Why does a cotton kameez shrink after washing?

Shrinkage is decided during pre-treatment at the mill, before the fabric is printed. Cotton is held under tension through weaving and processing, and the fibre wants to return. If the cloth is relaxed and pre-shrunk properly at that stage, it has already done most of its moving before it is sold. If it is not, it moves in the first wash instead.

Why does printed cotton bleed color in the first wash?

Reactive dye bonds chemically to cotton, but a fraction of it never bonds and remains loose on the surface. That fraction has to be washed out at the mill through a wash range. If the wash-off is cut short, the unbonded dye stays on the cloth and comes out in the customer's first wash. It is a processing decision, not a dye quality problem.

Can reactive dye be used on polyester or nylon?

No. Reactive dye works by forming a chemical bond with cellulose, which is what cotton is. Polyester and nylon have nothing for it to bond to. On a cotton blend the dye holds on the cotton fibers and leaves the synthetic ones undyed, which shows as pale or white gaps running through the printed pattern.

The Floor

Every stage of printing cotton at our family mill in Dhaka, from raw greige cloth to the finished bolt.

THE FLOOR

How printed cotton is actually made

Our family has run a printing mill in Dhaka for over forty years. This page is that floor, stage by stage. Nothing on it is for sale.