to the color data listed in Table 12, the impact of blended un-dyed weft silk yarn used in the structure of fabric was analyzed. The color strength of the satin based weaved fabric was found to be greater than the Twilled fabrics. The color effects of the control fabrics fully depend on the fabric structure and the composition of indigo dyed cotton yarn. Here, the high the indigo dyed cotton yarn into the surface of the satin sample is mainly responsible for the highest color strength value. Moreover, DF1 gives better results than fabric DF2 due to the presence of the higher content of dyed cotton yarn on fabric surface of the Twilled 3/1 Z fabric if compared with the Twilled 3/2 Z.

Further investigation of the produced fabrics made of dyed silk yarns, the color effects of the developed blend denim products of sets A and B were evaluated. From which, the dyeing performance of the blend denim fabrics of set B that were dyed with AB 193 (DF1B, DF2B and DF3B), showed better results of the color strength and colorimetric data with minimal front/back color difference values than the fabrics produced in set A, as listed in Table 12.

Table 12

Color strength, colorimetric data and UPF values of silk blend denim fabrics
Sample Code	View	K/S λ_max**	L*	a*	b*	C*	h	Δ E	UPF
DF1	Front	6.92	30.21	0.03	-4.46	4.46	270.32	--	321.0
DF1	Back	1.83	52.14	-1.86	− 397	4.38	244.88	22.02	322.5
DF2	Front	4.19	39.85	-1.09	-4.27	4.41	255.65	--	715.8
DF2	Back	2.47	47.82	-1.58	-3.69	4.01	246.83	8.00	486.7
DF3	Front	10.53	25.77	0.40	-4.38	4.39	275.21	--	258.7
DF3	Back	1.29	57.70	-2.19	-3.70	4.30	239.40	32.04	510.6
DF1A	Front	22.44	18.83	-0.23	-8.91	8.92	268.51	--	934.7
DF1A	Back	15.95	26.49	-4.99	-13.03	13.95	249.05	9.92	1015.6
DF2A	Front	22.05	21.11	-2.24	-10.85	11.08	258.31	--	9810.8
DF2A	Back	17.69	24.61	-3.98	-12.42	13.04	252.23	4.21	22241.3
DF3A	Front	26.85	16.78	1.00	-8.03	8.10	277.10	--	1943.3
DF3A	Back	20.07	23.97	-4.37	-13.14	13.85	251.62	10.32	1430.0
DF1B	Front	26.92	16.69	1.34	-8.46	8.56	279.02	--	1060.6
DF1B	Back	31.66	15.14	1.84	-6.39	6.68	286.86	2.66	1354.0
DF2B	Front	26.52	16.60	1.42	-8.10	8.22	279.97	--	10531.1
DF2B	Back	29.48	15.38	1.66	-7.30	7.48	282.79	1.48	27149.4
DF3B	Front	30.21	15.39	1.66	-8.16	8.33	281.53	--	10578.7
DF3B	Back	30.16	14.57	1.91	-5.54	5.86	289.02	2.76	14589.3
** λ_max control samples: 625 nm, Set A : 595 nm and λ_max Set B: 575 nm

The UPF values of the blend denim fabrics of the dyed weft-wise silk yarns samples showed significant improvement over those of the un-dyed silk, as given in Table 12. It is noticed that the fabric density which follow the order DF2 > DF1 > DF3 and its corresponding air permeability order DF2 < DF1 < DF3 in the control blend fabrics, as given in Table 9, the higher fabric density and lower air permeability of the control fabric DF2 and its dyed silk based blend fabrics DF2A and DF2B showed high UPF values. Additionally, acid dyed silk based blend fabrics DF1B, DF2B and DF3B showed significantly higher UPF values than those of the reactive dyed silk based blend fabrics DF1A, DF2A and DF3A. Thus, it can be inferred that the dye molecules is the key responsible for the screen effect against UV exposure with an excellent protection level when using un-dyed weft yarns in the construction of denim fabric.

Fastness properties

The fastness properties of all the developed blend denim fabrics are listed in Table 13. In case of acid dyed silk samples, the denim fabrics DF1B, DF2B and DF3B were noticed to show excellent fastness to light fastness. However, the colorfastness to light in the case of reactive dye dyed silk samples was slightly lower, as it is known that the RB 5 dye does not have as good stability against light as the Cr-metalized chromophoric system of the AB 193 acid dye. The two sets-based blend denim fabrics gave very good to excellent colorfastness to washing and perspiration with almost the same grades on both front and back sides to the fastness properties of the typical front control samples.

