Textile dyeing and printing

Research and Development

Plant-based Dye, Laser Technology, Bio-Engineered Dye and Printing

Plant Based Dyeing Process

Wet Process

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Color Fastness

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Woven

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Wet Process • Color Fastness • Woven •

A display case with various labeled dried herbs and plants, including salvia, carthamustinctorius, pagoda tree flower, cassia seed, golden cypress, gardenia, madder, sappan wood, gallnut, polynum cuspidatum, granatum, and turmeric.
Color swatch with fabric sample and color reference cards for dyed nylon fabric.

Plant Based Dyeing Process

With the help of a Shanghai-based material supplier who specializes in fabric dyeing methods, we have been able to develop a plant-based dyeing process using soluble plant-based dye particles that offer an alternative solution to the polluting dyes like pigments, which are not water soluble and cause environmental pollution.

Laser Technology

Dry Process

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Engraving

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Marking

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Dry Process • Engraving • Marking •

A sheet of black paper with intricate cut-out geometric patterns in a grid, forming a design with repeated square motifs.
Black box with white large text reading 'LUOLAI' and smaller pink text 'CASE STUDIES'. The background has a gray and white geometric pattern. Additional smaller text indicating October 2023, designer Rohán Chakraborty, and location Shanghai China.

Laser Engraving

Laser engraving is an innovative method for surface modification that I explored while preparing a case study on market-focused product offerings for Luolai Home Textile Company Limited, a leading global home textile retailer based in China. In my case study, I demonstrated how the company could utilize laser-cutting technology in the design of both hard and soft-line products. This approach offers an alternative solution for modifying the surfaces of textile materials.

Side-by-side images of a lab experiments setup: the left shows a person operating a laser engraving machine with a red fabric sample on the table; the right shows a close-up of the fabric sample with a yellow design marked on it.

Bioengineered Dyeing Process

Bacterial Dye

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Wet Process

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Woven

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Bacterial Dye • Wet Process • Woven •

Industrial machine pouring blood onto raw meat in a meat processing plant.
Various swatches of blue denim fabric on a white background.
Abstract watercolor painting with white, purple, and orange hues, featuring various organic shapes and textures.
Four fabric swatches with tie-dye patterns in shades of blue, pink, and multicolor, arranged vertically on a white background, with a label in the top right corner displaying fabric details and date.

Bio-Engineered Dyeing Process

This is one of the innovative dyeing and printing procedures for cotton-based fabrics (denim) that uses a colorful wet process to assist bacterial growth on the surface. With the assistance of a material supplier in Dongguan, China, we investigated how the bacterial dyeing process could interact with surface wet processing and printing, which opened up new possibilities for textile dyeing and printing methodologies using the Bio-engineered dyeing process. We also experimented with which colored particles corresponded to the enzymes that aid in bacterial production on the textile surface throughout time. This method produces irregular effects on the surface by dissolving colors as unsaturated gradients, which was exciting to experience. However, the fabric's colorfastness was inadequate, presenting considerable challenges for large-scale commercial purposes.