The globalization of markets and increasing demand for products has created a deep interest in the use of raw materials from natural resources. The natural dyes, especially vegetable colorants, have aroused considerable interest in dyeing textiles due to their eco-friendly nature and the harmful effects of synthetic dyes. The major advantages of natural dyes are that they are biodegradable, non-carcinogenic, non-mutagenic, and have colors that are soothing to human eyes. Dyeing with natural dyes can be a way of value addition to textile products, as mentioned by Gill and Singh (2003).

Owing to the eco-friendly, eco-conservation, eco-protection, and concern over the depleting ecosystem, as well as the global consciousness about the use of eco-friendly dyes due to the hazardous and carcinogenic effects of synthetic dyes, natural dyes are preferred over synthetic dyes (Rani and Singh, 2003).

The main problem with natural dyeing is that the dye uptake is not good, and the variety and intensity of colors are not always adequate. Deo and Paul (2003) revealed that the majority of natural dyes need a mordant in the form of a metallic salt to create an affinity between the fiber and the pigment. While the natural dyes themselves are harmless, the metallic mordants are not generally eco-friendly. In order to develop a totally eco-friendly natural dyeing process, it is necessary to replace the metallic mordants with more eco-friendly processed mordants. The idea of using processed mordants is to reduce the usage of chemicals and to determine the effect of dye uptake, color fastness, and related parameters, as well as the reconstruction and revival of traditional dyeing techniques.

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This article was originally presented in ATNT 2007 held on 18-20, June 2007 at Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. The authors are associated with the Department of Family and Community Science, Avinashilingam Deemed University, Coimbatore.