Abstract
Dyeing liquor was extracted from flowers, leaves and stems of balsamine. Dyeing properties, colorfastness and antibacterial activities of the fabrics dyed with the balsamine extracts were investigated at a variety of dyeing conditions of differing pH. time and temperature. Wool, silk and nylon fabrics showed better dyeability than cellulosic fabrics, i.e. cotton, linen and rayon. Especially, nylon fabrics showed the highest K/S values. The dye-uptake was achieved to the highest degree during the first ten minutes of dyeing procedure. All fabrics were dyed well at $40^\circ{C}$ with no pH adjustment. The pH of unadjusted balsamine extracts was 4.6. Their colorfastnesses to washing, drycleaning and perspiration were good as 4 or 4-5 grade. but the light fastnesses were poor as 1-2 grade. While, the antibacterial activities to Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae were excellent with 99.9% of colonies reduction ratio. Their excellent antibacterial activity was kept well after ten times washing.