Ink Dyes for Washable Leathers

Inks, contain pigments or dyes in liquid or paste form, are used to color an image, text, or design. Although some patents describing the ink jet printing methods for textile and leather were found, no report was found addressing the application of ink dyes in leather dying process and determination of washing and other fastness properties. In this study, the potential application of ink dyes in leather industry was investigated as an alternative to conventional dyes for the production of washable leathers in dying process. For this purpose, leather-dyeing recipes were developed by using two different ink dyes and applied at dying process of metis type crust leathers in order to produce washable leathers. The quality performance of dyed leathers were investigated in terms of color measurements, to-and-fro rubbing fastness, crockmeter rubbing fastness, and light fastness characteristics before and after washing leathers in a washing machine under specified conditions according to ISO 15702 standard. The color measurements prior and subsequent to washing process were determined with Minolta CM-3600A spectrophotometer. To-and-fro rubbing, crockmeter and light fastness properties were examined in accordance with ISO 11640, ASTM D5053 and ISO 105-B02 standards respectively. The results of the study showed that ink dyes could be used as a newly adapted dye group and applied successfully in leather dyeing process for the production of washable leather goods.