Eye-catching, aesthetic fashions often suppress its untold dark story of unsustainable processing including hazardous wet treatment. Considering the risks imposed by conventional cotton scouring and following the trend of scouring with enzymes, this study was undertaken to evaluate the bioscouring of cotton knit fabric involving saponin-enriched soapnut as a natural surfactant, applied from a bath requiring a few chemicals and gentle processing conditions, contributing to the eco-friendliness. The proposed application was compared to synthetic detergent engaged enzymatic scouring as well as the classic scouring with Sodium hydroxide. A cellulolytic pectate lyase enzyme (0.5%–0.8% o.w.f) was applied at 55 °C for 60 min at pH 5–5.5 with varying surfactant concentrations. A low concentration of soapnut extract (1 g/L to 2 g/L) was found sufficient to assist in the removal of non-cellulosic impurities from the cotton fabric after bioscouring with 0.5% o.w.f. enzyme, leading to good hydrophilicity indicated by an average wetting time of 4.86 s at the expense of 3.1%–3.8% weight loss. The scoured fabrics were further dyed with 1% o.w.f. reactive dye to observe the dyeing performance. The treated samples were characterized in terms of weight loss, wettability, bursting strength, whiteness index, and color value. The proposed application confronted level dyeing and the ratings for color fastness to washing and rubbing were 4–5 for all of the samples scoured enzymatically with soapnut. The study was also statistically analyzed and concluded.

Banana fibers being highly strong and biodegradable, have always been an interesting aspect of polymer science. The research examines the pretreatment process to enhance the dyeability of banana fibers with synthetic dyes, followed by the preparation of polypropylene (PP) composites with dyed fibers to explore their mechanical properties. Raw banana fibers were extracted from the pseudo stems of banana plants for pretreating with sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide and further dyed in the exhaust method using direct, basic, reactive, and vat dyes. Despite a decrease in fiber strength, the scoured‐bleached fibers appeared whiter and lustrous compared to untreated fibers. Direct dye exhibited a higher color strength (K/S) value of 20.7 and better wash fastness on average of 4‐3 rating compared to basic dye. Later polypropylene sheets were prepared using a Hot Plate Molding Machine, and composite specimens were fabricated by sandwiching the fibers between PP sheets and hot pressing. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed minor bond formations between the dyed fibers and polypropylene matrix in composites showing significant bonding at NH, CH, and OH regions. The composites containing dyed fibers showed slight improvements in tensile strength and modulus which is at best 2% than that of untreated fiber.Highlights: Direct and basic dyes were determined as the most suitable synthetic dyes. FTIR analysis revealed minimal bond formation between the fiber and PP matrix. Composites having dyed banana fiber showed little better mechanical features.

Conventional reducing agents are effective in discharge printing, but concerns about chemical safety, environmental impact, and sustainability have encouraged the quest for greener alternatives. This study aims to evaluate orange and pineapple peel extracts as natural reducing agents for discharge printing on reactive-dyed cotton fabrics and compare their performance with conventional agents (thiourea dioxide, sodium sulfoxylate formaldehyde, and sodium dithionite) in terms of color strength reduction, whiteness index, and bursting strength. Aqueous extracts of orange peels and pineapple peels were prepared by boiling in water and applied via discharge printing on reactive-dyed cotton fabrics. Infrared spectroscopic analysis of the extracts supported the presence of hydroxyl- and carbonyl-associated functional groups consistent with phytochemicals capable of reducing activity, while that of the discharged fabrics indicated noticeable changes in dye-related absorption bands, particularly in the fingerprint region. Comparison with traditional reducing agents showed that both fruit peel extracts effectively discharged the dye. Although performance varied slightly with dye shade, pineapple peel extract achieved the highest reduction (95.60%) in color strength. Conventional discharging agents generally produced higher whiteness responses, but the fruit peel extracts still provided substantial discharge with acceptable optical and mechanical performance. Bursting strength measurements showed moderate loss of strength (14.73% to 21.65%) after printing. Overall, the results demonstrate that orange and pineapple peel extracts can serve as promising natural reducing agents for bio-based discharge printing.