Saffron Petals, a By-Product for Dyeing of Wool Fibers

Abstract

The dyeing of wool fibers using saffron petals as a natural dye has been studied for first time in this paper. Saffron petal is one of the by-products of fields which are thrown away after harvesting while they can possibly be used. A series of dyeing formulation prepared with saffron petals and different mordants and the mordant effect on hue, light and wash fastness of dyed fibers were investigated. The K/S and CIELAB were used to determine the color of the fiber. The results of dyeing show that varied hues of color from light yellow to brown are obtained. The results of fastness properties of dyed fibers were fair to good. It was found that the best mordants in this study to improve wash and light fastness of dyed fibers were FeSO4 and Na2Cr2O7.