Natural dyeing of buldan handwoven fabrics with plant shell extracts: a step towards sustainable textile

Abstract

Sustainable textile production has become widespread among the world due to high consumption of energy and water in the conventional textile methods. Traditional handwoven Buldan fabrics may be one of the alternatives as sustainable textile products which may be also naturally colored with the environmentally friendly natural dye sources. This study has been performed to reveal that handwoven naturally colored Buldan fabrics with different plant extracts such as walnut, acorn shell and onion skin may provide satisfying tensile and fastness properties. According to the test results; The fabric tenacity results indicated that a prominent deterioration was not observed with the natural dyeing process among the fabric samples. Tear strength results varied regarding to the fabrics’ raw material but did not vary significantly according to applied natural dye extract. A slight decrement for washing, water and perspiration fastness results was observed when the undyed samples were compared with their dyed counterparts. Samples dyed with onion skins generally revealed lower washing, water and perspiration fastness results compared to those dyed with walnut and acorn shell for each fabric type. Dry rubbing fastness results were more satisfying than wet rubbing fastness results.