Investigation of ecological methods in denim washing processes

Traditional washing and bleaching processes applied to denim fabrics are known for their high consumption of water, energy, and chemicals, making them environmentally unsustainable. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of eco-friendly e-Flow technology as an alternative to conventional drum-based washing systems for the bleaching of denim fabrics. Bleaching was performed on 100% cotton indigo-dyed denim fabrics using sodium hypochlorite and potassium permanganate via both conventional and e-Flow methods. A total of 25 experimental combinations were designed by varying chemical concentrations and treatment durations. The bleached fabrics were assessed through spectrophotometric color measurements (L*, a*, b*, C*, h°, K/S, ΔEcmc), mechanical strength tests (tear strength), and fastness analyses (dry/wet rubbing). The findings revealed that e-Flow technology achieved comparable bleaching performance to traditional methods, while operating at lower temperatures and with significantly reduced water consumption. The experimental results were modeled using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), and the model's performance was evaluated using statistical metrics such as coefficient of determination (R²), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE %), and Mean Squared Error (MSE). Key process parameters were optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP), and verification experiments confirmed ΔEcmc values below 1.0, indicating high proximity to the reference color. This comprehensive study demonstrated that e-Flow technology significantly reduces environmental impact while maintaining high product quality in denim bleaching processes. By integrating artificial intelligence-based modeling and optimization techniques, the study contributes to the advancement of sustainable textile technologies and supports the industrial-scale implementation of low-resource bleaching systems.