Is Cotton Metal Content Affected By Environment and Does the Metal Content Affect Dyeability?

Uniformly dyed fabrics are sought after and parameters affecting this efficacy is of interest. It has long been believed that environmental and genetic factors influence dye uptake. Of note as well is that metal ion content may affect dyeability. In the current study, the effect of select metals in contact with cotton fibers from various cultivars and environments were studied. Metal ions on cotton fibers in the raw state, scoured and bleached state were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Bleached fibers were dyed with a reactive dye bath and studied with a three-dimensional color assay to determine ΔE color change dye uptake. Results show that of the calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus studied, calcium was the most abundant throughout the textile treatments. Studies of various cultivars grown in Lubbock, TX were compared to a single cultivar grown in various locations. Environmental factors proved to be more influential in metal content on cotton fibers compared to different varieties for raw, scoured, and bleached cotton. Color change data show a larger range when varying cultivar compared to varying location for bleached and dyed cotton. Overall, data show that there is no direct correlation between dye uptake and metals present on cotton fiber during processing. However, growing location effects were confirmed