Table 13

Fastness properties of the blend denim fabrics
Sample code	View	Washing fastness			Perspiration fastness						Light
		Washing fastness			Acidic			Alkaline
		CC	SC	SW	CC	SC	SW	CC	SC	SW
DF1	front	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	5	4–5	6–7
DF2		4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	5	4–5	6–7
DF3		4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	5	4–5	6–7
DF1A	front	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5	5
DF1A	back	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5
DF2A	front	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5
DF2A	back	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5
DF3A	front	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5–6
DF3A	back	4–5	5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	4–5	5
DF1B	front	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	6–7
DF1B	back	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	6–7
DF2B	front	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	6–7
DF2B	back	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	6–7
DF3B	front	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	6–7
DF3B	back	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	4–5	5	5	6–7
* CC = Change of color SC = Staining on cotton SW = Staining on wool

Denim fabrics are produced by weaving the indigo-dyed cotton warp yarns with weft yarns of un-dyed silk fibers. The present study attempted to develop light weight blended denim products having weft-wise silk yarn produced in 3/1Z, 3/2Z Twill and Satin S3 weave structures. The use of silk yarn in the weft direction achieved good air permeability and better performance with Satin fabric than the Twill blend fabrics. The fabric sample of higher silk setting in the weft direction exhibited not only better results for tearing strength but also the structure became less bulky and a smoother with low fabric density and fabric stiffness. The study also concluded that the dyed weft yarns can be considered as good candidate materials for newly developed denim products. To ascertain the dyeing shades of the anionic Indigo Carmine on silk, the dye exhibited maximum exhaustion values with relatively high build up on silk at the highly acidic pH range 2-2.5, which behaves like a levelling acid dye type but its dye molecules are not firmly bound to the fiber sites, imparting poor to moderate washing fastness. Thus, the dyed silk samples were subjected to cationic after-treatment process using one of the available quaternary ammonium compound, namely benzalkoniumchloride. However, the after-treated dyed samples showed high color difference with unsatisfactory ratings of ΔE 14–16. Accordingly, the silk yarn, to some extent, is far from being dyed with indigo carmine dye and to be matched with the indigo colours. Alternatively, to match the colors of indigo dye, the silk yarn was dyed with selected commercial non-indigo reactive and acid dyes. Two sets of blend denim fabrics of weft-wise dyed silk yarns and typical indigo dyed warp cotton yarns fabrics were produced in 3/1 and 3/2Z Twill and Satin weave structures. One set of fabrics composed of silk yarns that were subjected to dyeing with the reactive dye RB 5, while the second set comprising weft-wise silk yarns dyed with the acid dye AB 193. The production parameters concerning the weaving process of the categorized samples of the two sets were compared with control blend fabrics of indigo-dyed cotton warp yarns and undyed weft silk yarns. The dyeing performance of the blend denim fabrics made of silk yarn dyed with AB 193 showed better results of the color strength and colorimetric data with minimal front/back color difference values and excellent light fastness. It should also be mentioned that the UPF of the blend fabrics including dyed silk yarns showed significant improve in the UPF values. The two sets-based blend denim fabrics gave very good to excellent colorfastness to washing and perspiration with almost the same grades to those of the control samples. So, it can be concluded that the results of dyed weft-wise silk yarns blended with the warp dyed indigo cotton yarn can impart as good candidate materials for newly developed blend denim fabrics.

Author Contribution

Y.Y., A.M., H.K. T. H. and S.A. mange the experimental work; Y.Y., H.K. and S.A. prepared the figures and tables as well as interpretation of the data and wrote the main manuscript; All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the manager and the staff of DNM Textile for spinning, weaving and dyeing, Damietta Turkish Co., Damietta public free zone, Egypt for their kind cooperation during the work on dyeing warp cotton yarn with indigo dye and fabric weaving processes. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the National Research Center for the financial support of the research and development in treatment and production lines of textile industries, in-house project ID: 12010205.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Tables 1, 2, 10 and 11 are available in the Supplementary Files section.

Scheme 1 is available in the Supplementary Files section.

No competing interests reported.

Tables.docx
Scheme1.png
Scheme 1: Conversion of the insoluble blue indigo dye to the water soluble leucoindigo.

Blend denim fabric performance: Key features of dyed weft silk yarn with different weave structures

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Version 1

Abstract

Figures

Introduction

Experimental details