Evaluation of dyeing process and colorfastness of wool fibers dyed with Centaurea behen L.

The use of natural dyes as a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach in the textile industry has significantly grown. In this study, the potential use of different parts of Centaurea behen L. as a natural dye for wool fiber dyeing was investigated, and the effect of various dyeing conditions on its color properties, lightfastness, and wash fastness was evaluated. Finally, after conducting statistical analyses, the wool dyeing process using the natural dye extracted from this plant was optimized. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results demonstrated a significant effect of various dyeing variables, including dye concentration, mordant concentration, temperature, dyeing duration, and pH of the dye bath, on color strength. Consequently, using response surface methodology (RSM), optimal dyeing conditions were determined to be a temperature of 90°C, a dyeing duration of 90 minutes, a dye concentration of 150%, a mordant concentration of 5% (based on fiber weight), and a pH of 8 for the dye bath. These optimized conditions resulted in remarkable improvements in choroma, hue angle, and color strength, with the final outcome being a yellow color shade. By utilizing different parts of the plant, and in the presence of various metallic mordants, diverse color shades were achieved. In terms of color fastness evaluation, samples dyed with the leaf part of the plant exhibited higher lightfastness and wash fastness. Mechanical property analysis of the dyed yarns indicated that the dyeing process had little effect on the mechanical performance of the fibers.