Sodium carbonate (also referred to as ‘soda ash’) is used in dyeing for the following purposes:
- Scouring cotton and cellulose fibres
- As a fixer for cellulose (plant) fibres and silk with fibre reactive (procion mx) dyes
- As an alkaline colour modifier in natural dyeing
- As an alkali in the indigo and woad (vat dyeing) process
Sodium carbonate is also referred to as soda ash and is similar to washing soda crystals.
