Potential of Sorghum Husk Extracts as a Natural Functional Dye for Wool Fabrics

We report a novel application of sorghum husk extracts (SHE) as a natural functional dye for wool fabrics. Sorghum husk is an abundant, cheap and readily available agricultural byproduct. A small proportion of sorghum husk has been used to extract food colorants. In order to add value to sorghum and decrease environmental pollution, a number of investigations need to be undertaken to explore newer application for the husk. This paper investigated the stability of SHE, the colorfastness, UV-protection and fluorescence properties of dyed wool fabrics with SHE by different dyeing methods. SHE had good thermal and pH stability suitable for the dyeing and finishing processes of textiles. Wool fabrics dyed directly or with Al3+ and Fe2+ mordant demonstrated good colorfastness to washing, to rubbing, to wet ironing and acceptable colorfastness to light. The dyed wool fabrics showed good UV-protection and fluorescence properties. After 30 home laundering cycles, the UV-Protection Factor (UPF) and fluorescence int...