Evaluation of change in color of denim fabric

after various industrial washing processes

with different fiber composition
by
Mushtaq Mushtaq Mangat, A. M. Rehan Abbasi
and Jakub Wiener
reprinted from
WORLD JOURNAL
OF ENGINEERING
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 2014
MULTI-SCIENCE PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD.
World Journal of
Engineering
World Journal of Engineering 11(2) (2014) 107-110
World Journal of
Engineering
1. Introduction
Majority of the denim clothing is passed through
a washing process. Primary goal of this washing is to
give a faded look and certain hand feel, which is a
key factor in the marketing of denim clothing
(Mazumder, 2010). There are a number of methods
and textile auxiliaries available to have a better look
and hand feel. The whole process can be divided into
three main areas:
1. Desizing and rinsing to remove the sizes
applied during weaving
2. Change of color for faded look with the help
of bleaching agent and enzymes
3. Application of softener for certain hand feel
The whole process modifies the denim surface
since some textile auxiliaries are deposited on the
Evaluation of change in color of denim fabric
after various industrial washing processes with
different fiber composition
Mushtaq Mushtaq Mangat
1,*
, A. M. Rehan Abbasi
1,2
and
Jakub Wiener
1
1
Technical University of Liberec, Faculty of Textile Engineering; Studentsk 2,
Liberec 46117, Czech Republic
2
BUITEMS, Department of Textile Engineering, Quetta 87300, Pakistan
*E-mail: mushtaq.mangat@gmail.com
(Received 28 January 2013; accepted 19 August 2013)
Abstract
Traditional denim made by using 100% cotton and novel denim made by using cotton in
warp and spun PP in the weft were treated in 11 different ways on industrial garment washing
machines with the help of various textile auxiliaries and pumice. There is an obvious change
in color of denim. This change was measured by using Spectrophotometer. Reflectance was
taken as a variable to observe the intensity of change. Color difference was measured by using
the CIELab color difference formula 1976. Color space coordinates (L*, a*, b*) and color
difference E were calculated between the untreated denim and treated denim.
Key words: Denim fabric, Industrial washes, Color difference
World Journal of
Engineering
surface. This modification leads towards the change
in the color. Color is a function of the reflectance and
reflectance depends upon the physical and chemical
structure of the substance.
Selection of textile auxiliaries and process depends
upon the final requirement of the customer. There is a
lack in the evaluation of color changes due to different
washing process. The common practice is to use
previous references and hit and trial methods to have
required results. In this study, color changes due to
most commonly industrial washing process has been
measured with the help of the spectrophotometer. This
technique may help in prediction of the color changes
due to a certain washing process.
There is a drastic change in the physical properties
due to industrial washing have been observed. Most
ISSN: 1708-5284
commonly changes have been achieved by using
oxidizing agents (Montazer and Maryan, 2010).
Militky and Bajzk (1997) have studied the impact
of washing on certain properties of fabric and found
significance changes due to washing. Some other
reports have also been published in the field of
change in color of the fabric after dyeing with the
multiple reuses of dye (Agudelo et al., 2008). Alpay
et al. (2005) have studied the change in light
reflectance and color difference after abrasion of
fabric. But very limited work has been done
regarding the measurement of reflectance data after
industrial washes of denim fabric. Therefore the aim
of this work is to study the color difference of denim
fabric samples after industrial washes.
2. Methodology
Two types of denim fabrics were prepared for
experiment; one contains cotton as warp yarn and
spun polypropylene weft and other contains cotton in
both warp and weft. These two denims were treated
with different textile auxiliaries and stones. However,
one sample was kept as standard to use for the
measurement of changes. Detail of denim samples is
given in Tables 1 and 2. All washings were carried
out in a mini clothing washing machine.
All samples were tested in Spectrophotometer
(Data Color Spectra flash) using light source D65 and
10 observer. E CIE 1976 L*a*b* equations was
used.
Where (1)
3. Results and discussion
Table 3 consists of values of the color difference
between washed and unwashed denim fabric
specimens.
Following conclusion can be derived from Table 3:
1. There is a significant change in the color
from the standard in all cases.
2. There is a high correlation between novel
and traditional denim in L* (0.99) and b*
(0.96) and E (0.93). However, in case of a*,
correlation is not strong (0.37).
3. Table 3 depicts that there is a drastic change
in E when the sample is desized and treated
with enzymes. Nevertheless, this change is
significant when the sample is treated
bleached.
4. In most of the cases the trend of change is
similar. Only difference is in intensity of
change.
There is a significant change in the color from the
standard after all washing processes. From the
Figures 1 and 2, it can be observed that W4 (desized,
= + +
=
=
=
2 2 2
116 16
500
200
( / )
[ ( / ) ( / )]
[ ( / ) ( // )]
108 Mushtaq Mushtaq Mangat et al./World Journal of Engineering 11(2) (2014) 107-110
Table 2.
Washing processes applied on denim substrate
Applied Faded Application
Treated Bleached Application Quick Applied with of
with with of Silicone dry Cationic Pumice Water
S# Desized Rinsed Enzymes H
2
O
2
Softener Chemical Softener Stone Repellant Peached
1W O O
2W O O
3W O O O
4W O O O
5W O O
6W O O O
7W O O O
8W O O O
9W O O O O
10W O O O
11W O O O
Table 1.
