Solvent Dyes

Dyestuffs which are not soluble in water but are soluble in organic solvents or plastics are called solvent dyes. As colour index they may be labelled solvent dye or disperse dye. Disperse dyes are mainly used for textile and have in general a lot of additives like salt. Various disperse dyes exist which are applied as dispersion in a water bath.
So called solvent dyes may as well be used for textile dyeing. In most cases these dyes do show high solubility in non polar organic solvents like petrol. A major application for solvent dyes is printing or solvent based writing ink.