SINGAPORE – A new way to dye denim in bulk using sprays instead of traditional dyebaths is currently being used by select textile mills in India, Turkey and Pakistan which it’s claimed could significantly reduce the environmental impact of jeans production worldwide.
The original indigo spray dyeing process was first introduced at ITMA Milan 2015 by DyStar and German textile machine builder RotaSpray, but at that stage it wasn’t scalable for dyehouses at large denim mills.
Now though, the two companies say they have improved this ‘salt-less’ indigo dyeing technique – which also avoids the use of harsh chemical reducing agents – to ramp up spray-dyed denim production capacities.
“On our first trials and on the bulk denim production we have integrated new spray units into existing dye ranges,” Günther Widler, head of denim technology at DyStar told Ecotextile News, “meanwhile, we now know what a totally new denim dyeing machinery concept could look like.”
