Natural Colouration and Antimicrobial Enhancement of Cotton and Linen Fabric using Mango Bark

The study of natural dyeing has been a focus within the textile industry, driven by rising environmental concerns and the increased demand for sustainable production processes. The application of synthetic colourants is a significant environmental issue and a major health concern. In this process, a natural colourant is to replace a synthetic colourant. The natural dyeing process uses a solution extracted from mango bark. One natural colouring molecule is tannin, derived from mango bark, an agricultural byproduct, which can give textiles a rich gold-brown to green hue. Plant-based dyes are green as opposed to synthetic dyes, as they are biodegradable, nontoxic, and environmentally friendly. This project involves extracting a natural dye from mango bark, which has been used to dye cotton and linen. Two dyeing processes involving the use of a mango bark on cotton and linen, with the use of mordant alum, plus a non-mordant process. Alum is more widely used in the natural dyeing process to improve fixation and colour stability. It indicates that the experiment was to compare the dye absorption, colour depth, and shade of the mordanted and the non-mordanted materials. Washing fastness tests and also rubbing were carried out. FTIR, antimicrobial, UV resistance, and Colourfastness tests have been conducted to investigate a natural dyeing process. Keywords: Natural dyeing, Mango bark, Alum mordant, Sustainable textiles, and Eco-friendly dyeing.