Color Kitchens

COLOUR KITCHENS:-

THE COLOUR KITCHEN CAN BE A MANUAL SYSTEM WHERE ALL THE OPERATIONS FOR PREPARING THE THICKENER, WEIGHING THE DYES AND THE AUXILIARIES, DISSOLVING AND PREPARING OF MASTER BATCHES AND CUTTING PASTES IS MANUALLY CARRIED OUT BY THE OPERATORS WORKING ON THE COLOUR KITCHEN.
THIS APPROACH TO WORK ENTAILS SOME PROBLEMS BOTH FOR HEALTH PROTECTION AND RESULTS; SMALL INACCURACIES, MOMENTARY DISTRACTION OF THE OPERATOR AS WELL AS DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING OF VARIOUS OPERATORS CAN COMPROMISE THE REPRODUCIBILITY OF RESULTS.
NOW MANY MANUFACTURERS USE AUTOMATIC COLOUR KITCHEN BOTH FOR SAMPLING AND PRODUCTION PURPOSES. IN THESE COLOUR KITCHENS THE VARIOUS MASTER BATCHES AND THE CUTTING THICKENERS ARE STORED IN BIG CONTAINERS FROM WHICH THEY ARE AUTOMATICALLY TAKEN BY MEANS OF PUMPS TO BE THEN USED OR TO PREPARE THE CUTS. SPECIAL AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS CAN REPRODUCE THE STORED RECIPES (BY RECALLING THEM BY MEANS OF THE KEYBOARD) AND ACCURATELY WEIGH, BLEND AND MIX THE COMPONENTS.
IN SEVERAL COLOUR KITCHENS THE BALANCE INCORPORATING THE CONTAINER FOR PREPARING THE PASTES IS PLACED ON A TROLLEY, WHICH IS MOVED AUTOMATICALLY UNDER THE DISPENSER NOZZLE OF THE CONTAINERS (FOR CUTTING AND BLENDING THE VARIOUS MASTER BATCHES). IN OTHER COLOUR KITCHENS DISTRIBUTION NOZZLES ARE ASSEMBLED ALL TOGETHER ABOVE THE BALANCE. THE PRODUCTS MUST BE PERFECTLY BLENDED BEFORE USE.

Dyed and Pigments

DYES AND PIGMENTS:-

• COLORANTS ARE USED IN TEXTILES TO GIVE COLOUR TO TEXTILES.
• THESE ARE CHEMICAL KNOWN AS DYES AND PIGMENTS.
• THE MOST COMMON OF THESE ARE DYES.
• THERE ARE HUNDRED OF DYES AVAILABLE FOR USE IN MANUFACTURING; THE MOST COMMONLY USED OF THESE CATEGORIES ARE:

DIRECT DYES:-

A CHEAP AND LOW COLOUR FAST DYE USED ON CELLULOSICFIBRES, (SUCH AS COTTON, FLAX, RAYON ETC); THEY OFFER A WIDE RANGE OF COLOURS, BUT THE COLOURS MAY NOT BE AS BRIGHT OR INTENSE AS DESIRED. THESE DYES MAY BE LOSE COLOUR IN WASHING AND LAUNDERING.

REACTIVE DYES:-

USED ON CELLULOSIC FIBRES (COTTON,RAYON), PROTEIN FIBRES (WOOL,SILK) AND NYLON. THESE DYES OFFER GOOD COLOUR FASTNESS AND VERY BRIGHT COLOURS ARE POSSIBLE. REACTIVE ARE MOST POPULAR DYESTUFF IN THE WORLD.

VAT DYES:-

CAN BE USED ON COTTON, ACRYLIC AND NYLON. THESE ARE CONSIDERED TO BE THE MOST COLOURFAST OF ALL DYE CLASSES.THEY ARE USED IN TEXTILE PRODUCTS REQUIRING COLOURFASTNESS TO COMMERCIAL LAUNDERING WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES AND POSSIBLY BLEACH. (EXAMPLES: UNIFORMS, COMMERCIAL LINES, ETC.

ACID DYES:-

USED ON NYLON, SPANDEX AND SOME SPECIALIZED ACRYLICS. THESE DYES OFFER A WIDE RANGE OF BRIGHT COLOURS, BUT THE COLOUR FASTNESS VARIES WITH THE DIFFERENT DYES IN THE CLASSIFICATION.

CATIONIC OR BASIC DYES:-

USED PRIMARILY ON ACRYLIC. THESE DYES PRODUCT BRIGHT COLOURS WITH EXCELLENT COLOUR FASTNESS.

DISPERSED DYES:-

USED ON POLYESTER, NYLON, ACETATE AND OTHERS, A GOOD RANGE OF COLOUR IS AVAILABLE WITH THESE DYES BUT COLOUR FASTNESS CAN VARY CONSIDERABLY.

