Green, Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Alternative in Dyeing Sugarcane Leaves-Cotton Blended Yarn Using Aqueous Extract Ficus lyrata Leaves Dye: Effects of Metal Salts Mordanting Agents and Mordanting Methods

Abstract

This study examined the dyeing of sugarcane leaves-cotton blended yarn using a natural dye extracted from fiddle-leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) leaves. Various dyeing processes were then explored for the sugarcane leaves-cotton yarn, using eco-friendly mordants such as alum, calcium chloride, ferrous sulfate, and sodium chloride. These processes included different mordanting methods: pre-mordanting, meta-mordanting, and post-mordanting. The results demonstrated that dyeing sugarcane leaves-cotton blended yarn using the meta-mordanting method with alum, calcium chloride, or ferrous sulfate as mordants resulted in better performance and higher outcomes compared to other mordanting methods. However, the pre-mordanting method is recommended for applying dye to blended yarns when using calcium as the mordant. In addition, the results from the SEM analysis confirmed the ability of the dye to absorb into the sugarcane leaves-cotton yarn surface. The elemental mapping and EDX spectra also confirmed the presence of the dye particles on the surface of the dyed yarn. Additionally, the colorfastness characteristics had satisfactory fastness ratings of 3 to 5 for light, 4 to 5 for washing, and 4–5 to 5 for perspiration performance with the metal mordants.