Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have garnered significant attention from researchers due to their sustainability and tunable properties, offering advantages over conventional organic solvents. DESs are considered non-toxic, less volatile, environmentally benign, and with versatile functionalities, which makes them ideal for modern textile processing. This review aims to provide a state-of-the-art overview focused on the recent advances in the implementation of DESs for different textile applications, such as green approaches for dyestuff synthesis, surface modification of natural and synthetic fibers, and waterless dyeing technologies. The first part of this review focuses on the DES components and intermolecular interactions during the synthesis of DESs. The subsequent section reported recent studies employing DESs for surface activation of natural (cellulosic, protein, and mineral fibers) to achieve special functional properties, such as better tensile strength, hydrophilicity, and dye uptake. In addition, this review also highlights some emerging applications of DESs for auxiliaries during melt spinning of synthetic fibers and subsequent modification before coloration. Some reports about DES-based green synthesis routes for dyestuffs followed by technologies to develop water-reduced dyeing processes for natural and synthetic textiles. Improved resource efficiency, darker shades, and accelerated diffusion kinetics are noted relative to conventional dyeing attributable to DES-fibre interactions for various pigment classes. This paper also provides some insights about future sustainability, economic, and regulatory recommendations toward expanding DESs implementation for responsible textile production globally.

Keywords: deep eutectic solvents (DESs), green synthesis, surface modifications, textile