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Sokalan^® HP 56 – Making dyeing of textiles more sustainable

Jeans and T-Shirts – we all have them, we all wear them. The fashion industry has an enormous impact on our society and cultural habits. Irrespective of time, language or geography. Considering the enormous effect fashion has on our daily life, it is no surprise that the awareness of the industry and the public for the environmental footprint of textiles is also increasing.

Looking at different parts of the apparel value chain, it is undeniable that the industry has a significant environmental footprint in terms of water consumption and CO2 emissions. To increase the sustainability of textile production, it is indispensable for companies and organizations to look for eco-friendly ways of producing and increasing efficiency of their production processes.

One of the steps consuming large quantities of water is dyeing of textiles. It is in this process step where BASF’s Sokalan^® HP 56 can make a great difference.

Benefits for our environment

The textile industry has a significant environmental footprint. In order to create sustainable textiles key change factors have been linked for example to eco-materials, reusing or recycling of materials as well as using less energy and water in production processes.

Sokalan® HP 56 contributes to cleaner production by tackling three main challenges: Reducing water consumption, decreasing CO₂ emissions and lowering the use of energy. The product allows to skip up to four washing baths in the dyeing process of fabrics. This translates to up to 55 percent of water that can be saved. By reducing the number of washing circles, the total amount of water and energy for heating the water can also be saved which leads to up to 70 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions.

Benefits for your textile production process

Sokalan® HP 56 has been tested successfully in reactive dyeing of textiles. When dyeing fabric, up to six baths are necessary to wash off the unreacted dye. The product helps rinsing off these spare dyes faster and, in that way, reduces the number of rinsing baths and shortens the production cycles by up to 50 percent.

Sokalan® HP 56 works at low temperature and under high electrolyte content. It retains hydrolyzed dyestuff in the liquor and prevents their redeposition on the textile. Sokalan® HP 56 does not require any investment in machinery by the dyeing mill to improve the environmental footprint and to realize efficiency increases.

Sustainability at BASF

Sustainability is at the core of what we do. We want to contribute to a world that provides a viable future with enhanced quality of life for everyone. We do so by creating chemistry for our customers and society and by making the best use of available resources. 

For example, we have defined sustainability focus areas within our corporate strategy. These formulate the commitments how BASF aims to meet the growing challenges along the value chain. BASF was also actively involved in in the development of the UN Sustainable Development Goals aiming at making our planet more sustainable by tackling topics such as energy and climate change. In addition, with the biomass balance approach BASF offers a certified method to replace fossil raw materials with renewable feedstock and its circular economy model aims at closing cycles and using products and resources in the best way possible.