Textiles II: Textile Finishes, Dyeing and Printing Methods, and the Traditional Embroidered, Printed, Woven and Dyed Textiles of India
2. Dyeing: dye classes and stages
| Dye class | Fibres | Mechanism and character |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | Cotton, viscose | Applied from a salt bath without mordant; bright, cheap, moderate wash fastness |
| Reactive | Cotton, viscose, also wool and silk | Form a covalent bond with the fibre; bright shades with excellent wash fastness |
| Vat (indigo) | Cotton | Insoluble dye reduced to a soluble leuco form, absorbed, then re-oxidised in air; very fast |
| Sulphur | Cotton | Cheap dark shades, especially blacks; poor chlorine fastness |
| Acid | Wool, silk, nylon | Ionic attraction to amino groups in an acid bath |
| Basic (cationic) | Acrylic | Brilliant shades; poor light fastness on natural fibres |
| Disperse | Polyester, acetate, nylon | Sparingly soluble dye dissolves into hydrophobic fibre at high temperature or with a carrier |
| Mordant and natural dyes | Cotton, wool, silk | Metal salts (alum, iron) fix the dye; madder, indigo, turmeric, lac, pomegranate rind, catechu |
| Pigments | Any fibre | Not dyes: insoluble colour held on the surface by a binder |
Colour can be added at every stage. Dope or solution dyeing adds pigment to the spinning solution of a manufactured fibre and gives the fastest colour; stock dyeing colours loose fibre, for heathered effects; yarn dyeing (in hanks or packages) is needed for stripes, checks and ikat; piece dyeing colours woven or knitted fabric and is the cheapest and most flexible; garment dyeing colours finished garments, allowing late decisions on colour.
3. Printing: styles and methods
Printing is localised dyeing. Three styles describe the chemistry. In direct printing, colour is printed straight onto a white or light ground. In discharge printing, the fabric is dyed first and a discharge paste then destroys the ground colour in the pattern, leaving white (white discharge) or replacing it with a discharge-resistant colour (colour discharge); the pattern is as sharp on a dark ground as on a light one. In resist printing, a substance that blocks dye (wax, mud, gum, or tight binding) is applied first, the fabric is dyed, and the resist is removed.
| Method | How it works | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Block printing | Carved wooden (or metal) blocks dipped in colour and pressed by hand, one block per colour | Slow, skilled, small repeats; Sanganer, Bagru, Bagh, Ajrakh |
| Roller printing | Engraved copper rollers, one per colour, transfer paste continuously | Very fast, fine detail, costly to engrave; largely replaced by rotary screens |
| Screen printing (flat and rotary) | Paste forced by a squeegee through a mesh stencil; rotary screens are seamless cylinders | Rotary screen is the dominant industrial method today |
| Tie and dye | Portions of fabric tightly bound with thread before dyeing resist the dye | Bandhani dots, leheriya waves; repeated binding gives several colours |
| Batik | Hot wax (beeswax and paraffin) applied with a tjanting or block, cold dyeing, wax removed by boiling or ironing | Cracks in brittle paraffin give the typical veined crackle |
| Discharge printing | Reducing agents printed on a dyed ground remove colour | Light motifs on dark grounds |
| Heat transfer (sublimation) printing | Disperse dyes printed on paper sublime under heat and pressure into polyester | Suits polyester; no water; used for sportswear |
| Digital (inkjet) printing | Dye inks jetted from a computer file straight onto fabric | No screens, unlimited colours, economical for short runs, less water and waste |
4. Traditional textiles of India
India's traditional textiles are identified the way the syllabus lists: by fibre content, technique, motif and colour. A single feature rarely suffices, but the technique usually narrows it down: a darn stitch worked from the reverse suggests phulkari, a double-sided satin stitch Chamba rumal, a supplementary discontinuous weft jamdani, and yarn dyed in both warp and weft before weaving a double ikat such as patola.
