Dyeing
Also searched as: dyed, yarn-dyed, piece-dyed, garment-dyed
Applying color to fiber, yarn, fabric or a finished garment.
In detail
Dyeing introduces color to a textile substrate. It can take place at the fiber, yarn, fabric or garment stage, and the choice affects production planning and the appearance that can be created. Fiber chemistry and the intended color determine which dye systems and processing conditions are suitable.
The science and numbers
Dyeing is sorption followed by diffusion and fixation, and the dye class must match the fiber's chemistry. Cellulose takes reactive, direct, vat and sulfur dyes through its hydroxyl groups; wool and silk, as amphoteric proteins, take acid, metal-complex and reactive dyes; nylon binds acid dyes at terminal amine groups; dense, hydrophobic polyester lacks ionic sites and needs disperse dyes at high temperature or with carriers. Reactive dyes form covalent bonds with cellulose, but hydroxide in the bath competes with the fiber, so fixation stays below 100 percent and effluent carries unreacted dye and salt. On wool, the cuticle is the first barrier: quantitative descriptors of scale morphology correlate with the diffusion coefficient of acid dye. Dyeing can happen as loose stock, top, yarn, fabric or garment; solution dyeing bypasses the bath by adding pigment to the spinning dope.
A practical example
A yarn-dyed stripe can be built by arranging differently colored yarns before fabric formation. A piece-dyed fabric is colored after the cloth has been formed. These examples explain the processing stage, but do not establish the product’s resistance to washing or rubbing.
What to distinguish
Color application and colorfastness are different questions. “Dyed” does not promise permanence under every exposure. Request test information appropriate to the intended use, and follow the finished garment’s care instructions.
Origins and history
Mordant dyeing is ancient: brazilwood-type red dyes were recorded in Asia by the second century BC and bonded to cloth with metallic mordants. Indigo, a vat dye, was long obtained from Indigofera plants, and the class name refers to the vessel in which the reduced dyebath was prepared. New fibers forced new chemistry: cellulose acetate would not take cotton dyes, and around 1923 British Celanese and the British Dyestuffs Corporation independently developed fine aqueous dispersions of sparingly soluble dyes, the origin of the disperse class later essential for polyester.
Related terms
Sources & further reading
- CottonWorks: Dyeing
- CottonWorks: Weaving basics
- Polymers: Environmental impact of textile materials, challenges in fiber-dye chemistry (Negi, 2025)
- Scientific Reports: Novel parameters for characterising scale morphology of wool fibre and correlation with dye diffusion coefficient of acid dye
- Biotechnic and Histochemistry: Brazilwood, sappanwood, brazilin and the red dye brazilein (Dapson and Bain, 2015)
- Koh, InTech: Dyeing with Disperse Dyes
Technical references reviewed 2026-09-22. Examples are illustrative. Industry organizations and manufacturers describe their own fields; their references are not independent product endorsements. Figures are approximate and depend on the stated test conditions.