THE DYEING OF LYOCELL FABRIC WITH DIRECT DYES

Lyocell, cotton and viscose fabrics were dyed using four direct dyes. With the exception of the bordeaux dye used, dyeings on Lyocell were of slightly different colour to comparative dyeings on cotton and viscose; the colour strength (K/S) of the dyeings on Lyocell was lower than on cotton and viscose and the four dyes exhibited lower build-up character on Lyocell than on the other two fibres. The wash fastness of 1/1 standard depth dyeings on Lyocell was comparable to that of identical depth dyeings on cotton and viscose. The results suggest that the dyeability of Lyocell with the four direct dyes used more closely resembles that of cotton than regular viscose.