| Embroidered textile | Region | Identifying features |
|---|---|---|
| Phulkari and bagh | Punjab | Darn stitch in untwisted silk floss (pat) on hand-spun khaddar, worked from the back; geometric motifs; bagh covers the whole ground |
| Chikankari | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | White-on-white on fine cotton; shadow work (bakhia) from the reverse, knots (phanda, murri), openwork (jaali) |
| Kantha | West Bengal | Running stitch quilting layers of old saris and dhotis; nakshi kantha tells stories in figures |
| Kasuti | Karnataka | Counted-thread stitches gavanti, murgi, negi and menthi; temple, chariot and lotus motifs; on Ilkal saris |
| Kashida (sozni, aari, tilla) | Kashmir | Fine needlework on shawls; chinar leaf, paisley and almond motifs |
| Chamba rumal | Himachal Pradesh | Double satin stitch (dorukha), identical on both sides; Pahari miniature themes such as Krishna lila |
| Kutch and Kathiawar embroidery | Gujarat | Mirror work (abhla), fine chain stitch (aari), bold colours |
| Toda embroidery (pukhoor) | Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu | Red and black darning on white cotton shawls |
| Printed, woven or dyed textile | Region | Identifying features |
|---|---|---|
| Kalamkari | Andhra Pradesh | Srikalahasti style drawn freehand with a kalam (pen), mythological themes; Machilipatnam style block-printed with Persian-influenced motifs; natural dyes with mordants |
| Sanganeri and Bagru | Rajasthan | Sanganer: fine floral prints on white; Bagru: dabu mud-resist and darker grounds |
| Ajrakh | Kutch (Gujarat) and Barmer (Rajasthan) | Resist and mordant block printing in indigo and madder red, geometric star-like motifs, printed on both sides |
| Banarasi brocade | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh | Silk with zari brocade, kinkhab, jangla and butidar patterns |
| Kanchipuram silk | Tamil Nadu | Heavy mulberry silk; contrasting border and pallu joined by the korvai interlocking technique; temple borders |
| Paithani | Maharashtra | Tapestry-woven zari pallu with peacock and lotus motifs |
| Jamdani | West Bengal | Supplementary discontinuous weft motifs inlaid by hand on fine cotton muslin |
| Baluchari | Bishnupur, West Bengal | Silk saris with narrative scenes from the epics woven on the pallu |
| Chanderi and Maheshwari | Madhya Pradesh | Sheer silk-cotton with fine butis; Maheshwari with a reversible border |
| Kota doria | Rajasthan | Light fabric with a square check pattern (khat) |
| Bandhani and leheriya | Gujarat and Rajasthan | Tie-dyed dots (bandhani); diagonal waves resist-dyed on rolled fabric (leheriya) |
| Patola | Patan, Gujarat | Double ikat silk: both warp and weft tie-dyed before weaving so the pattern is identical on both faces |
| Sambalpuri (bandha) | Odisha | Ikat, mainly weft, with conch, wheel and flower motifs |
| Pochampally ikat and telia rumal | Telangana | Geometric ikat; telia rumal is a double ikat with oil-treated yarns |
Key takeaways
- Finishes are mechanical or chemical, aesthetic or functional, general or special, and temporary to permanent; preparatory finishes (singeing, desizing, scouring, bleaching, mercerising) come first.
- Cellulose takes direct, reactive, vat and sulphur dyes; wool, silk and nylon take acid dyes; acrylic takes basic dyes; polyester and acetate take disperse dyes.
- Printing styles are direct, discharge and resist; methods include block, roller, flat and rotary screen, tie and dye, batik, heat transfer and digital printing.
- Phulkari, chikankari, kantha, kasuti, kashida, Chamba rumal, Kutch and Toda are the major embroideries; kalamkari, Sanganeri, Bagru and Ajrakh the major prints.
