Comparison of computer colour matching of water-based and solvent-based reverse micellar dyeing of cotton fibre

In this study, cotton fabrics were dyed with reactive dyes in conventional water-based and solvent-based reverse micellar dyeing systems. In solvent-based dyeing, heptane replaced water as the medium. Three commercially available reactive dyes with the primary colours of red, blue and yellow were used. Dyeing with different dye concentrations was conducted to establish calibration dyeing databases for computer colour matching (CCM). Colours produced by mixing known concentrations of primary colours were used as standard samples for CCM. Different colour difference formulae were used for predicting dye concentrations in the standard samples from CCM. Results revealed that the predicted concentrations were statistically related to the known concentrations for both dyeing methods. This indicates that the solvent-based reverse micellar dyeing method can achieve colour matching as good as the conventional water-based dyeing system, and that a large amount of water can be saved.