Coloration of textiles, traditionally achieved using natural dyes, commonly employs synthetic dyes at the industrial
level. A revival of commercial interest in natural dyes has opened several research avenues. This paper investigates the
application by padding of cotton fabric with 10 g/l of two natural dyes derived from the Acacia plant family. Three
mordanting techniques were studied; of which post-mordanting produced the most even shade. Among the two mordants
investigated, the use of copper sulfate resulted in a level beige shade at 15 g/l concentration while ferrous sulfate performed
best at 5 g/l yielding a yellow-grey shade. An optimum process-sequence for the copper sulfate mordant was “pad
(dye)→dry→steam followed by pad (mordant)→steam→dry”, and for ferrous sulfte it was “pad (dye)→steam→dry
followed by pad (mordant)→steam→dry”. Typically a change in mordant resulted in a different shade with the same dye.
The study concluded that padding is a readily adaptable process for the dyeing of cotton using natural dyes and acceptable
fastness in shades can be obtained.