Abstract
Bacteria exist everywhere and continuously come into contact with daily surroundings and humans. Super bacterium methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, resistant to methicillin, has recently appeared. The morbidity and rate of death associated with super bacteria infection has increased. This study investigated the antibacterial activity of fabrics naturally dyed with Chamaecyparis obtusa leaves extract against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Fabrics were left for 15 min in a natural dyeing solution prepared by extraction from C. obtusa leaves using 11.3% (o.w.f) with a fixed liquor ratio of 1:22 at $40^{\circ}C$. The dyeing process was conducted using three different mordants; subsequently, the K/S value of the dyed fabrics increased in the order of None < Cu < Fe < Al. The color fastness property of the fabrics to washing, dry-cleaning, and rubbing was found to be excellent and ranked in the 4-5 grade. The color fastness to light of natural dyeing is low in most cases and has the problem that the dye color soon becomes bleached. Yet, in most cases cloth dyed with retinispora leaves, the color fastnezz to light was good with a third to fourth grade. Non-mordant fabrics, aluminum mordants, and copper mordants also showed better antibacterial properties (99.9% reduction) against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, compared to the control fabrics. The dyed fabrics showed the same antibacterial activity even after three washes. The results highlight the strong potential of fabrics naturally dyed with C. obtusa-extract as a medicinal material with excellent antibacterial function against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
