The Dyeing of Wool with Reactive Dyes

Abstract

Reactive dyes have now been available for 25 years and have proved to impart important technological advantages to the wool dyer. This explanatory paper outlines the initial development of these dyes, emphasizing the special problems encountered in applying them to wool, summarizes present developments and future trends, critically appraises the performance of reactive dyes for wool vis‐à‐vis alternative dyes, and considers the large amount of research work carried out to pinpoint the particular amino acid site(s) involved in the reaction of wool with reactive dyes.