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The enormous number of pineapple plantations in Malaysia are dominated by small to large agronomists governed by the Malaysian Pineapple Industrial Board, which addresses almost all pineapple industry-related issues. In Malaysia, more than 147,000 hectares of land are utilized for pineapple plantations, which create 65 tons of residue per hectare. Consequently, the waste production comes from the long leaves of the harvested mother plants of pineapples that are cut off to allow the young sucker to grow freely, which then can be found abundantly. However, the handling practice for pineapple leaf waste in Malaysia is still poorly managed. Realizing the importance of this issue, as an alternative to reduce waste, fibers from pineapple leaves were extracted and dyed to improve the aesthetic value and marketability of pineapple leaf fiber by adding dyeing substrates using a low energy consumption dyeing approach. Two different techniques of dyeing were used to investigate the morphological, mechanical, color strength, and colorfastness properties of dyed pineapple leaf fibers. The dyeing of pineapple leaf fibers was investigated using C.I. reactive blue 5, C.I reactive red 11, and C.I Reactive yellow 86 at different concentrations. As a result, the characterization of dyed pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) showed that the dyeing process modified the original structure of PALF but no significant differences were observed on dyed PALF in the comparison of each dyeing technique. In addition, under optimized conditions of two dyeing techniques dyed PALF presented lower breaking strength, whereas comparable breaking strength value was gained with each technique. Fibers of both dyeing techniques displayed interesting color findings with excellent colorfastness to washing, lightfastness, and good colorfastness to perspiration. The infrared dyeing method resulted in similar and better dyeing behavior compared to exhaustion dyeing techniques. This method could further be refined by considering the production of textile materials, which can provide alternative to the usage of highly expensive silk fibers in the songket making industry.

This paper reports on the application of natural dyes on polyester fabric. Melastoma malabathricum l. was extracted using conventional method of boiling for an hour. Plain lightweight polyester fabric was treated with sodium hydroxide as an alkaline treatment and Chitosan prior to dyeing in an attempt to increase the dye uptake. The dye extract of Melastoma malabathricum l. was applied on the polyester fabric at 85°C for an hour by exhaustion dyeing and 40 minutes for ultrasound dyeing. The colors of the dyed fabrics were measured using colour spectrophotometer and evaluated for washfastness. Ultrasound dyeing gave deeper colour shades to the fabric even though dyeing was conducted at lower temperature for 40 minutes. The alkaline treated fabrics dyed using ultrasound gave lower value of L* which indicate higher dye uptake and darker colour. The ratings for colourfastness to washing were between 4/5 to 5.

Muslim women is required to wear hijab as a religion obligation which symbolizes women’s faith to the creator (Quran 24:21). Many types of hijab are available in market, with ready-to-wear (RTW) hijab being the most popular choice of hijab in Malaysia. Limited knowledge on fabric characteristics among consumers has created dissatisfaction in many aspects of hijab performance associated to appearance and comfort. This paper presented the study of hijab appearance performances. Ten commercial fabrics (Cotton, Tetron Cotton, silk, rayon, Crepe back satin, Valentino dull satin, chiffon crepe, French voile, and Koshibo) which are commonly used in hijab making, were investigated. Stiffness, drape, wrinkle aspect, pilling, and snagging of fabric, which are associated with hijab appearance, were examined. A fabric ranking index was then developed to further support the analysis. In order to validate the result, a wear test was conducted where the tested fabrics were develop into hijabs and wear assessment was conducted. Feedback from the respondents were obtained and compared with the fabric ranking index. The results of this study concluded that Koshibo, Valentino Dull Satin, Chiffon crepe and French Voile exhibited the highest performance ranking among all the fabric tested. The study provides the reference to hijab manufacturers and end users in selecting the most suitable fabric for hijab in terms of the respective appearance properties.

The large consumption of sewing threads in the clothing industry indicates the importance for manufacturers to identify the correct supplies of sewing processes to prevent any major seam failures. This paper presents the results of the investigations made using different sizes of 100 % polyester threads on voile, chiffon, and organza fabrics. The samples with lockstitch seam were prepared in three different stitch lengths, which are 7 spi, 10 spi, and 13 spi. The seam slippage test was carried out to obtain the maximum tensile force on the different fabric types. The results revealed that different sizes of polyester threads influenced the maximum tensile force of the fabrics. The mechanical properties of the sewing threads, stitch length, structure, and compactness of the fabrics also affected the result of tensile force. It can be concluded that as the thread size increased, the tensile force also increased. This study suggests that sewing threads with thread size of 33 Tex and stitch length of 13 spi are suitable for chiffon fabric; thread size of 31 Tex is suitable to be used and sewn with 7 spi and 10 spi for voile fabric. Meanwhile, thread size of 31 Tex is suitable to be used with 7 spi on organza fabric.

Nowadays, interests on natural colorant have increased as the public are more aware and concern to environmental-related issues. In the continuing replacement of synthetic colorant, applications of natural colorant have extended to synthetic fibres. In this study, Melastoma malabathricum L. was extracted through boiling and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). The colorant from UAE was dried in an oven before being converted into powder form using ball mill grinder. The colorant produced was dyed on polyester fabric at 85 °C. The polyester fabric was treated with sodium hydroxide as an alkaline treatment and chitosan prior to dyeing in an attempt to increase the dye uptake. The evaluation of the dyed fabrics was measured using colour spectrophotometer and tested for washfastness. Samples dyed using the UAE method gave lower value of L* which indicate higher dye uptake and darker colour. The fabric which was treated with sodium hydroxide gave deeper shade in comparison with the fabric treated with chitosan. The ratings for colourfastness to washing were between 3 and 5 which show moderate to good range.