A method for producing a covering element made from natural fibres, in particular cellulose, impregnated with bitumen, includes a step of coating at least one of two faces of a fibre mat (4) followed by a step of impregnating with bitumen, the coating being carried out with a liquid composition (5) including at least one resin and/or at least one pigment. The liquid composition is a dye composition including at least one pigment and at least one resin, and the method involves adding an additive to the liquid composition (5), the additive having fireproof properties and including at least graphite and a cooling agent. Preferably, the mat (4) is coated with the liquid composition including the fireproof additive using a roller.

A sunshade includes a support frame and a canopy connected to the support frame and including a light-transmissible fabric sheet of undyed yarns that has opposite inner and outer surfaces, an ink layer formed on one of the inner and outer surfaces of the light-transmissible fabric sheet using dye-sublimation printing techniques, and an opaque enamel coating coated on the other of the inner and outer surfaces of the light-transmissible fabric sheet. The undyed yarns are woven and cross one another to form fabric pores thereamong. The opaque enamel coating fills the fabric pores. A method of preparing a canopy is disclosed.

Disclosed is a leather-like sheet having a lightness L* of 35 or less, and including a fiber structure including fiber dyed with a dye composition including C.I. Basic Blue 3 and at least one blue cationic dye other than C.I. Basic Blue 3, and an elastic polymer contained in internal voids of the fiber structure, or the fiber structure. Also disclosed is a leather-like sheet having a lightness L* of 35 or less, and including a fiber structure including fiber dyed with an azo-based blue cationic dye, and an elastic polymer contained in internal voids of the fiber structure, wherein the leather-like sheet or the fiber structure has a color difference (E), determined when treated for 48 hours under moist and hot conditions of 80 C. and a moisture of 90%, of E2. or the fiber structure

A method of treating a substrate, comprising providing a substrate having a generally sheet or planar form or a fiber or yarn form; providing a colorant to be set at the surface of the substrate; and subjecting the substrate and colorant to reactive species from a plasma generated by an atmospheric plasma apparatus until the colorant is set at the surface of the substrate. A method of setting a colorant on a substrate, comprising performing an etch operation, or plasma pre-treatment to change surface charge, on a substrate using a plasma, particularly a plasma generated at atmospheric conditions, to create a desired surface texture, or surface charge, at the surface of substrate; and depositing a colorant on the surface under plasma or non-plasma conditions; and allowing the colorant to set at the surface of the substrate.

In one aspect, floor coverings are described herein comprising nylon fibers dyed with at least one vat dyestuff, the dyed nylon fibers exhibiting enhancements to lightfastness, color fastness, wet fastness and/or resistance to household bleach.

An organic colorant complex with the following general structure:

AB.sub.n(DE).sub.mT.sub.xQ.sub.y

wherein A is an organic chromophore; B is an electrophilic reactive group covalently bonded to A directly or through a linking group; D is a nucleophilic linking group covalently bonding B and E, selected from the group consisting of NR, O, S, and 4-oxyanilino (HN-Ph-O); wherein R is selected from the group consisting of H, alkyl, aryl, and E; E is an organic alkyl and aryl group or an end group; T is an ionic group covalently linked to A; Q is an organic cation, bonded to the organic chromophore A through ionic interaction with T; n, m, x, and y are independent integers from 1 to 10.

A cloth structure includes a bottom cloth layer, a biting layer combined with the bottom cloth layer, and a color layer combined with the biting layer. A tissue material polymer forms a substrate which is treated by a non-toxic fluorescent bleaching process to form the bottom cloth layer. A first fluorescent color paste has a first color pigment, and a second fluorescent color paste has a second color pigment. The first fluorescent color paste is coated on the bottom cloth layer to form the biting layer. The second fluorescent color paste is coated on the biting layer, to form the color layer. The surface of the bottom cloth layer is dried, and formaldehyde is removed from the surface of the bottom cloth layer, to form the cloth structure.

Disclosed is a napped artificial leather including: a non-woven fabric containing polyester fibers having an average fineness of 0.07 to 0.9 dtex; and an elastic polymer applied in the non-woven fabric, wherein the polyester fibers contain 0.5 to 10 mass % of a dark color pigment, the napped artificial leather has a napped surface on which the polyester fibers on at least one side thereof are napped, and the napped surface has a lightness L* value based on the L*a*b* color system, of ?20, and the napped artificial leather has a peel strength of 3 kg/cm or more, and a grade of color difference, determined using a Grey scale for assessing staining in an evaluation of color migration to a multifiber adjacent fabric (co-woven fabric No. 1; the same applied to the following) during pressurization under heating in a wet state under a load of 4 kPa at 200? C. for 60 seconds, of 4 or more.

A skin material (1) includes a cellular heat-insulating layer (3) and a coloring layer (4) which are sequentially stacked on a fibrous substrate (2) and has protrusions and recesses on a front face (6). The cellular heat-insulating layer (3) has a softening temperature of 110 to 250 C. A contact cool feeling (Qmax) of the front face (6) of the skin material (1) is 0.30 W/cm.sup.2 or less both before and after a heat treatment for 2400 hours at 70 C.

Foamed, opacifying element comprising a thermal colorant image is prepared using a porous substrate having an opposing external surface and an internal surface, and a dry foamed composition disposed on the internal surface of the porous substrate as a dry opacifying layer that has a light blocking value of at least 4 as well as a luminous reflectance that is greater than 40% as measured by the Y tristimulus value. A thermal colorant image is provided on either the opposing external surface, the dry opacifying layer, or both the opposing external surface and the dry opacifying layer, by thermal colorant transfer from a thermal donor element comprising a colorant donor layer having one or more thermal colorants.