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An approach to sustainable coloration of lyocell fabrics by screen printing using extracts of leaves and bark from eucalyptus

The research presented in the paper focuses primarily on the coloration of Lyocell fibres, using novel sustainable methods, which exploit the strength of its environmental credentials compared with cotton. Lyocell is a regenerated cellulose fibre manufactured using wood pulp from sustainably forested eucalyptus in a closed-loop system. Presented in the paper are preliminary results from a study that made use of the leaves and bark, by-products of the sustainably farmed eucalyptus, to extract natural colour for printing purposes.

The paper presents a technical evaluation of the printed fabrics demonstrating remarkable fastness properties, at a level as good as those provided by most synthetic dye classes, and also that mordanting of the natural colours, a process that commonly has adverse environmental consequences for natural dyeing, was in this case not required to fix and retain the colour on Lyocell. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential for the use of renewable colour resources, with the aim of producing closed-loop manufacture sustainable fashion.