The modern denim industry is moving in the direction of sustainability starting from the raw material source to end product. We are witnessing denim washes with minimal dry process and raw looks to encourage lesser processing and thus lesser use of resources for a pair of jeans. The forecast in denim industry is very clear and everybody is looking for sustainable denim products. The overall denim industry is wasting a lot of resources, starting from the cultivation land and water required for growing cotton, use of excessive chemicals to energy consumption in denim processing and supply chain. In such a situation specifying a corner of stores for a bunch of extremely sustainable products is not a long term solution. We must adopt sustainable practices throughout the supply chain of denim industry. For instance, promoting the use of Organic Cotton and Post Consumer Cotton even in small percentage are better options because any product can be converted into a sustainable one. Similarly we need to evolve denim processing in a much responsible way.
In this regard researchers at Indigo Textile Pvt Ltd have introduced a sustainable technique not only for the denim fabric processing but it is also supportive in garment low impact washing. This dyeing technique ensures deposition of indigo dye only in the circumference of yarn making sure that there is no dye loss in the core, as shown in Fig 1 where cross section of warp yarn is white and bright with only outer deposition of Indigo.
Fig 1: Cross Section of Orbit Dyed Yarn
The sustainable benefits of Orbit Dyeing Technology can be divided in to denim processing and garment washing. Firstly, I will discuss the savings of Orbit dyeing during denim processing.
In usual rope dyeing technique for instance, a 6% shade has a typical dye loss of 2% in the core so the visible part is only 4% which is present on the yarn surface. With Orbit dyeing the same shade appearance can be achieved with 4% dye shade as there is no loss of dye into the core of the yarn and all of the dye molecules are present on the surface. This way we can reduce the chemical consumption upto 35%. Similarly, we can achieve a 4 dips shade in 3 dips as the yarn is more prepared for absorbing the dye much quickly. Therefore, water consumption and energy requirement can be reduced depending upon the shade depth. According to in-house calculations water and energy consumption can be reduced upto 30%.
Chart 1: Benefits of Orbit Dyeing
Denim fabric with Orbit dyeing is an ideal base fabric for sustainable denim washing mainly because of its brilliant cut off against laser. As the core of the yarn is white, it requires less laser intensity in comparison to normal denim fabric. For instance if normal fabric requires an intensity of 70 then Orbit dyed fabric can produce similar results at an intensity of 50. This not only reduces the energy consumption, but it also helps in avoiding the strength issues which are usually associated with laser washed denim. However, the biggest advantage of Orbit denim is time saving in laser dry process. Usually, to achieve required fading and brightness in dry process additional/manual touch ups are required in laser washes specially in production, with Orbit technology this can be reduced significantly as the colour cut off is already bright. In addition to this, another benefit is the quick wash off property of orbit dyed fabric, which results in reducing the overall wash time, thus saving energy.
Fig 2: Orbit Dyed Jacket
We have seen that it is really easier to achieve low EIM scores during garment washing with the help of Orbit dyeing technology. It is a step forward towards sustainable practices in denim processing by Indigo Textile.
| Water consumption of INDIGO TEXTILE Dyeing
(IMP GALLON) |
|||
| Year | OCT-15 To Sep-16 | OCT-16 To Sep-17 | OCT-17 To Sep-18 |
| Fabric Production (Meter) | 19716748 | 21630071 | 24063144 |
| Water consumption of Dyeing (IMP GALLON) | 28802700. | 25016090 | 26369500 |
| Gal/meter | 1.461 | 1.157 | 1.096 |
| Percentage Reduction | 20.8% | 5.2% | |
Below is the comparison of some of our most running articles in Conventional dyeing and Orbit Dyeing
Comparison of Conventional Dyeing and Orbit Dyeing
| Article Name | Water in Ltr @13500 m Conventional Dyeing | Water in Ltr @13500 m Orbit Dyeing | Water Saving in Ltr | % Saving |
| Caspian | 134469 | 117575 | 16894 | 12.6 |
| Lucy | 59207 | 49365 | 9842 | 16.6 |
| Victoria | 78400 | 62720 | 15680 | 20.0 |
| Cedric | 131571 | 108256 | 23315 | 17.7 |