Mechanism involved in the dyeing of wool with an oil‐in‐water microemulsion system

This article investigates the influence of oil‐in‐water (o/w) microemulsions, used as media for both dye solubilization and dye baths, on the dye uptake on fiber surfaces. An acetic acid solution/Synperonic L7/benzyl alcohol microemulsion system was used to solubilize a water‐insoluble antimicrobial natural dye (C.I. Natural Orange 2) and to dye wool fabric at an acidic pH. The results clearly show that the dye exhaustion on the fabric took place mainly when the temperature of the dye bath promoted a change in the molecular organization of the microemulsions with the liberation of the dye solubilized in the oil droplets of the microemulsions. Although uniformly and evenly dyed fabrics were obtained, they showed very low wash fastness. To confirm the mechanism involved and to achieve dyed fabrics with good wash‐fastness properties, two different dyeing methods were also studied. The first method was dyeing at a constant low temperature, at which the o/w microemulsion remained a monophase system; the second one was dyeing at a high temperature, at which it was transformed into a multiphase system. Both the dye exhaustion and wash fastness improved considerably for the fabrics dyed at a high temperature. Moreover, uniform and even dyeing was achieved. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008