Chemicals for textiles, dyes and leather

Textile wet processing uses more chemistry by weight than almost any other consumer industry. Fibres are scoured with alkali, bleached with peroxide, dyed in baths loaded with salt and soda ash, then neutralised and finished. Upstream, dye manufacturers build azo and reactive colours from naphthalene sulfonic acids, naphthols and diazotising agents.

Inputs for mills and dye makers

For pretreatment and dyeing, Inorganics and Metals covers caustic soda, sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate, hydrogen peroxide, sodium dithionite and sodium nitrite. Acetic and formic acid for pH control, urea for printing pastes and formaldehyde for resin finishes are listed under Specialty Chemicals. Colour manufacturers can source H-acid, 2-naphthol and related aromatic amines and sulfonic acids from Pharmaceutical Intermediates, where much of our aromatic chemistry sits.

Gujarat hosts one of the largest dye and intermediate clusters in Asia, which keeps lead times short for many of these items.

Compliance and safety

Brands increasingly ask mills for restricted-substance evidence. We send a COA and GHS SDS with every lot and can request additional composition statements from the producer. Sodium dithionite is self-heating and is packed in moisture-tight drums, stowed away from heat sources and acids.