Italy-based Master S.r.l. reports it has combined its IndigoRope rope-dyeing machine with the new
Genius/C integrated dyeing module to create the IndigoRope Genius/C dyeing machine for ecological
indigo dyeing. The new technology improves upon traditional rope dyeing machinery with the addition
of the Genius/C dyeing vat module — an inert environment in which dyestuff diffusion and fixation
take place under leuco conditions using adjustable heat activation and variable timing. The module
also immerses the yarn in the dyestuff and squeezes the yarn to eliminate excess dyestuff.
According to the company, the machine is mechanically versatile; and by altering the physical and
chemical characteristics of the dyebath, special dyeing methods can be achieved as well as
traditional indigo dyeing.
Master reports the new module offers the following ecological and economical advantages over
traditional dye vats: fewer dye vats and improved indigo and sulfur dye penetration, higher
diffusion and better fixation in the fiber; decreased dyebath volume; an approximately 50-percent
reduction in hydrosulfite and soda consumption; decreased wash water consumption; increased dyeing
output — up to 40 percent when using sulfur dyestuffs; and decreased sulfites and sulfates in the
wastewater. According to the company, the leuco dyeing environment results in total indigo chemical
reduction, which may even eliminate the need for a fixing agent.
In summary, by using the Genius/C module, Master has taken the repeated three steps common to
traditional indigo dyeing methods — soaking the yarn with dyestuff, squeezing the yarn to eliminate
excess dyebath and air leuco oxidation — and combined them into a step that involves the hot leuco
diffusion and fixation with yarn immersion and yarn squeezing in an inert environment.
July/August/September 2013