the dyestuff when applied to cellulosic fibers and dried a water soluble cationic dyestuff suitable for use in the present invention can be selected from among the following formulae str1 wherein r 2 is lower alkyl lower alkenyl hydroxy lower alkyl or lower alkylene nr 0 y or r 1 and r 2 together with the nitrogen atom are pyrrolidino piperidino or 4 lower alkanoyl piperazino y is hydrogen or str2 wherein r is hydrogen lower alkyl lower alkenyl phenyl or phenyl lower alkyl a is a dyestuff residue attached to the quaternary ammonium nitrogen atom through a lower alkylene bridge k is a small integer whose value is dependent on the nature of a such that it has a range from one to two a 1 is a dyestuff residue attached to the quaternary ammonium nitrogen atom through a lower alkylene bridge g is a small integer whose value is dependent on the nature of a 1 such that it has a range from one to two r 9 39 and r 10 39 together with the nitrogen atom are morpholino a 2 is a dyestuff residue attached to the quaternary ammonium nitrogen atom through a lower alkylene bridge h is a small integer whose value is dependent on the nature of a 2 such that it has a range from one to two and water soluble cationic dyestuffs of the above formulae are disclosed in trade literature of the hilton davis chemical company a division of sterling drug inc of cincinnati ohio entitled zip dyes a new series of cationic colorants for paper dyeing co authors nathan n crounce patrick j jefferies e kenneth moore and bruce g webster.