What are the 2 most commonly used dyes?

Dyes are widely used in petrol, oil, wood, spirit, leather, plastic paper, aluminium foil printing, transparent lacquers, nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, vinyl, alkyd, other synthetic resins, moulding powders, construction material of cellulose acetate, celluloid, polystyrene, polymethacrylates, PVC, P/F, U/F, Inks for rotogravure and rubber stereo printing, ball point pens. Etc.

Natural and synthetic dyes are the most commonly used type of solvent dye.

Natural Dyes
This type of dye is obtained from natural sources, such as plants. This colorant came into use during Neolithic period.

Originally dyes like; Tyrian purple and Crimson kermes were the ones that were typically used in historical times. However, through the years the use of these dyes has decreased, as many other natural colorants came into use such as; woad, madder, saffron, and indigo.

The existence of these chemicals came into place from Asia and Africa when they introduced fashion coloured textiles. This made the need for natural colouring agents even more vital.

Besides these dyes, some other chemicals that came into existence recently include; cochineal and logwood colors.

Synthetic Dyes
Unlike natural dyes that came into existence from Spain, synthetic dyes were discovered by William Henry Perkin.

With synthetic dyes, thousands of chemicals were fabricated later in the coming years. The fabricated chemicals that came in the list of synthetic dyes offered a wide range of benefits, which is why they replaced natural colorants.

Main benefits of synthetic dyes:

• Good production rate
• Diverse colours
• Better adherence property
• Better colouring properties

These dyes are further classified into many types- like; basic, mordant, vat and reactive colouring agents.

Before purchasing dyes, you need to have a good amount of knowledge about these chemical products. Along with a thorough familiarity with these, you also need to take into account the credibility of the supplier.

Experience is an important point to consider, if you want good quality products. Therefore, a good research is a must.

Make a list of all those suppliers that are known for delivering, the most reliable products.

Take a look at the extensive usage of solvent dyes

Dyes that are soluble in organic solvents are known as solvent dyes. They are mostly used as solutions in organic solvents. These dyes are used for coloring solvents, waxes, hydrocarbon fuels, lubricants, plastic items, and hydrocarbon based materials. The molecules in fuel dyes are mostly slightly polar or non-polar and don’t undergo the ionization process. Its molecules are not soluble in water.

The fact that these dyes are soluble in non-polar materials makes them quite versatile for its usage. Oil dyes are used for applications like foil printing, marking pens, printing inks, candles, waxes, polishes, wood stains, varnishes, shellacs, leathers, ball point pens, acrylic resins, etc.

Chemical activities of these coloring agents are important because they can easily dissolve in non-polar chemicals such as fuels, and oils. 
They are also used in pyrotechnics industry as well as signaling smoke. Another common utility is that of coloring lubricants, in cutting and automotive industries. The most common application of solvent dyes is in the plastic industry, which relies heavily on this coloring agent.

In this arena, manufacturers make use of solvent based dyes for coloring a plethora of solid products such as nylon, acrylics, polyester, polystyrene, styrene monomers, PVC, acetates, etc. In addition to that, several solvent based dyes contribute to biological stain manufacturing community for making stains that identify cells structure in scientific research and medical diagnostics.

Furthermore, they also contribute in giving certain products a transparent metallic effect. A good example would be gold imitation that we generally see in metalized polyester film. Other than that, glass coloration is another area where these dyes give their contribution. While other coloring agents easily ionize, these dyes don’t. Ionization is the ability of a compound to change polarity through losing or gaining electrons from other compounds. That is the reason they are not soluble in water which is highly polar.

The naming convention for these coloring agents uses color index followed by classification system. The system is the name of the solvent, followed by color, and number. Different types are given different names.

A few of the most popular ones are: Red 24, Yellow 124, Blue 35, Red 164, etc. The naming convention is strictly based on the color. It is not based on the chemicals used in different compounds.

Anthraquinone is the name that has been given to, blue and green dyes.