Eco-Friendly Dyeing of Cotton and Wool Fabrics with Avocado Seed and Peel Extracts

ABSTRACT

In this study, agricultural waste of avocado (Persea americana) was proposed as a natural dye source for eco-friendly and sustainable dyeing of textiles. Woven fabrics made of cotton and wool were pre-mordanted with nontoxic metallic salts; alum and ferrous sulfate and dyed with the pigments extracted from avocado seeds and peels. All samples exhibited very good washing and rubbing fastness grades. Pre-mordanting fabrics with ferrous sulfate provided a different color, a noticeable increase in dyeability and a significant improvement in fastness to light. On the other hand, in case of using alum, only a slight change in chroma and hue was recorded. Based on findings of the study, it was concluded that the extracted pigments have strong affinity for protein fibers and a relatively lower affinity for cellulosic fibers. It was also observed that the samples dyed with peel extract have darker and more saturated colors, a more persistent hue and higher light fastness grades when compared to the corresponding samples dyed with seed extract.

KEYWORDS:

• Persea americana
• avocado seed and peel
• natural colorant
• eco-friendly dyeing
• mordant
• fastness properties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Highlights

• Avocado seed and peel can be used as natural dye sources for textiles.

• Pigments in avocado biowaste have strong affinity for protein and cellulosic fibers.

• Dyed samples exhibited very good washing fastness (grades 4 and 5).

• Light fastness was improved by pre-mordanting fabrics with ferrous sulfate.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Nazlı Üren

Nazli Uren (PhD) is a textile engineer experienced in textile testing, analysis and design of fabrics, comfort and color assessments, and currently working as a research assistant in Textile Engineering Department of Dokuz Eylul University. She completed her doctorate degree in 2018. Since then, by combining her knowledge of textiles with environmental consciousness, she has been working on sustainable textiles. Some of her academic interests are utilization of bio-wastes, investigating sources of natural, nontoxic materials, and eco-friendly processes.