- Banarasi, Kanchipuram, Paithani, jamdani and Baluchari are major woven textiles; bandhani and leheriya are fabric tie-dyes, while patola, Sambalpuri and Pochampally are ikats, patola a double ikat.
Practice questions (10)
Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.
Which dye class is used for polyester?
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Answer: A — Disperse dyes
Polyester is hydrophobic and has no ionic sites, so it is dyed with sparingly soluble disperse dyes at high temperature or with a carrier. Direct dyes suit cotton, basic dyes acrylic and acid dyes wool, silk and nylon.A dark navy fabric carries crisp white motifs. The motifs were produced by applying a paste that destroyed the ground colour. This is:
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Answer: C — Discharge printing
Discharge printing removes colour from an already-dyed ground in the printed areas. In resist printing the blocking agent is applied before dyeing, and direct printing adds colour to a light ground rather than removing it.Which statements about mercerisation are correct? Select all that apply.
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Answer: A — It increases lustre and dye uptake; B — It treats cotton with cold concentrated sodium hydroxide under tension
Caustic soda swells cotton fibres so that they become rounder and smoother, raising lustre, strength and affinity for dye. Mercerisation is a cotton finish, not a wool anti-felting finish, and it strengthens rather than weakens the fibre.Which traditional textile is a double ikat in which both warp and weft are tie-dyed before weaving?
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Answer: A — Patola of Patan
Patan patola is a double ikat, its pattern tied and dyed into both sets of yarn before weaving, so it looks the same on both sides. Bandhani ties and dyes finished fabric, chikankari is embroidery and Srikalahasti kalamkari is hand-drawn.Match correctly: which of these textile-region pairs are right? Select all that apply.
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Answer: A — Chamba rumal — Himachal Pradesh; C — Kasuti — Karnataka; D — Paithani — Maharashtra
Kasuti belongs to Karnataka, Paithani to Maharashtra and Chamba rumal to Himachal Pradesh. Phulkari is from Punjab; the Tamil Nadu embroidery in this syllabus's range is the Toda work of the Nilgiris.Assertion (A): Batik often shows fine veined lines where dye has seeped through. Reason (R): The wax resist, especially its paraffin content, cracks when the cloth is handled and lets dye into the cracks. Choose the correct option.
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Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
Both are true and R explains A. The crackle effect is characteristic of batik; artisans control it by the ratio of brittle paraffin to pliable beeswax, and dyeing is done cold so the wax does not melt.A raincoat stays comfortable in humid weather because water vapour from the body escapes through it, while light rain beads up and rolls off. Its fabric has most likely been given:
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Answer: D — A water-repellent finish that leaves the pores open
A water-repellent finish coats each fibre so water beads up, but the spaces between yarns stay open to air and vapour. A continuous rubber coating makes a fabric waterproof and non-breathable; durable press and napping do not repel water.Sanforising, the compressive shrinkage finish, keeps the residual shrinkage of a cotton fabric below about how many per cent? Type the number.
Numerical answer — type the value.
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Answer: 1
Sanforising compresses the fabric lengthwise before it is cut so that little shrinkage remains for the consumer, conventionally below about 1 per cent. Untreated cotton can shrink several per cent in its first wash.A white polyester-cotton shirting is to be dyed a single even shade in the piece. Which dye classes are appropriate for the two components? Select all that apply.
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Answer: C — Disperse dye for the polyester; D — Reactive dye for the cotton
Each fibre needs its own chemistry: disperse dyes penetrate polyester, and reactive (or vat) dyes bond with cotton. Acid dyes need the amino groups of protein or nylon, and basic dyes suit acrylic, not polyester.Kantha embroidery of West Bengal is worked mainly in:
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Answer: C — Running stitch on layers of old cloth
Kantha quilts layers of used saris and dhotis with running stitches, often into narrative nakshi kantha. Double satin stitch is Chamba rumal, mirror and chain stitch are Kutch work, and counted stitches on Ilkal saris are kasuti.