Sustainable Dyeing of Textile Fabrics with Natural Floral Pigments: A Green Approach

Abstract

The textile dyeing sector relies extensively on synthetic colourants and chemical auxiliaries, raising environmental concerns associated with coloured effluents and resource-intensive processing. Floral waste and other plant biomass represent underutilised renewable resources that may provide natural colourants while supporting waste valorisation and more sustainable textile-processing approaches. The present study investigates the feasibility of converting floral and plant biomass into natural textile colourants for sustainable dyeing. Marigold flower (Tagetes erecta), Bougainvillea flower and Indian almond (Terminalia catappa) leaves were selected as dye sources and applied to cotton, silk and wool fabrics. The plant materials were washed, dried, powdered and extracted by an aqueous process under different pH and temperature conditions. Textile substrates were scoured before dyeing and mordanting was investigated to improve dye fixation and fastness. Qualitative phytochemical screening was performed to identify major classes of compounds present in the selected plant materials. The dyed fabrics were examined for colour development and washing, rubbing and light fastness. Distinct yellow-orange, reddish-pink, green and brown shades were obtained depending on the dye source, textile substrate, extraction conditions and mordant treatment. Cotton showed comparatively stronger colour development under the experimental conditions. Mordanted samples generally exhibited deeper shades and improved resistance to washing, rubbing and light exposure compared with unmordanted samples. Phenols and tannins were detected in all three sources, while flavonoids, saponins, steroids, terpenoids, glycosides, fixed oils and cellulose occurred in different combinations. The findings demonstrate that floral waste and plant biomass can be valorised as renewable sources of textile colourants, supporting waste reduction and circular-resource use. However, the use of metallic mordants and the absence of instrumental colour-strength measurements indicate the need for further optimisation. Future studies should investigate bio-mordants, spectrophotometric colour measurement, optimised extraction technologies, life-cycle impacts and scale-up feasibility.