Natural Dyes for Sustainable Textiles

Padma Shree Vankar is a Research Advisor at Bombay Textile Research Association (BTRA), India. She had previously worked as consultant at the Facility for Ecological and Analytical Testing (FEAT), Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Dr. Vankar has been conducting research into textile dyes and colorants for more than 30 years and working in the field of natural dyeing for the past 14 years. She has published 130 peer-reviewed articles and six books and has obtained an Indian patent relating to natural dye. Besides lecturing and guiding PhD students when she was at IIT Kanpur, she delivers training programs to industrial dye technicians and has been involved in the production of three documentaries.

Natural Dyes for Sustainable Textiles describes how manufacturing processes that are safer, more energy efficient, and more sustainable can be achieved through the use of natural dyes. There are three main elements of sustainability, they are: economic, social, and environmental, and natural dyes can make a positive contribution to all three. A number of the textile industry‿s largest producers have adopted natural dyes as part of their bid to make their products more sustainable, in response to consumer demand as well as their own consciousness of environmental issues. This unique book draws on the latest research to provide practical technical advice on safer and greener processing of fabric, minimizing the use of hazardous chemical dyes. Details of preparation methods at stages including wet processing, dyeing, and effluent management are provided with specific information on how the methods improve efficiency, as well as other advantages and limitations of each technology.

1. Sustainability and its significance in textile wet processing 2. Role of Natural Dyes in Making Sustainable Textiles 3. Using Chemical Management System (CMS) in Natural Dyeing Process to Make it Sustainable 4. Room Temperature Natural Dyeing for Energy Conservation 5. Water Less Natural Dyeing to Make it Sustainable 6. Use of Newer Technologies in Natural Dyeing- Plasma and Electron Beam 7. Natural Dyeing on Polymeric Material 8. Sustainable Processing of Textiles 9. Effluent Management from Natural Dyeing Unit 10. Case Study to Exemplify Sustainable Measures Taken 11. Traditional Block Printing for Sustainability 12. Sustainability in Natural Dye Printing