PIGMENTS:-

ANOTHER IMPORTANT CATEGORY OF COLORANTS USED IS KNOWN AS PIGMENTS. MOST DYES ARE DISSOLVED IN WATER, ABSORBED INTO THE FIBRES, BUT PIGMENTS ONLY LIE ON THE SURFACE. THEY DO NOT ADHERE TO THE FABRIC WITHOUT A RESIN BINDER. THIS BINDER WHICH IS USUALLY MIXED WITH THE PIGMENT, ACTS LIKE AN ADHESIVE. THE TWO MOST COMMON USES FOR PIGMENTS ARE PRINTING OPERATIONS AND SOLUTION DYEING OF THE POLYMER MELT PRIOR TO EXTRUSION OF SOME SYNTHETIC FIBRES.

How is color defined?

HOW IS COLOR DEFINED?

THREE VALUES ARE USED TO DEFINE A COLOR: FIRST IS THEHUE, SOMETIMES CALLED SHADE, SECOND IS THE CHROMA AND THE THIRD IS THE LIGHTNESS. EVERY COLOR CAN BE DESCRIBED USING THESE THREE VALUES AND TAKING THE TYPE OF LIGHT INTO CONSIDERATION. THIS IS THE BASIS OF COLORIMETRY.

DIFFERENT SHADES OF COLOR ARE ARRANGED IN A HUE CIRCLE RUNNING CLOCKWISE FROM YELLOW THROUGH ORANGE, RED, VIOLET, BLUE, BLUISH GREEN AND GREEN BACK TO YELLOW AGAIN. A COLOR SHADE MAY BE LIGHTER OR DARKER DEPENDING ON ITS LIGHTNESS. IF THE CHROMA OF A COLOR IS REDUCED, THEN THIS COLOR WILL BE LESS BRILLIANT (CLOSER TO GRAY). IF THE SATURATION IS ZERO THEN WE TALK OF AN ACHROMATIC COLOR. BLACK, WHITE AND ALL OF THE INTERMEDIATE SHADES OF GRAY ARE ACHROMATIC COLORS, DETERMINED BY THEIR LIGHTNESS.

What are color differnces?

WHAT ARE COLOR DIFFERENCES?

MANY INDUSTRIES THAT USE COLORING PROCESSES HAVE TO SUPPLY PRODUCTS THAT ARE THE SAME COLOR AND THAT LOOK THE SAME, MEANING THAT DEVIATIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL OR THE STANDARD HAVE TO BE AS SLIGHT AS POSSIBLE. IN PRACTICE IT IS IN MOST CASES NOT POSSIBLE TO MATCH THE COLOR OF A PRODUCT 100%, AS EVEN THE SAME SAMPLE (E.G. A T-SHIRT) WILL EXHIBIT MINIMAL COLOR DIFFERENCES IN DIFFERENT PLACES, ALTHOUGH THESE ARE NOT VISIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYE.
COLOR DIFFERENCES SUCH AS THESE CAN BE MEASURED AND RECORDED USING COLORIMETRY. IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE COLOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO SAMPLES, THE COLOR COORDINATES OF THE STANDARD AND THE MATCH ARE ENTERED IN A COLOR SPACE. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO POINTS AS ENTERED REPRESENTS THE COLOR DIFFERENCE OF THE TWO SAMPLES.
THE CIELAB COLOR SYSTEM AND COLOR DIFFERENCES ARE USED HERE IN MOST CASES.
DE* REPRESENTS THE TOTAL COLOR DIFFERENCE, WHICH IS MADE UP OF THE DIFFERENCES IN CHROMA, DC*, (MORE BRILLIANT / DULLER), HUE, DH*, (GREENER, YELLOWER, BLUER, REDDER ...) AND LIGHTNESS, DL*, (LIGHTER OR DARKER). THE TOTAL COLOR DIFFERENCE CAN ALSO BE MADE UP OF THE DIFFERENCE IN LIGHTNESS, DL*, A*, DA*, AND B*, DB*.

What is color?

WHAT IS COLOR?

WITHOUT LIGHT THERE IS NO COLOR: LIGHT FALLS ON AN OBJECT AND, DEPENDING ON THE COLOR OF THE OBJECT, IS PARTIALLY ABSORBED. THE LIGHT THAT IS NOT ABSORBED IS REFLECTED AND FALLS ON THE COLOR RECEPTORS IN THE EYE. THESE CONVERT THE INCIDENT LIGHT INTO STIMULI, WHICH ARE THEN SENT VIA NERVES TO THE BRAIN. HERE THE STIMULI ARE INTERPRETED, AND A COLOR PERCEPTION IS FORMED.

WITH REGARD TO SENSORY PERCEPTION: EACH PERSON "EXPERIENCES" COLOR DIFFERENTLY. THIS IS NOT JUST BECAUSE NO TWO EYES ARE IDENTICAL, BUT ALSO BECAUSE COLOR INTERPRETATION ALSO VARIES FROM PERSON TO PERSON. THE SAME PERSON CAN EVEN PERCEIVE COLORS DIFFERENTLY AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND ACCORDING TO THE MOOD HE OR SHE IS IN.

MANY PEOPLE PERCEIVE COLORS INDEPENDENTLY OF LIGHT. FOR EXAMPLE, IN ONE FORM OF SYNESTHESIA WHERE COLORS ARE HEARD NOTES, HARMONIES AND MUSIC ARE LINKED WITH CERTAIN COLORS: HIGH NOTES MOSTLY WITH LIGHT COLORS AND LOW NOTES WITH DARK COLORS.