Sulfur dye

Description

A class of water-insoluble dyes. A brown sulfur dye, called cachou de Laval, was first prepared in France in 1873 by heating sawdust with sulfur and caustic soda. A second sulfur dye, vidal black was made in 1893. To prepare a sulfur, or sulfide, dye, an insoluble dye is reduced with sulfur or sodium sulfide to make a colorless, water-soluble compound. The dye is then applied, usually to cotton. Once dried, the dye is oxidized back to its colored, water-insoluble state. In general, sulfur dyes are dark colors with moderate lightfastness, good washfastness and poor bleach fastness. Example of sulfur dyes are indophenol and sulfur black (CI 5318).

Synonyms and Related Terms

sulfur dyes; sulfide dyes; thioindigoid dye; sulphur dye (Br.); corante de enxofre (Port.); cachou de Laval; vidal blackblack

Risks

Sulfide dyes damage wool.

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p.284

• Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Dictionary of Fiber & Textile Technology (older version called Man-made Fiber and Textile Dictionary, 1965), Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Charlotte NC, 1990

• Rosalie Rosso King, Textile Identification, Conservation, and Preservation, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985

• Website: www.straw.com/sig/dyehist

• Thomas B. Brill, Light Its Interaction with Art and Antiquities, Plenum Press, New York City, 1980

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997