The effect of different mordants on strength and stability of colour produced from selected dye-yielding plants in Uganda.

Abstract

Five dye-yielding plants namely; Morinda lucida, Vitellaria paradoxa, Syzgium cordatum, Albizia coriaria and Justicia betonica were investigated in this study for the effect of mordant on strength and stability of colour. The plants were selected on the basis of their widespread use in dyeing local palm leaves and other cellulosic plant materials used for making mats and other craft items in Uganda. The different types of mordant used played an important role in the development of the perceived colours from the different plants. Colour analysis in terms of the reflectance values (R), hue angle(H),chroma(C), lightness (L) and the cartesian coordinates a and b showed that the overall principal colours on cotton fabric support were yellow, brown, yellow – orange, reddish-pink, bluish-violet and yellowish-green and were mostly unsaturated and affected by the type of mordant used. Some of the mordants exhibited high colour absorption (K/S) values due to their ability to form strong coordination complexes with the dye molecules. The findings from the study reveal that the crude extracts from the five Ugandan selected plants can be used for cotton textile colouration using different mordants.