Printing Silk Fabric with Acid Dye Using a New Thickening Agent

Abstract

A novel thickening agent from wild taro corms was investigated in the preparation of the printing paste for the screen-printing of silk fabric with acid dye. The concentrations of thickening agent, acid dyestuff, and citric acid and steaming fixation time were explored. Printed silk fabric quality was evaluated by determining different parameters: color values (L*, a*, b*), color strength (K/S), color fastness, and physical properties, whereas print paste quality was evaluated by measuring the viscosity. The results revealed that the printing paste, comprising the thickening agent prepared from the modified starch of wild taro corms, can be applied for printing silk fabric using acid dye. The fastness properties of the printed samples were found to be fair to good. The printed fabric also had decreased tensile and tear strength compared to the original fabric. An increase in stiffness (bending length) of printed silk fabric also occurred. The overall study showed that using the new proposed thickening agent was confirmed at the semi-industrial scale.