Poly(oxyethylene) alkylamine type nonionic surfactants were used in order to investigate their retarding, migration, and reserving effects in dyeing silk fabrics with milling type acid dyes. Three different alkylamines (stearlyamine, oleylamine, and laurylamine) and different numbers of ethylene oxide groups (10, 15, 20, 30, 40, and 60) were used for this purpose. The poly(oxyethylene) stearlyamine with 10 moles of ethylene oxide groups, which has the strongest cationic characteristics, showed the best results in terms of retarding and reserving effects. However, it cannot be used as a levelling agent due to its strong affinity to dyes which may result in incomplete removal from a fabric surface after dyeing. The poly(oxyethylene) laurylamines with various numbers of ethylene oxide groups were also found to be unsuitable as a levelling agent for silk fabric due to its low retarding effect. On the other hand, both the stearylamine and poly(oxyethylene) oleylamine, each with 60 moles of ethylene oxide groups, were found to be suitable as levelling agents for silk fabric due to their moderate affinity to dyes.
