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Natural indigo8/15/2023 The new method doesn't sacrifice comfort either, keeping around the same levels of thickness, weight gain and flexibility in the fabric. Conventional methods require up to eight dips in dye solution and secure only 70% to 80%. It also requires only one coat of the indigo to secure over 90% of the color, significantly reducing the amount of water needed to dye the fabric. Published in the journal Green Chemistry, the new method of dyeing uses natural indigo (though the streamlined process could also use synthetic) and completely eliminates the use of harmful chemicals used in conventional methods. Even now, chemical-contaminated water inevitably winds up in local waterways, particularly in the industrial factories in developing nations where production is frequently outsourced. plants to somewhat purify that wastewater, the industry simply released it into the environment for decades, corroding sewage pipes on its way to rivers and the ocean. Although there are now regulations in place requiring U.S. And that water, chock-full of toxic chemicals, has to go somewhere. It takes between 50 to 100 liters of water to dye just one pair of jeans. The denim industry uses more than 45,000 tons of synthetic indigo a year, along with over 84,000 tons of sodium hydrosulfite as reducing agent and 53,000 tons of lye. Indigo isn't water soluble, though, and has to be reduced with toxic chemicals prior to using it to dye clothing. But the discovery of a way to produce synthetic indigo almost entirely wiped the natural indigo market off the map. Introduced to the Colonies in the 1700s, indigo was an important cash crop for early America. Originally, natural indigo was used to dye textiles. "The textile industry is a classic example of an environmental polluter, and one of the major causes of pollution in the industry is coloration," said Sergiy Minko, corresponding author of the study and the Georgia Power Professor of Fiber and Polymer Science in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. And to top it off, the technology streamlines the process and secures more color than traditional methods. The new technique reduces water usage and eliminates the toxic chemicals that make the dyeing process so environmentally damaging. That's why researchers from the University of Georgia developed a new indigo dyeing technology that's kinder on the planet.
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