Message: Dear Sir,

We are an hand dyeing company based in Mumbai. We have a problem if you could help it will be highly appreciated.

I am preparing a tye-dye fabric over which i am applying wax. For Tie-dye i am using remazol dyes but when the fabric is tie-dyed it is perfect but after appyling wax we have to remove the wax by boiling the fabric upto 100-110 degrees centigrade on doing so all the dyes of fades off. We are preapring the colours as mentioned below :

Remazol dyes are added to water with common salt and soda ash and boiled for 4-5 minimutes the colours are ready they brought down to normal temprature and are ready to use.

We are using the prepared colours for hand dying on 100% Cotton ready-to-dye fabric. The ready to dye fabric, after applying wax over it, is passed through dye-fix prepared in water. Now after this the fabric is hand dyed, after hand dyed it is kept of drying, after drying it is again boiled at 120 degrees for removal of wax; on doing this, the colour fades off.

Can you give me any solution so that I can get the original brightness of remazol dyes 

Awaiting for you kind co-opreation.


The Remazol dyes may be pre-boiled in mild acid before dyeing wool, if you need to remove the masking group from the dye, but this pre-boiling step is quite unnecessary for dyeing cotton. It is possible that you are killing the reactivity of your Remazol dyes by boiling them with soda ash. I would like to know what happens if you omit this step. Or perhaps you could continue this step but at lower temperatures, allowing the masking group to be removed immediately before use, but without causing the dye to fully react with the water, as is very likely happening when they are boiled with the soda ash.

Dissolve the dye powder in lukewarm water (around 20 to 35 degrees C). Instead of boiling it, just make sure that it is well dissolved, and avoid heating the dye. You can dye 100% cotton with Remazol dyes and soda ash. Dye processes involving a lot of water usually require salt, while direct application of strong dye mixtures usually does not. The dyes will react with the cotton in the presence of soda ash; the ideal temperature for this reaction is between 40 and 60 degrees C., but 30 degrees C should work if you allow more time for the dye reaction. You can tie-dye the fabric at room temperature with soda ash, either by adding the soda ash to the dye or by pre-soaking the cotton in it, and then place the dyed fabric in a warm place to allow the reaction to continue. The dye must remain damp on the fabric during this period. Or, you can immersion dye the fabric with the Remazol dye mixed with water, using hot water of 40 to 60°C, when wax is not involved. Use temperatures closer to 40°C when using wax that you are not ready to remove. 40°C should not melt the wax. Beeswax melts at around 60 or 65°C, and synthetic waxes usually have higher melting points than that, though some vegetable-based waxes have lower temperatures. 

The reaction between the Remazol dyes and the cotton fabric should make a permanent chemical bond, which should not come off when you boil the fabric. When you rinse out the extra dye, first wash out the salts and soda ash with plain cool water, and then use hot water to remove dye. Your boiling step could be used to remove the last vestiges of unreacted dye.

What is the dye-fix you refer to? Soda ash is a good dye fixative for that stage, used as you describe. The pH of the dye fixative soda ash solution should be around 10.5 or 11. To reach this pH, about 250 milliliters of soda ash in four liters of water is usually a good concentration. The ideal pH for Remazol reaction with cotton is probably about 11.5. A commercial cationic dye fixative should not be necessary if you can get the dye/fiber reaction to work.

With reactive dyes on cotton, some of the dye will always remain unattached and wash out immediately after dyeing, so be sure that your dye colors are darker and more intense than you want when you apply them, before washing the excess dye out. 

An important detail is that all alkali, any pH-increasing chemical, such as soda ash, trisodium phosphate, or sodium hydroxide, must be rinsed out in cool water, 30°C or below, before hot water is used to remove wax or rinse out excess unattached dye. Remazol dyes can be stripped out of the fabric when washed at a high pH and high temperature. Use cool water before using hot water, to remove the soda ash.

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