1. 15FRESHMAN
I N C O O P E R A T I O N W I T H T H E
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLGY
ABSTRACT
The high cost of producing synthetic dyes
forthetextileindustrycallsforalternativesources.
This project aimed to produce powder dye from
coconutlumbersawdust.
Coconutlumbersawdustwasobtainedfrom
alumberyard.Moisturecontentofthesawdustwas
analyzedandthesawdustwasdividedintoreplicates
of400gramseach.Twoofthereplicateswereboiled
in water for one hour while the other two were
boiledfortwohours.Thefiltratesfromthesetups
weredriedtoproducethedye.
Percentageyieldwasdetermined.Thedyes
were tested on silk and cotton cloths using alum
andcoppersulfatesasmordants.Thedyedfabrics
werethenwashedinsoapandweregradedfordegree
ofbleedingandstainingonamultifiberstrip.The
dyeshadgreateraffinitytosilkthancotton.Copper
sulfate is a better mordant for the dye than alum.
Theextractionmethodofboilingforonehourwas
found the more practical method since it took a
shortertime.
INTRODUCTION
Dyesareusedtogivecolortoothermaterials
suchasfibers,leather,wood,food, andpaper.
From prehistoric times until the mid-18th
century,dyeingwasdonewithnaturalsubstances.
Natural dyes were obtained from madder root,
indigo-bearingplants,andotherplants.Bytheendofthe19th
century,
SirWilliamPerkinextractedthefirstsyntheticdye.
Thismarkedtheendofnaturaldyesascommercial
dyesandstartedthewidespreaduseofsyntheticdyes.
The Philippine textile industry uses
commercial synthetic dyes. These dyes are very
expensiveandaffectthepricesofgarments.However,
we should realize that our country has vast natural
resources which we can tap for sources of natural
dyes.
The qualities of a good dye include
colorfastness, stability during washing, and color
intensity.This study determined the feasibility of
producing dye from coconut lumber sawdust.We
alsotestedthe qualityofthedyeextractedbyusing
itontwodifferentfabrics,silk,andcotton.
REVIEWOFRELATEDLITERATURE
Of the hundred of natural dyes discovered,
onlyafewachievedcommercialimportance.These
include dyes such as maclurin and murin. Both are
from fustic wood. Catechin from cutch, curcumin
from roots and shoots of Curcuma tinctura and
quercetinfromquercitronbarkareothernatural dyes.
Crocetin and bixin are used to a limited extent as a
dyestuff(Kirk-OthmerEncyclopedia,1964).Crocetin
istakenfromsaffron,whilebixinisfromtheseeds
andpulpofBixaorellana.
Dyestuffsplayavitalroleintextileandallied
industries. The absence of local manufacturer of
syntheticandnaturaldyestuffsforcesthePhilippinestoimportabout
$20millionworthofdyeing,tanning,andprintingdyestuffannually.
Powder Dye from
Coconut lumber
Sawdust

2. 16 FRESHMAN
ThePhilippineTextileResearchInstiture(PTRI),inabidto
reduceimportationofdyestuffandutilizeindigenousmaterials,works
on local materials as potential dye sources. PTRI has developed a
technology that produces dyestuffs of superior affinity to silk and
wool. The dyes have been applied to cellulosic materials such as
ramie, cotton, and abaca. Most of the dyestuffs produced from
indigenous plants require the use of mordants (Fernandez and De
Gusman,1990).
Mordantsaremetalliccompoundsthatcombinewithdyesto
preventthemfromdissolvingeasily.Theymakethecolorofthedye
lastlonger.Certainmordantsactdirectlyonthefibers,makingthem
moresusceptibletothedye.Othermordantsformacomplexwith
thedye,makingthedyemoreeffective.
Several local plants have been tested for their potential as
sourcesofdyes.Bougainvilliaflowers,camotetops,ipil-ipilleaves,
onionskins,talisayleaves,camachilebark,andguavaleaveshave
beentested.Notallplantdyesshowedacapacitytoretaintheircolor
onthefabric.
MATERIALSANDMETHODS
Coconut lumber sawdust was obtained from a coconut
lumberyard.Ten grams of sawdust were placed under a five-watt
incandescentlighttodetermineitsmoisturecontent.Thesawdust
wasweighedanddividedintoreplicatesof400gramseach.
