Textile products inspired by plant anatomy
The integration of alum mordanting and natural dye extraction techniques addresses the challenge of achieving colorfastness and pattern fidelity in plant-based textile dyeing, resulting in sustainable textiles with botanical designs.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- DE202025106792
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Utility models
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-11-06
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-15
- Estimated Expiration
- 2035-11-30
AI Technical Summary
Existing textile dyeing methods using plant-based dyes face challenges in achieving colorfastness and stability, particularly in integrating botanical motifs derived from microscopic plant anatomy into sustainable and environmentally friendly dyeing processes.
A process that involves pre-mordanting cotton fabric with alum, creating patterns based on microscopic plant images, and applying natural dye extracts to produce textiles with distinctive botanical designs, ensuring dye fixation and color stability through controlled extraction and printing techniques.
The process achieves sustainable textile production with high colorfastness and pattern fidelity, utilizing natural dyes and alum mordanting to create durable and aesthetically appealing textiles with botanical motifs.
Abstract
Description
AREA OF INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to textile articles that translate microscopic images of plant anatomy into printed fabric motifs using natural dye extracts and mordants, thus producing sustainable home and clothing textiles. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Textile dyeing with plant-based and natural dyes typically uses aqueous plant extracts and mordants (e.g., alum) to fix the color onto cellulose fibers such as cotton. Process control of pretreatment, dye preparation, application, and curing influences colorfastness and quality. Botanical imaging, including microscopy of thin plant sections, provides characteristic cell patterns and vein structures that can be used as surface designs. Integrating these visual motifs into the workflows of natural dyeing promotes an environmentally friendly aesthetic that goes hand in hand with the functional handling of plant products and knowledge of infusion and drying. This knowledge influences the selection of extraction agents and the stability of the dye during textile finishing.For swift enforcement in Germany, device / product and process claims within the meaning of utility model protection are suitable if they relate to devices or tangible products. Therapeutic or purely abstract claims are avoided; therefore, a product-process formulation is suitable for registration practice. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The invention relates to a textile article that converts micrographs of thin plant sections into printable designs and applies them to cotton fabrics using natural water extracts and an alum mordant. The process includes pre-mordanting the fibers, developing patterns based on microscopic images, producing plant-based dye extracts, and finishing the products into household and apparel items (handkerchiefs, pillowcases, suits, tablecloths, pillowcases, bed linens). This results in distinctive designs with botanical anatomy and natural colors. The alum solution pre-mordanting improves dye fixation on the cotton. Plant materials are extracted in water to obtain dyes. Black or colored outlines, inspired by microscopic images, are printed or filled in by hand before curing.This sustainable, caffeine-free process is based on analogous processing principles from the literature on herbal infusion and drying in order to preserve chromophores and pattern fidelity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0004] Mordant: Boil water in a stainless steel container, dissolve alum to the desired concentration, soak washed cotton fabric for about an hour, and then allow it to dry to prepare the cellulose for dye binding. Alum is a common mordant that improves fixation and colorfastness in natural dyes. Pattern Development: Prepare thin sections of selected higher or lower plant tissues, examine them under a light microscope, and take high-resolution images. Process these images into vector or halftone patterns suitable for fabric designs, preserving anatomical features (e.g., xylem / phloem rings, stomata) as characteristic patterns. Extraction of Natural Dyes: Prepare aqueous extracts by soaking or simmering selected plant materials. Follow the instructions for herbal infusions and drying to achieve a balanced temperature-time ratio that preserves phenols and chromophores.Optionally, filter and concentrate to achieve a printable viscosity and color density suitable for application on cotton. Printing and dyeing: Transfer black outline motifs onto the pre-mordanted fabric using block / screen printing or a digital stencil. Fill outlines with prepared natural extracts or perform a complete wash, controlling pH and color-stabilizing additives; fix the color by gentle steaming or heat-setting with natural dyes, according to quality standards for botanical infusions in textiles. Finishing: Rinse and dry; test colorfastness (washing, rubbing, light) and adjust mordant / extract parameters to meet target specifications; cut printed fabrics and sew them into finished products such as handkerchiefs, pillowcases, garments, tablecloths, pillow covers, and sheets, adjusting the seam pattern to the orientation of the motifs from the anatomical illustrations.Sustainability and safety: Prefer biodegradable auxiliary materials, document botanical sources, and minimize wastewater pollution through controlled bathing conditions and reuse; packaging and labeling may indicate the plant species used, image inspiration, and care instructions in accordance with the guidelines for natural dyed clothing. Protection route: Claim for a textile article with plant anatomical motifs printed with natural dye extracts on alum-mordanted cotton, and for a process comprising pre-mordanting, microscopic pattern making, extract preparation, and printing / curing – formulation of claims as a product / process for utility model examination.
Claims
[1] A textile article consisting of cotton fabric pre-mordanted in an alum solution and printed with motifs derived from microscopic images of thin sections of plants, the coloring being carried out by aqueous extracts of plant materials applied as outlines and fills to create designs inspired by plant anatomy for household and clothing products. [2] Textile article according to claim 1, wherein the motifs retain cellular and vascular anatomical features detected by light microscopy, and wherein the natural dye extracts were produced under temperature-time conditions selected to preserve phenolic chromophores and to achieve stable color tones after curing. [3] Textile articles according to claim 1 or 2, comprising: (i) washed cotton that has been pre-mordanted in alum solution and dried; (ii) thin sections of plant tissue for imaging under a light microscope and conversion of the images into print-ready patterns; (iii) aqueous plant extracts as natural colorants; and (iv) Contours and fill patterns on the mordanted fabric which are fixed, rinsed and dried in the finished textile article. [4] Textile article according to claim 3, which is produced by screen or block printing using filtered extracts, wherein the fixing after printing comprises a steam or heat treatment calibrated to the stability of natural dyes in order to meet the requirements for wash and rub fastness.