The Importance of Thin Layer Chromatography in the Analysis of Reactive Dyes Released from Wool Fibers

Samples of reactively-dyed wool were obtained from a range of manufacturers and distributors and “digested” by alkaline hydrolysis to yield colored solutions. Results demonstrate that thin layer chromatographic analysis of reactive dyes yields important additional information, over and above that obtained from techniques such as comparison microscopy and visible light microspectrophotometry. Colored solutions obtained from single fibers were analyzed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and reproducible results were obtained from a range of fiber lengths.