A Comparative Study on the Dyeability of Stabraq (Milkweed) Fibers with Reactive Dyes

In this work, raw fibers of a local species of stabraq (milkweed) were scoured, bleached and blended with cotton fibers with a ratio of 75/25 (cotton/stabraq). The improved stabraq fibers, scoured and bleached cotton and the blended fibers were spun into fine yarns and then they were subjected to dyeing with two types of reactive dyes namely, cold brand and high exhaustion brand reactive dye at 1% omf in a liquor ratio of 20:1, in the exhaustion dyeing method. The extent of exhaustion, colour strength and other colorimetric parameters of the dyeing were determined and the results were compared. The results suggested that the dyeability of stabraq fibers with two reactive dyes used, resembles that of cotton yarns more closely, and the blended fibers exhibited superior dyeing behavior than the alone fibers.