Toeachreplicate,oneliterofwaterwasadded.Twomethods
ofextractionwereused.Method1usedaproportionof200gsawdust
to1literwaterboiledforonehour.Method2usedthesameratioof
sawdusttowaterboiledfortwohours.
After boiling, the filtrate was separated from the insoluble
sawdust.Thisfiltratewasdriedandservedasthedyepowder.The
yieldfromeachmethodwasanalyzedtodeterminewhichmethod
gavethehigheryield.
The powder dye was then mass produced. It was tested on
wide strips of silk and cotton obtained from PTRI.Two groups of
thefabricsweremordantedwithalum.Theclothwasplacedinthe
mordant solution and heated for an hour.The other group of cloth
wasmordantedwithcoppersulfateweighing5%oftheclothtobe
mordanted.Thesewereheatedforonehour.Aftermordanting,the
clothsweresqueezeddry.
Powder dye, in equal weight as the cloth to be dyed, was
dissolved in water in a 30:1 ratio. The fabric to be dyed was then
placedinthedyesolutionandallowedtostain.Itwaslatertakenout
ofthedyesolutionandleftinacooldryplacetodry.
Bleedingtestwasperformedonone-halfofthedyedfabric.
Thefabricwascutintohalf.Amulti-fiberstripwasbastestitchedto
oneoftheclothhalves.Thisclothwaswashedina50:1soapsolution.
Thenitwasrinsedinwarmwateranddried.Theclothwascompared
to the unwashed half for extent of color bleeding. The cloth was
gradedaccordingtothesystemofthePTRI,asfollows:
5minimaltonobleeding/staining
4slightbleeding/staining
3noticeablebleeding/staining
2considerablebleeding/staining
1muchbleeding/staining
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
Thepercentageyieldsforthetwoextractionmethodswere
low. See Table 1. This may be due to the high moisture content
(67%) of the sawdust. The 400g of sawdust weighed was mostly
duetothemoisture.
The dye produced from Method 1 was darker than the dye
from Method 2. It had a greater staining property on the cotton.
However,thedyedcottonbled,particularlywiththedyeproduced
fromMethod1.
Whentestedonsilk,thedyeofMethods1and2producedthe
sameresults.Slighttonobleedingandstainingwereobservedinthe
clothsaftertheywerewashed.
The dye had a greater affinity to silk than cotton. The dyed
silkweredarkerandminimalbleedingoccurred.Thisgreateraffinity
tosilkmaybeduetothefactthatsilkisananimalfiberwhilecotton
isavegetablefiber.Whilecottonismainlycellulosic,silkiscomposed
of animal protein. It is possible that silk fibers retain the dye than
cellulose.
Betweenalumandcoppersulfate,coppersulfatewasobserved
asabettermordant.Morecolorisimpartedtotheclothwhencopper
sulfate is used. This may be due to the dye reacting better with
coppersulfatethanwithalum.Tables2and3showtheeffectsofthe
dyeandthemordantsusedonthetestfabric.
Thebleedingtestshowedthatthedyecancausenostaining
onundyedfabric.Thismeansthatitwouldnotaffectthecolorsof
fabricswhenaclothdyedwiththesawdustdyeiswashedtogether
withotherfabrics.
For better extraction of dye from sawdust, the authors
recommend soaking the sawdust for some time before boiling it.
Alcoholmaybeusedtoextractthedyeinsteadofwater.Useofother
mordants,suchasironsulfate,isalsorecommended.

3. 17FRESHMAN
Adviser:
Ms. Doreen Darvin
Philippine Science High School, Quezon City
Researchers:
Harold Louis Trinidad
DC Vincent Saguin
Wilson Namocot, Jr.
Avon Aurel de Guzman
Table II. Effect of the dye on silk
Method Mordant Degree of Degree of
bleeding staining
1 alum 4-5 5
copper sulfate 4-5 5
2 alum 4-5 5
copper sulfate 4-5 5
Table III. Effect of the dye on cotton
Method Mordant Degree of Degree of
bleeding staining
1 alum 2-3 5
coppersulfate 2-3 5
2 alum 3-4 5
Table I. Yield analysis of sawdust
Method Replicate Weight of Dye % yield
1 1 3.7g 0.93
2 3.6g 0.90
2 1 4.6g 1.15
2 4.0g 1.0
coppersulfate 3-4 5
Note
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