This research has investigated the modification of cotton fabric and pigment dyeing system in order to improve the colouration properties, such as rub fastness, wash fastness, colour strength and fabric handle of the textile material. It involved four different approaches based on pre-cationization of the fabric, incorporation of crosslinkers into the binder formulation, UVO pre-treatment of the fabric, and wet fluorocarbon treatment and dry plasma polymerisation treatments.It has been reported that the Matrix OSD pigment dyeing system offers benefits in terms of processing cost and environmental impact and from the initial studies it was apparent that while dry rub fastness, mechanical rigidity and washing performance were generally acceptable the wet rub fastness of the printed fabrics presented a technical challenge. Therefore in this study the colour wet rub fastness was regarded as the main performance indicator to be targeted and improved. Cationizing the cotton fabrics prior to pigment dyeing improved the wet rub fastness performance of the Matrix OSD dyeing system, while the other fastness properties were in general unchanged. Similarly crosslinking treatments enhanced the colour fastness performance, due to the improvement of the bonding between the binder and fabrics. The crosslinking/crease resist pre-treatment offers better performance than the combined application method in terms of improving the wet rub fastness. Surface modification of textile materials is able to modify the textile wettability, adhesion, dyeability and handle and therefore has been studied with a view to improving the durability of the surface pigment dyed coating. However in this study the benefits of a UV/Ozone (UVO) pre-treatment previously observed for other long liquor fabric dyeing studies of textiles was not observed and it was established that the pigment dyeing performance was reduced after the sensitised photo-oxidation treatment. The investigation demonstrated that the fluorocarbon treatments had a beneficial effect on colour wash fastness and wet rub fastness, while dry rub fastness was marginally reduced at higher fluorocarbon application levels. Different fluorocarbons were examined in this study, and the aftertreatment with Shield F-01 and Shield extender FCD offered the best results. A range of plasma pre-treatments prior to pigment dyeing were also examined but only a marginal benefit on the colour fastness properties and to some extent slightly decreased dry rub fastness was observed. In contrast the plasma after-treatments, using both argon (Ar) and nitrogen (N2) atmospheres, improved the fastness, particularly wet fastness, particularly when the binder heat curing process was before plasma after-treatment.

Background: As a company it is more important than ever to consider the environmental sustainability aspect within the whole supply chain and all the stakeholders. Studies show that people's concerns about environmental sustainability increases and will continue to grow in the future. The wet dyeing process is the part of the textile production that consists of liquor and contains three main steps which are pretreatment, coloration and finishing. This process is presented as the most water, energy and chemicals consuming process within the textile industry and because of that, it is important to investigate it to be able to improve the environmental sustainability.  Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to increase the understanding of IKEA’s suppliers' current usage of water, energy and chemicals within the wet dyeing process. Followed by an identification of opportunities for improvements in the wet dyeing process, aiming to become more environmentally sustainable.  Method: Through interviews with two suppliers, information regarding IKEA’s current wet dyeing processes will be collected. After that, data from relevant theoretical sources will be collected to analyze possible improvements of methods and colorants that can be relevant for IKEA as well as other companies within the textile industry to implement.  Conclusion: For research question 1, the researchers reach the conclusion that IKEA’s supplier number one has a more environmentally sustainable wet dyeing process compared to the second supplier.. A conclusion is nevertheless drawn that improvements within both suppliers wet dyeing processes should be considered to become more environmentally sustainable. For research question 2, the researchers come to the conclusion that Spray dyeing is the best alternative method to implement for improving environmental sustainability within the wet dyeing process. The researchers also recommend companies to actively become a part of the development of bacterial colorants, the future of coloration.