Robin Burden answered
For a dye to be effective, it needs to interact both physically and chemically with a fabric - dye molecules must infiltrate the microscopic structure of the material that they are applied to.
This is the main characteristic that all dyes share.
What are the characteristics of dyes?
This sounds a bit like a fashion and textiles coursework question, because most people don't give much thought to exactly what constitutes a dye.
But, when you think about it, not everything that transfers color to a fabric is necessarily a dye.
In fact, just yesterday I spilled some Vimto on myself and this certainly changed the pigmentation of my £40 Ralph Lauren white polo shirt - however, this would hardly be called 'dyeing'.
When we talk about basic dyes, there are several qualities or characteristics that need mentioning:
This is the main characteristic that all dyes share.
What are the characteristics of dyes?
This sounds a bit like a fashion and textiles coursework question, because most people don't give much thought to exactly what constitutes a dye.
But, when you think about it, not everything that transfers color to a fabric is necessarily a dye.
In fact, just yesterday I spilled some Vimto on myself and this certainly changed the pigmentation of my £40 Ralph Lauren white polo shirt - however, this would hardly be called 'dyeing'.
When we talk about basic dyes, there are several qualities or characteristics that need mentioning:
- Shade range
- Ionic nature
- Chemical affinity
- Solubility
- Leveling properties
- Exhaustion