Traditional and novel denim description
Traditional
Description Novel Denim Denim
Warp Yarn Cotton Dyed, Cotton Dyed,
Tex 49.25 Tex 49.25
Weft Yarn Spun PP Cotton
Textile 54.0 Tex 49.0
Weave Twill 3/1 Z Twill 3/1 Z
gram per sq. meter (GSM) 234 248
Mushtaq Mushtaq Mangat et al./World Journal of Engineering 11(2) (2014) 107-110 109
bleached and applied silicone softener) and W9
(desized, bleached, enzyme and stone washed) made
a significant influence compared to other industrial
washes, on the color of both the denim samples
regardless their structures. Samples have shifted
much more towards orange hue with increased
lightness. This phenomenon causes a major effect
on CIE E value. It also can be seen that with some
washes like W1, W2, W8 and W11, the change in
color is almost negligible.
Table 3.
Color difference measurements of washed samples with unwashed sample
Novel Traditional
Washing Washing Detail Denim Denim
Ref label L* a* b* E label L* a* b* E
W1 Desized and rinsed 1PP 1.44 0.01 0.22 1.45 1COT 2.79 0.60 1.54 3.24
W2 Desized and treated 2PP 1.17 0.09 0.24 1.20 2COT 2.38 0.48 1.67 2.95
with enzymes
W3 Desized, treated with 3PP 7.39 0.15 3.67 8.25 3COT 6.07 0.39 2.47 6.57
enzymes and bleached
W4 Desized, bleached and 4PP 10.50 0.25 6.10 12.14 4COT 7.42 0.76 4.60 8.76
applied silicone softener
W5 Desized and bleached 5PP 4.11 0.42 3.07 5.15 5COT 2.02 0.55 2.07 2.94
W6 Desized, bleached and 6PP 5.02 0.34 4.16 6.53 6COT 1.97 0.46 2.46 3.19
applied quick dry
auxiliary
W7 Desized, bleached and 7PP 6.90 0.44 3.59 7.79 7COT 5.52 0.44 2.46 6.06
applied cationic softener
W8 Desized, enzyme and 8PP 0.40 0.05 0.05 0.41 8COT 2.94 0.06 0.44 2.97
stone washed
W9 Desized, bleached, 9PP 14.89 0.29 5.86 16.00 9COT 11.34 0.66 4.50 12.22
enzyme and stone
washed
W10 Desized, bleached and 10PP 4.87 0.47 3.32 5.91 10COT 3.29 0.53 2.27 4.03
application of water
repellant auxiliary
W11 Desized, rinsed and 11PP 1.21 0.16 0.09 1.22 11COT 1.95 0.16 0.22 1.97
peached
1.0
0.2 0.0 0.2
Da
D
b
D
L
w3
w11
w1
Std
w2
w8
w5
w7
w6
w9
w9
16.0
14.0
12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
2.0
DL axis (ND) Da-Db plan (novel denim ND)
w4
w10
0.4 0.6
1.0
0.0
3.0
2.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
w4
w3
w7
w6
w10
w5
w8
w2
w11
w1
Std
Fig. 1. Evaluation of washed Novel denim samples in Da-Db and DL plans compared to untreated sample.
110 Mushtaq Mushtaq Mangat et al./World Journal of Engineering 11(2) (2014) 107-110
4. Conclusions
Two different denims which have been produced by
using two different weft yarns show variation in
reflectance after passing through different washing
process. CIE Lab parameters and E were selected to
do a comparison. Nevertheless, in case of value a*,
there is a significant difference and correlation is quite
low. Furthermore, study concludes that major variation
is linked with bleaching process, whereas, enzyme
treatment makes an insignificant changes. Moreover,
stone washing creates moderate variation in color. This
work provides a guideline to denim manufacturers
during the finalization of washing process.
References
Agudelo C., Lis M., Valldeperas J. and Sato T., 2008. Fabric
color changes in polyester micro-fibers caused by the
multiple reuse of dispersed-dyes dye baths: Part 1. Textile
Research Journal 78(12), 10411047.
Alpay H.R., Becerir B. and Akgun M., 2005.
Assessing reflectance and color differences of cotton
fabrics after abrasion. Textile Research Journal 75(4),
357361.
Mazumder S., 2010. Effects of sandblasting with industrial
enzyme silicon wash on denim apparel characteristics.
Daffodil International University Journal of Science and
Technology 5(1), 69.
Militky J. and Bajzk V., 1997. Influence of washing/ironing
cycles on selected properties of cotton type weaves.
International Journal of clothing Science and Technology
9(3), 193199.
Montazer M. and Maryan A.S., 2010. A comparative study of
different stone and bio-stone washing of denim.
http://dspace.lib.fcu.edu.tw/bitstream/2377/3889/1/ce05atc9
02007000018.pdf.
1.0
2.0
0.0 0.2 0.4
Da
D
b
D
L
w3
w2
w1
w7
w6
w11
Std
w8
w5
w9
w9
12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
DL axis (TD)
Da-Db plan (traditional denim ND)
w4
w10
0.6 0.8 1.0
0.0
2.0
1.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
w4
w3
w7
w10
w6
w5
w11
w2
w8
w1
Std
Fig. 2. Evaluation of washed Traditional denim samples in Da-Db and DL plans compared to untreated sample.