A whitening composition for fabric, in particular, unbleached cellulosic fiber-containing fabric. The composition includes a blue dye, a violet dye; and, optionally, a thickening agent; wherein the composition is free of bleaching agents and optical brighteners. A method of whitening a fabric using whitening compositions is also disclosed.

The present invention generally relates to a method for changing the color of a textile material to obtain a vintage and/or worn appearance comprising the steps of contacting the fabric textile material with a nitrate salt, activating the nitrate salt by the addition of an acid catalyst until the desired color change is achieved.

The present invention generally relates to a method for changing the color of a textile material to obtain a vintage and/or worn appearance comprising the steps of contacting the fabric textile material with a nitrate salt, activating the nitrate salt by the addition of an acid catalyst until the desired color change is achieved.

A whitening composition for fabric, in particular, unbleached cellulosic fiber-containing fabric is described. The composition includes a blue dye, a violet dye; and, optionally, a thickening agent; wherein the composition is free of bleaching agents and optical brighteners. A method of whitening a fabric using whitening compositions is also disclosed.

A whitening composition for fabric, in particular, unbleached cellulosic fiber-containing fabric is described. The composition includes a blue dye, a violet dye; and, optionally, a thickening agent; wherein the composition is free of bleaching agents and optical brighteners. A method of whitening a fabric using whitening compositions is also disclosed.

The present invention is directed to a method for scouring and increasing the brightness of non-wood fibers. The method comprises forming a mixture of non-wood fibers, exposing the mixture to a scouring liquor and a scouring agent comprising oxygen gas to form a scouring mixture, and scouring the scouring mixture by radially circulating the scouring liquor throughout the scouring mixture to provide scoured fibers.

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for cleaning a substrate, such as a fabric material, involving the application of optical energy to the substrate, typically in the form of a beam of light, where the energy of the beam causes removal of the contaminant from substrate, such as from the fibres of a fabric material. The cleaning may occur via any mechanism, including one or more of, alone or in any combination, ablation, melting, heating or reaction with the substrate or contaminant or agent introduced to aid in the cleaning. The optical energy is typically applied to a selected area of the substrate (e.g., as a beam), and the substrate and beam or optical energy source moved relative to one another so as to clean a larger area of the substrate, either by moving the substrate or the beam, or both. Movement of the beam with respect to the substrate can be attained through a beam scanning mechanism or through movement of the optical source itself.

Disclosed are methods and apparatus for cleaning a substrate, such as a fabric material, involving the application of optical energy to the substrate, typically in the form of a beam of light, where the energy of the beam causes removal of the contaminant from substrate, such as from the fibres of a fabric material. The cleaning may occur via any mechanism, including one or more of, alone or in any combination, ablation, melting, heating or reaction with the substrate or contaminant or agent introduced to aid in the cleaning. The optical energy is typically applied to a selected area of the substrate (e.g., as a beam), and the substrate and beam or optical energy source moved relative to one another so as to clean a larger area of the substrate, either by moving the substrate or the beam, or both. Movement of the beam with respect to the substrate can be attained through a beam scanning mechanism or through movement of the optical source itself.

The invention refers to a natural fiber treatment process in order to enable the fibers to be conditioned for optimal yarn production, and subsequently of base fabrics. The process comprises the stages of an alkaline treatment, bleaching and the addition of a softening agent.

The invention concerns a method for decoloring of a textile material, the method comprising the steps of: providing a textile material; providing an alkaline solution containing one or more anionic polyelectrolytes; treating the textile material in the alkaline solution during a treatment period; and recovering at least some of the textile material from the alkaline solution.