Study on hydraulic spray atomizing system as a new resource-efficient dyeing-finishing method for wool fabric

Abstract This study introduces hydraulic spray (HS) atomizing system as new resource-efficient continuous dyeing-finishing method for wool fabric. Here, wool fabric was dyed and finished by using commercial dyes and finishes through either one-step or two-steps HS method. Results obtained from color strength (K/S), color difference (ΔECMC) and color fastness analysis presented the apprehension of HS method in dyeing of wool fabric with different GSM and dyes. Finishing performance of wool fabric was measured through water contact angle analysis. Analysis shows that, the finishing performance of HS method were substantial to reach water contact angle as high as 145° while maintaining high fastness to wash and abrasion. Between one-step and two-steps HS method, one-step method showed better performance with high resource efficiency compared to two-steps method. Results from statistical analysis shows no statistical significance of fabric weight, type of dyes, and finishes to the performance of new HS method which is crucial for true-scale industrial implementation and scaling up of this process. The findings of this report are of great importance as it presents a greener alternative to the conventional resource-intensive dyeing-finishing methods of wool fabric