Terry towel, terry cloth, terry or simple towelling is a fabric with loops that can absorb large amounts of water. A terry towel is described as a textile product which is made with loop pile on one or both sides, generally covering the entire surface or forming stripes, checks or other patterns.
The word ‘terry’ comes from the French word “tirer” which means to pull out, referring to the pile loops which were pulled out by hand to make absorbent traditional Turkish towels. Terry towel weaving was one of the major industries in Turkey, and hence the name “Turk fabric” or “Turkish towel”.
Terry towels can be dyed by both exhaust and pad application processes for solid colors and stripes and designs by use of colored yarn during the weaving process.
Terry towels have to fulfill one of the most difficult colour fastness requirements. A few of the main requirements that the dyed terry towel should fulfill are levelness of color from loop to the base, the same shade in pile and selvedges, good water absorbency, and fastness to chlorinated water, multiple domestic laundering, benzoyl peroxide and water severe.
Terry towels are often dyed in the exhaust process. The advantage is the excellent levelness between the bottom and pile and between the pile and selvedge.
DyStar’s Levafix and Remazol reactive dyes offer the widest possible shade area for the terry towel sector. Extremely bright shades can be achieved with Levafix dyes, while Remazol dyes are recommended for economical and cost-effective recipes.
In general, both Levafix and Remazol reactive dyes meet the normal wash fastness requirements for terry towels. However, until now, only a limited dyestuff selection could be recommended to fulfill the more stringent fastness requirements like multiple home laundry washes with chlorine and non-chlorine bleaching agents and the fastness to benzoyl peroxide.
DyStar has now launched a new range, especially for the terry towel sector, known as Remazol TT. We can now bridge the gap as dyeing with the Remazol TT range results in fastness levels which meet the requirements of the international brands & retailers.
Coming in six colours, Remazol TT is Oeko-Tex Standard 100-compliant and meets all relevant restricted substance lists (RSLs).