The Importance Of Natural Dyes: Advantages, Disadvantages, Applications
As countries become increasingly cautious about the impact of their textiles and garments on the environment and public health, interest in the use of natural dyes in the production of textiles is reviving. Synthetic dyes cause toxic and allergic reactions, enforcing people to adopt natural dyes into their business. Natural dyes are obtained from renewable sources of coloring materials. In order to make an informed decision about whether to use natural dyes for your business or not, you need to know the importance and as well as pros and cons of natural dyes.
Apart from textiles, natural dyes are used in various applications such as the coloration of foods, medicine, and handicraft items. Although some natural dyes are eco-friendly, which protect your skin and provide pleasing color to the eyes, some aren’t completely eco-friendly and may be harmful to some extent.
To achieve completely eco-friendly textiles, it will be necessary to conduct new research on the application of natural dyes. Well, in this article, you will learn the importance of natural dyes and their advantages and disadvantages, and how they are becoming more popular in today’s world.
But before diving into the advantages and disadvantages, let’s take a look at the importance of natural dyes.
Importance of Natural Dyes
Natural dyes play an important role in our daily lives for over decades of years, providing more effective and useful uses with aesthetic consumer satisfaction. Indigo is one of the oldest and most used dyes that has been widely used in India for thousands of years. Talking about natural dyes, a type of dyes or colorants that are derived from natural sources like plants, animals, or minerals. In addition to this, the production of natural dye can also be obtained from biological sources including vegetables and fungi. Although natural dyes have been popular for humans, they have quickly fallen out of favor due to the convenience and versatility of synthetic dyes.
Advantages of Natural Dyes
Let’s take a look at the following advantages of natural dyes:
Minimal Environmental Impact: Natural dyes have a very low environmental impact compared to other dyes as they are produced from natural sources which makes them so appealing for customers. Disposing natural dyes do not cause any pollution as they are biodegradable.
Color pay-off: Natural dyes are a perfect choice when you’re looking for a soft hue or soothing shade.
Safe & Security: A few natural dyes like carmine that are found in lipsticks, don’t appear to cause any harm or health problems when used.
Renewable: Natural dyes can be harnessed without causing further harm to the environment as they are obtained from renewable sources.
Disadvantages of Natural Dyes
Following are some disadvantages of natural dyes:
Cost: Compared to synthetic dye, there’s a huge amount of natural dyes required in order to dye a specific amount of fabric. For example, you just need five grams of synthetic dye for dyeing one pound of cotton. In contrast, you would require around 230 grams of natural dye to dye the same amount of material. Thus, it can be said that natural dyes are more expensive than synthetic dyes.
Harmful Effects: Natural dyes can also cause harm to some extent and can not be proved user-friendly too. When inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the skin, the active ingredients in logwood, hematein, and hematoxylin can be harmful and might not be said to be eco-friendly. The inhalation of bloodroot, another natural dye source, can irritate the lungs. Moreover, natural dyes may need to be mordant-treated before being applied. They can also be toxic, even though they aid the dye in sticking to fabrics. Aluminum, copper, iron, and chrome are a few examples of mordants used in natural dyes.
Availability: Lack of availability is the second disadvantage of natural dyes. Because raw materials are not always readily available, and they can vary seasonally, geographically, and by species while synthetic dyes can be produced throughout the year in laboratories.
Sustainability: Although natural dyes are renewable, producing them still requires vast amounts of land, posing a sustainability challenge.
Color pay-off: Natural dyes tend to fade color far more quickly than synthetic dyes. Furthermore, natural dyes may not offer the same level of consistency as synthetic dyes.
Applications of Natural Dyes
Natural dyes are widely used in a comprehensive range of applications such as foods, medicines, cosmetics, the coloration of textiles, and many more. In addition to this, natural dyes can also be used in the form of a small amount to color leather, shoe polish, cane, paper, candles, wood, and so on. Natural dyes are also being used as pH indicators, and as well as in the textile, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be said that natural dyes have their advantages and disadvantages. If you decide to use them for your business, it doesn’t only depend on a number of factors but most of them have to do more with your needs and goals. Their impact on the environment should also be taken into consideration.
As stated above, natural dyes have a minimum environmental impact in comparison to synthetic dyes. Other factors like cost, availability and sustainability also need to be taken care of. Think about whether natural dyes meet the specific business needs of your production volume and then make a thoughtful decision accordingly?
Looking for modern ways to use dyes that come into your budget and don’t cause harm to the environment, then working with Hridhan Chem can help. Hridhan Chem is a leading manufacturer and exporter of premium quality industrial dyes at competitive rates. If you are interested in our products and services and want to know more about us to see how we can help you, get in touch with us today.
