Journal of Textile Science & Engineering

The Importance of Aloe debrana Plant as a Thickening Agent for Disperse Printing of Polyester and Cotton in Textile Industry

Abstract

Sisay Awoke, Yirga Adugna, Redwan Jihad, Habtam Getaneh

Aloe debrana plant grows in several regions in South Wollo, Ethiopia, and has been used mostly as some of traditional medicine, and to stop breastfeeding. The technical feasibility of using Aloe debrana gel as a new thickener for printing polyester and cotton with disperse dyes was examined in 2013. The results indicated that the properties of the printed fabric samples (colour strength, K/S, overall fastness properties) were dependent on gel concentration, as the fixation conditions using direct heating technique. The optimum conditions for printing polyester fiber with disperse dyes using Aloe debrana gel as a thickener were as follows: 30 g/kg disperse dye, 75 g/kg urea, 10 g/kg citric acid, 500 g/kg Aloe debrana thickener and other water drying at 100°C for 3 min followed by direct fixation for 6 min at 180°C. A natural preservative lemon juice has high potential to preserve the gel more than two months. The results showed that no significant difference between fresh gel and preserved gel.