February 2020 Issue Apparel February 2020 issue | Page 80

FEATURE DOW, AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS PROVIDER, HAS DEVELOPED ECOFAST™ PURE, A SUSTAINABLE TECHNIQUE FOR TEXTILE TREATMENT. MAKING PRE-TREATMENT SUSTAINABLE Cotton fabric requires pre-treatment that prepares it and makes it appropriate for dyeing. Cotton, by nature, is a thirsty crop and more than 200 litres of water is required to pre-treat a kilogram of cotton fabric. To add more flexibility to the pre- treatment process, Dow, an innovative solutions provider, has developed ECOFAST™ Pure, a sustainable technique for textile treatment. This, when applied to the fabric before the dyeing process, leads to the production of cationic 72 I APPAREL I February 2020 cotton—cotton in this form attracts dyes better and faster. This pre-treated cotton exhibits an increased ability to retain the dye without the need of fixing chemicals, thus reducing the usage of toxic chemicals by 90 per cent. This patented technology decreases the use of dye and water by 50 per cent for cotton dyeing. DYEING USING MICROORGANISMS As we speak, researchers at the University of California are trying to use genetically modified E.coli bacteria to produce indican, a water-soluble compound that yields the indigo dye. Once it is tested and proven, this dyeing compound will be able to use enzymatic treatment to dye denim. Colorifix, another notable company, on the other hand, uses a synthetic biological approach vis- à-vis bacteria to colour textiles. These bacteria, when left on fabric, can use their dye-producing skills to colour the fabric using a carbon source solution. The process is natural and constitutes a habit of the bacteria or microorganism in question, so external stimulation or solvents are not required in the dyeing process. This further lowers the impact of harmful chemicals and makes the process more natural and eco-friendly. According to Colorifix, this method uses no hazardous chemicals and cuts down on water usage by up to 90 per cent, “depending on equipment, pigment, and fabric”. These innovative dyeing processes are environment-friendly, but for them to become the call of the day and get absorbed across the textile value chain, a lot more research, experimentation, and innovation needs to be done. An important step in the realm would be to make them accessible and cost-effective. It is only when brands, companies, and researchers make these dyes a part and parcel of the industry that we will collectively be able to embrace sustainable dyeing in its entirety.