Excellent Dyeing Properties of a Natural Dye Extracted from the Leaves of Phoenix dactylifera Linn on Cotton and Silk Fabrics

ABSTRACT There has been recently a worldwide interest in the production and application of natural dyes due to the growing awareness about cleaner surroundings and healthy lifestyle. The new sources of natural dyes increase the scope of textile dying with eco-friendly dyes and able to alleviate the adverse effects in this sector. Reported here is a new natural dye that was extracted from the leaves of date palm using simple aqueous extraction process. The natural dye extract obtained from date leaves was used in dyeing of cotton and silk fabrics with different mordants by applying different mordanting techniques and the properties of the dyed fabrics were evaluated by their color strengths and fastness properties. A reddish shade was observed when used the dye extract only; however, a variety of shades were achieved when different mordants and mordanting technique were used. In most of the cases, impressive color strengths and fastness properties were observed for dyed fabrics. These results are very attractive from a practical point of view for eco-friendly dying.